The Recorded History of the Liard Basin 1790-1910: Where British Columbia joins the Yukon and N.W.T. by Anthony Kenyon Fort Nelson: Fort Nelson News, 2016 $60.00 / 9781771364140 Reviewed by George Szasz First published Dec. 7, 2016 * Anthony Kenyon, born and raised in England, graduated in medicine at Cambridge University (1958 and married in 1959…
Read more #60 Fur traders and textual analysis
The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols by Genevieve von Petzinger New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016 $36.0 (U.S.) / 9781476785493 Reviewed by Chris Arnett First published Dec. 2, 2016 * In The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols, Genevieve von Petzinger explores the geometric images found…
Read more #57 Decoding European rock art
Cowboys of the Americas by Luis Fabini (photographs) and Wade Davis (text) Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2016 $50.00 / 9781771641166 Reviewed by Ken Mather First published Nov. 27, 2016 * Cowboys of the Americas dwells on the distant origins – southern Spain and Spanish America – of the vaqueros or cowmen of the grasslands of the…
Read more #51 Cow men, cowboys, vaqueros
Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival by Bev Sellars Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2016 $19.95 / 9780889229723 Reviewed by Caroline Woodward First published November 24, 2016 * Bev Sellars served as the Chief of the Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First Nation near Williams Lake from 1987 to 1993 and from 2009 to 2015. But before that…
Read more #48 From Soda Creek to best seller
In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth & Reconciliation by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail Victoria: Brindle & Glass 2016 $19.95 / 9781927366448 Reviewed by J.R. (Jim) Miller First published November 19, 2016 * When asked in September 2016 how he thought the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was being received, former National Chief…
Read more #46 Crafting a lasting reconciliation
Pioneer merchant Louis Oppenheim: not Oppenheimer by Bonnie Ellen Campbell First published Nov. 14, 2016 * Editor’s note: Bonnie Campbell assumed she was English. As a young adult she was surprised to learn that her grandmother was the daughter of a Prussian-Jewish merchant Louis Oppenheim, of Yale, and his wife Nukwa (Hannah) of Spuzzum, daughter…
Read more #42 Nukwa and the merchant of Yale
First published Nov. 7, 2016 REVIEW: Paid Price: The Fight for First Nations Survival By Bev Sellars Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2016. $19.95 9780889229723 Reviewed by Eldon Yellowhorn. * Recycling is a common theme running through this book. Just like the 100% post-consumer recycled paper and the cover design, much of the historical rhetoric is reclaimed and…
Read more #38 Fact, myth, and powerpoint
ESSAY: Across the Bright Continent: Althea Moody, Missionary and Artist in Western Canada by Jennifer Iredale First published October 21, 2016 * Missionary, linguist, educator, and artist Althea Moody (1865-1930) spent twenty years (1891-1911) teaching at the Anglican Church’s All Hallows School in Yale. This school admitted both “Indian” and “White” girls, making it exceptional…
Read more #29 Althea Moody and All Hallows
First Published: September 24th, 2016 Arts of the Dreamer: Dane-zaa Communities Remember Charlie Yahey by Robin Ridington First Nations literature, as indeed all literature, begins with oral narrative. Writing has never entirely replaced orality as a narrative genre, even in cultures that have produced written documents for millenia. For many First Nations, oral literature continues…
Read more #20 Master orator Charlie Yahey
By Mary Leah de Zwart Contents Foreword: (below) CHAPTER ONE: A Visit from Francis CHAPTER TWO: Offering Service to Canada (1910-1926) CHAPTER THREE: Sixty-seven Years Old and What Next? CHAPTER FOUR: The Tale Behind the Tale CHAPTER FIVE: Meeting Mr. Coyote CHAPTER SIX: Getting it all Done CHAPTER SEVEN: The Last Ten Years CHAPTER EIGHT:…
Read more Alice Ravenhill: Never Say Die