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CONTENTS Vol 98:6
20
FEATURES
20 Pirates For Hire 28 Magnetic North
Privateers were legalized In the 1930s, a young writer
pirates, ighting for both proit and photographer for The
and patriotism during wartime. Beaver set out on a northern
by Dean Jobb adventure but never made it
home. by Katherine Schumm
On the cover
A swashbuckling privateer,
34 54
COVER ILLUSTRATION: © DAVID PALUMBO, 2018
Dancing His Macabre pistols brandished, boards

a ship in search of plunder
Own Line Discovery in this painting by David
Benjamin Chee Chee’s life The legend of a French-Canadian Palumbo.
came to a tragic end after a folklore character becomes true
successful but short career as history after the discovery of her
an artist. by Ernie Bies cage. by André Pelchat
CANADASHISTORY.CA DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 3

CONTENTS
DEPARTMENTS
10 The Packet Not-so-ancient

history. Red lags. Mental-health
awareness.
12 Currents Armistice declared

in the war on weed. History: take
two. Canadian soldier honoured in
Belgium. Canada’s oficial languages.
Brush Strokes: Peter Clapham
Sheppard’s Arrival of the Circus. 12
16 Trading Post Surgical

tools were supplied to HBC post
managers in remote locations.
17 Destinations Vancouver-area
museums showcase Indigenous arts
and culture.
50 Creative Voices Celebrating

the winners of the Indigenous Arts & 16 17
Stories competition.
57 Holiday Book & Gift Guide

Our 15th-annual advertising section
offers a wide selection of books for
Canadian history lovers.
68 Books Daily grind. Eyes

wide open. More books: veterans’
sacriices, queering Toronto, forensic 72 74
investigator, enormous lake.
72 Christopher Moore
Canadians need to pick more than just
the low-hanging fruit of history.
74 Album Men work to clear a COMING UP IN

logjam on Newfoundland’s Terra Nova
River. CANADA’S HISTORY
The Trials of Sir John A. Macdonald
A special essay package on the
SUBSCRIBE complicated and controversial legacies
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We share the stories of

our diverse country across Editor-In-Chief & Director, Publisher Director of Programs
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Director, Finance &
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Associate Editor Executive Assistant
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EDITOR’S NOTE
CONTRIBUTORS
Nova Scotia author
Dean Jobb wrote “Pirates
For Hire.” He teaches in
the non-fiction writing
program at the Univer-
sity of King’s College. His
most recent book, Empire of Deception,
explored the exploits of a 1920s con man.
His next book recreates the Victorian-era
crimes of Thomas Neill Cream, a Canadian
doctor who murdered at least ten people
in Canada, the United States, and England.
Ernie Bies, who wrote

“Dancing His Own
Line,” was raised in
Hearst, Ontario. Trained
as a civil engineer at
Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and Carleton University, he
enjoyed a long career working on proj-
Making waves ects in the Arctic and in First Nations

communities. One of the benefits of his
exposure to Canada’s cultural diversity
was the enduring friendships he devel-
C utlasses and crossbones. Parrots In this issue, Nova Scotia author Dean oped with many Indigenous people. In
his retirement he enjoys writing about
and peg legs. Yo ho ho! and a Jobb explores the lucrative privateering
people and events that have affected
bottle of rum. Just saying the trade that flourished in Atlantic Canada his life.
word “pirate” calls to mind swarthy swash- during the age of sail. As he explains, the
bucklers, buried treasure, and walking War of 1812 was especially profitable for
the plank. these fierce freebooters; many American Katherine Schumm
wrote “Magnetic
While younger generations might merchant ships fell victim to privateers
North.” Originally from
consider Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack operating out of hotbeds of piracy like Royal Oak, Michigan,
Sparrow from the Pirates of the Carib- Liverpool, Nova Scotia. the self-described
bean franchise the quintessential corsair, Elsewhere in this issue, we explore the American-Luxem-
for me no one beats Robert Newton’s legend of La Corriveau, a ghastly spec- bourger recently moved to County
Clare, Ireland. She is an accountant
portrayal of Long John Silver in the tre that figures prominently in Quebec
who pursues freelance writing and
1950 version of Treasure Island. folklore. Recent evidence reveals that the historical and genealogical research
I saw the movie on TV back in the banshee was based on a real-life figure in in her free time. Her ardour for gene-
seventies, and, as a Nova Scotia lad who New France. alogy derives from her historically
woke up every morning to the grey We also recall the photographic legacy minded family
waters of the Northumberland Strait, of a former The Beaver magazine photog-
Newton’s depiction of the literary anti- rapher whose promising career was cut André Pelchat,
hero struck a chord; in my imagination, short by tragedy. author of “Macabre
I was Jim Hawkins, seeing the skull-and- And, we feature a poignant personal Discovery,” is a free-
lance writer, tour
crossbones banner rising on the horizon. essay on the life of Benjamin Chee Chee
guide, and lecturer
Little did I realize at the time that — a talented Ojibwa artist whose unique who lives in L’Avenir,
buccaneers had indeed once plied the and groundbreaking style inspired new Quebec. He has writ-
waters of Atlantic Canada — and that generations of artists. Sadly, Chee Chee ten several articles for Canada’s History
many were actually pirates for hire. lived his life like a shooting star — briefly and is the author of books including His-
toires à dormir debout! and Les années
These scallywags even carried an air of blazing through the art world before his
dangereuses, le Québec à l’âge des
respectability. They were privateers, and flame was tragically extinquished. révolutions (1760–1805). Pelchat also
they enjoyed official sanction to raid gives lectures for museums and libraries
enemy ships during times of war — so in Quebec as well as for L’Université du
long as they shared a portion of the plun- Troisième Âge, a service that provides
university courses without exams or a
der with their sponsors.
degree to people who are over fifty.

ALL ABOARD WITH CANADA’S
HISTORY & RAIL TRAVEL TOURS ON
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Friday February 15 – Monday February 18, 2019
Roundtrip from Sudbury, this 4-day, 3-night tour

combines a roundtrip winter journey on the last Rail
Diesel Car service in Canada with local history and
spectacular winter scenery. The package will include a
Friday night welcome dinner at Sudbury’s Don Cherry’s
Restaurant, Sudbury Wolves OHL game at the Sudbury
FIRST FIVE BOOKINGS
Downtown Arena, 2 days of travel on the only year-round
get a free copy of the award-
passenger train on the Canadian Pacific Railway known
winning 100 Photos that
as VIA Rail’s Sudbury – White River train, 2 nights stay
Changed Canada
in Sudbury and 1 night in White River, presentations on
CALL Rail Travel Tours the train and at the hotels, most meals and more.
TOLL FREE: 1-866-704-3528 or visit Per Person Double Occupancy $795.00. Per Single $945
or contact us in regards to a tour to Churchill, Manitoba in August 2019
CanadasHistory.ca/NorthernOntario combining Beluga whale watching and the heritage of this community on
the edge of the Canadian Arctic.
T H E PA C K E T
DO YOU
HAVE ANY Not-so-ancient history
REALLY Christopher Moore asks, “Can the First World War
finally cease to be a living, traumatic presence? Perhaps
it is ready to join the Napoleonic Wars or the War of
OLD 1812, which are still important and fascinating land-
marks but are no longer felt so viscerally” (“The last end
MOCCASIN of the Great War?” October-November 2018).
TELEGRAPH There is an approximately twenty-one-year gap
between the two world wars, from 1914-18 to 1939-
MAGAZINES? 45. Twenty-one years is a mere pause between wars,
We need your help! and they should not be separated. The First World
We’re looking for good- War might be ancient history to my children and
quality issues that we can grandchildren, but it’s certainly not to me.
scan for our digital archive. My father served in both world wars. In the First World War he was in the British
Royal Marines at the war front in Ypres, Belgium, where he received a leg wound. During
the Second World War, my dad joined the Veterans Guard of Canada in the latter part
of the war, guarding German prisoners of war in several Alberta locations.
Fred Perry
Surrey, British Columbia
Familiar experience Mental health awareness

I read with great interest “The Country of I was very impressed with the thorough
Half Welcomes,” by George Melnyk, in the account of Canada’s participation in the
August-September 2018 issue of Canada’s Great War and the societal changes that
History. I confess that I pick up my copy at war triggered.
my favourite magazine outlet in London, One of the changes was the founding
Ontario. There are not many outlets left, of the Canadian Mental Health Associa-
and I like to support them. I identify with tion in Toronto in 1918 to, amongst other
those who received a half welcome when things, provide “adequate care of returned
they came to Canada, although I read- soldiers suffering from mental disabilities.”
ily admit that Canada has been very good The CMHA continues to support
to me. I came to Canada in 1948 and am Canada’s mental health needs and also
a descendant of one of those thousands of celebrates its centenary this year.
soldiers who fought for the Polish Free Army Robert Salsman
during the Second World War. CMHA board member
Stan Skrzeszewski St. John’s, N.L.
London, Ontario
Errata
Red flag Canadian First World War pilot Alan Arnett
Your article on the Red Ensign flag (“Trea- McLeod received the Victoria Cross in March
sures of Canada”) in the August-September 1918. His name was inadvertently omitted
2018 issue gives a misleading impression that from the article “For Valour” (October-Novem-
the flag shown in the article “was officially ber 2018). In the same issue, “Innu” was mis-
adopted shortly after Confederation.” Not takenly used instead of “Inuit” in one instance
so. That flag evolved in 1957 with three in “Peacetime Killer.” We regret the errors.
red leaves on the shield from a flag that was
formally proclaimed by order-in-council in
During the fur trade era, outposts regularly
1921 with three green maple leaves. Ninety received “packets” of correspondence. Email your
Full details at years after Confederation does not qualify comments to editors@CanadasHistory.ca or write
CanadasHistory.ca/
PUBLIC DOMAIN
for the term “shortly”! to Canada’s History, Bryce Hall Main Floor, 515
MoccasinTelegraph Fred Gaskin Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9 Canada.
Cambridge, Ontario

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CURRENTS
War on weed
Sensational campaigns targeted marijuana use.
Marijuana — it’s the burning weed with roots in hell,

offering a moment of bliss but a lifetime of regret. At least,
that’s what anti-cannabis films from the 1930s warned.
Many of these films came from the United States, though
Canada had its share of scare tactics. In 1922, Emily Mur-
phy, the first female magistrate in Canada, published The
Black Candle, warning people of the alleged dangers of
marijuana and quoting a Los Angeles police chief who said
the drug “has the effect of driving [people] completely
insane.” Canada made marijuana illegal in 1923, though
there’s not much explanation as to why — no parliamen-
tary debate was recorded when marijuana was added to
the list of illegal drugs. On October 17 — ninety-five years
after banning marijuana use — Canada became one of the
few countries where recreational use of the drug is legal.
— Kaitlin Vitt
Top: A poster for the movie The Devil’s Weed, which was also
shown under the title She Shoulda Said No! Right: A selection
of posters for other films warning against the alleged dangers
ALAMY
of marijuana and listing possible side effects of using the drug.

BY THE NUMBERS
Oficial
languages
Canadians have used French
ENG FR
and English in parliamentary
debates and courts since
Documentary to address Confederation, and the

country has recognized them as official languages for the
overlooked history past fifty years. The Official Languages Act of 1969, estab-
lished under former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s
Plans are in motion for an independent feature documen- government, aimed to ensure Canadians had access to
tary film after controversy over a CBC miniseries made federal services in either language. In 1988, the Official
national headlines. Languages Act was revised, and it was updated again in 2005,
CBC’s Canada: The Story of Us, which aired in 2017, all to extend and to promote the use of both languages.
covers almost four centuries of Canadian history yet fails
428,625
to acknowledge Samuel de Champlain’s arrival at Port
Royal, Nova Scotia, with Pierre Du Gua de Monts in 1605.
The series skips over that region’s history and begins with
Champlain’s founding of Quebec City in 1608.
Politicians from across the province asked the CBC
to apologize for the error and to film a prequel that
Number of students in public elementary and
included the overlooked history. While the network
secondary schools who were enrolled in French
apologized, it has not yet produced the requested immersion programs in 2015–16, excluding those in
prequel. As a result, Annapolis Royal Mayor Bill MacDonald Quebec and Nunavut. The number was up by 4.6 per
and Ben Proudfoot of Breakwater Studios partnered to cent from the previous year.
make the film Port of Origins.
The documentary is intended to portray highlights of
1 18
Percentage
the place known at different times as Nme’juaqnek, Port
of people in
Royal, and Annapolis Royal. The story spans from pre-Euro-
Canada who
pean contact to 1760 while also depicting the history of are bilingual.
the Mi’kmaq, French, Acadians, English, and Scots in that It’s the highest
area. The film’s production schedule depends on funding. percentage in
— Moriah Campbell history.
30
Number of provinces
NEWS that are oficially
bilingual (New
Belgian town honours Brunswick). In Quebec,

French is the only
TOP: COURTESY OF BREAKWATER STUDIOS. BELOW: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
oficial language.
Canadian soldier
Number of mother
A rose in Belgium was named in tongues or languages Percentage of
September in honour of Private George spoken most often people in Canada
Lawrence Price, the last Canadian and at home in Canada, who can hold a
last Commonwealth soldier killed in battle including English and conversation in
during the First World War. Price died minutes before French. French.
the end of the war near Le Roeulx, where the christening
200+
of the flower — a rose species developed in 2011 by a
Belgian producer — took place. In November, the town
unveiled a memorial park dedicated to Price and marked
one hundred years since the end of the war.
DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 13

CURRENTS

BRUSH STROKES
Arrival of the Circus

circa 1919, Peter Clapham
Sheppard, oil on canvas,
101.6 cm x 147.3 cm
At a time when his fellow painters drew

inspiration and a sense of purpose from
the Canadian landscape, Peter Clapham
Sheppard applied his brush and the
newly developed modernist techniques
to the life and tumult of cities.
Sheppard worked and exhibited
alongside painters such as Lawren
Harris, and he represented Canada
at international exhibitions. Yet his
contributions to Canadian art were
largely forgotten — perhaps due to the
prominence of the Group of Seven and
of the narrative linking Canadian art to
the country’s landscape.
While Sheppard’s hometown of
Toronto was the setting for many of
his works, he also painted in Montreal
and New York. His subjects included
shipyards and rail yards, bridges and
harbours, beaches and street scenes.
The Bridge Builders, Construction,
Bloor Street Viaduct, painted in 1915,
shows labourers at a massive engineer-
ing project, while 1919’s The Engine
Home plays with colour and form.
In the new book Peter Clapham
Sheppard: His Life and Work, Tom
Smart writes, “Sheppard preferred to
concentrate more on expressing the
abstract potentialities rather than the
purely picturesque qualities of a scene.”
Somehow, in doing this, he also man-
aged to bring to the fore the dynamism
of city life.
Arrival of the Circus, a tableau por-
traying performers and elephants at the
Canadian National Exhibition, shows his
versatility. As in Sheppard’s other paint-
ings of the time, figures are as loosely
represented as the ever-billowing smoke
that spills into the urban sky.
— Phil Koch
COPYRIGHT: PETER CLAPHAM SHEPPARD COLLECTION DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 15

TRADING POST
Surgical tools
Tales and Treasures from the rich legacy of the Hudson’s Bay Company
T his assortment of surgical implements was part of a medi- of medicines were part of a standard medicine chest — and that post
ARTIFACTS FROM THE MANITOBA MUSEUM / PHOTO BY ANDREW WORKMAN
cal chest that was provided to HBC post managers working managers were responsible for maintaining and replacing the items.
in remote locations where access to medical aid was not directly The guide provides basic information for treating common ailments,
available. Some post managers may have had a little medical or although the tools seen here suggest that minor surgeries, such as
first-aid training, and it was recognized that their role was not to tooth extraction, were not outside the realm of a manager’s poten-
replace a doctor; nonetheless, they could be called upon to provide tial duties. This particular set was used during the 1970s in Naujaat
medical services. (formerly called Repulse Bay) in what is now Nunavut, but the tools
Reviewing a copy of the Hudson’s Bay Company Post Manager’s themselves date to the 1930s.
Medical Guide from 1953 reveals that these items and an assortment — Amelia Fay, curator of the HBC Collection at the Manitoba Museum
The Beaver magazine was originally founded as a Hudson’s Bay Company publication in 1920. To read stories
from past issues, go to CanadasHistory.ca/Archive. To explore the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company, go to
hbcheritage.ca, or follow HBC’s Twitter and Instagram feeds at @HBCHeritage.

D E S T I N AT I O N S
Left: The Museum of Anthropology at the

University of British Columbia. Top right: A spindle
whorl by artist Kwetsímet (Keith Nahanee) at the
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, B.C.
Above: A woven mask by Grace Wilson is part
of the Haida Now exhibition at the Museum
of Vancouver.
Transformations renewed
A trip to Vancouver offers many chances to encounter the thriving cultures of
coastal First Nations. by Phil Koch
N orthwest Coast Indigenous art and

cultural practices that were actively
suppressed a century ago are today widely
carver Susan Point, whose richly evocative
Cedar Connection sits beside the walkway
to the Canada Line SkyTrain station, and
by Indigenous artists in residence. It also
ofers themed hotel rooms.
Across the Burrard Bridge from down-
celebrated both in traditional forms and Bill Reid’s haunting he Spirit of Haida town, the Museum of Vancouver’s remark-
TOP RIGHT: COURTESY SQUAMISH LIL’WAT CULTURAL CENTRE, OTHER PHOTOS BY PHIL KOCH
via new experiments and manifestations. Gwaii: he Jade Canoe in the international able Haida Now exhibition — which
While several British Columbia First terminal. In these and other works, links continues at least until April 2020 — was
Nations have established cultural centres in between nature and culture are interwoven created in partnership with the Haida Gwaii
their own communities, a visit to the Van- as part of community and family histories. Museum. Dozens of intricate argillite carv-
couver area presents numerous opportuni- Coastal artisans have long produced ings, including pieces by renowned carver
ties to see and to learn about the region’s skilfully crafted items for cultural and Charles Edenshaw, are among more than
Indigenous art. ceremonial purposes as well as for 450 historical and contemporary works
When arriving or departing via the Van- trade. Sculptures, prints, jewellery, and presenting aspects of Haida culture. he
couver International Airport, situated on other items made by Indigenous artists exhibition explains how artworks show
the traditional territory of the Musqueam can be seen and purchased at the Bill histories, family lineages, and social stand-
First Nation, visitors encounter large sculp- Reid Gallery in downtown Vancouver. ing while playing economic and ceremo-
tural installations featuring mostly tradi- Meanwhile, as part of revitalization ef- nial roles, and it places the particular Haida
tional forms that have been created within forts in the city’s Downtown Eastside, artistic “dialect” in the context of work pro-
the past few decades by leading Indigenous Skwachàys Lodge allows visitors to watch duced by other coastal First Nations. It also
artists. hey include pieces by Musqueam as works are created in its main-loor gallery contrasts authentic work with “artifakes” —

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mass-produced replicas — while explaining Indigenous B.C.-based artists. Temporary

that items such as clan crests are protected exhibits during a recent visit included
intellectual property. Heiltsuk artist Shawn Hunt’s high-tech
At the University of British Columbia, version of an Indigenous transformation
the Museum of Anthropology houses im- mask. Hunt’s mask — which produces a
pressive collections and rare sculptures in a dramatic “mixed-reality” audio-visual expe-
building designed by Vancouver architect rience for those who wear it — was exhib- Top left and centre: Kwakwaka’wakw
Arthur Erickson, who incorporated ele- ited alongside a more traditional mask by masks are among thousands of items in
ments of Haida architecture. housands Robert Davidson. the Museum of Anthropology’s Multiversity
Galleries, while Bill Reid’s sculpture The
of artifacts from First Nations (and from At the same time, the exhibition Beau
Raven and the First Men is displayed in the
around the world) are displayed, typically Dick: Revolutionary Spirit set the work Vancouver museum’s Bill Reid Rotunda.
following consultations with members of of the Kwakwaka’wakw carver, hereditary
Above: Skwachàys Lodge Aboriginal
the represented communities. he museum chief, and community activist alongside Hotel & Gallery in Vancouver includes a
grounds include large totem poles and pieces created by his forerunners, his collab- rooftop sweat lodge and smudge room.
a pair of Haida houses, while the newly orators, and artists he mentored. he show
Below: He-yay meymuy (Big Flood), by
opened Indian Residential Schools His- was one of the museum’s reconciliatory ini- Squamish and Kwakwaka’wakw artist
tory and Dialogue Centre is nearby on the tiatives, and, according to curator Darrin J. Xwalacktun (Rick Harry), at the entrance to
UBC campus. Martens, it presented “an opportunity for the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, B.C.
A two-hour trip north to Whistler via increased dialogue related to issues afecting
the Sea to Sky Highway ofers breathtak- Indigenous communities in the wake of the
ing views of islands and mountains while Residential School experience….”
giving a sense of the abundant lands and he Audain also displays numerous
seas that provided the material and cultural paintings by Emily Carr, who famously
wealth of coastal First Nations as well as portrayed coastal cultures and landscapes,
inspiration for their art forms. he Squa- but the largest collection of her work
mish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, built at Whis- belongs to the Vancouver Art Gallery.
tler in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, here a new curatorial program pairs Carr’s
operates as a partnership between two First paintings with works by other artists —
Nations. It showcases Squamish and Lil’wat such as Chinese ink painter Lui Shou Kwan
art, history, and culture via hourly guided or Kwakwaka’wakw contemporary artist
tours through a unique building with vistas Sonny Assu — in special thematic exhibi-
onto the surrounding forest. tions. And in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, to-
From there it’s a short walk to the Audain tem poles by prominent Indigenous carvers
Art Museum, housed in an award-winning welcome and impress visitors — functions
building by Patkau Architects that opened performed by similar poles in coastal com-
PHOTOS BY PHIL KOCH
in 2016. Historical artifacts are displayed munities for generations.

alongside recent and contemporary art Find more photos, contact information, and
by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Brian recommended reading at CanadasHistory.
Jungen, and other Indigenous and non- ca/TransformationsRenewed.

THE EXPLOITS OF ATLANTIC
CANADA’S PRIVATEERS.
by Dean Jobb
A SCHOONER EMERGED ON THE HORIZON

of Massachusetts, its black hull so low
to the water that it was almost invisible.
The interloper was small, just ifty-three
feet bow to stern. “In size and appearance,” Maine’s Portland
Gazette newspaper later noted, it looked “like one of our
Gun Boats.” Even though Britain and America were at war
one week that October. He later commandeered nine ishing
schooners in a single day. The Packet was the most successful
privateer on either side during the three-year conlict, seizing
about one hundred vessels — more than the combined captures
of the rest of Nova Scotia’s privateering leet — and bringing
at least ifty back to Halifax to be sold of, cargo and all. One
prize, the American schooner Lucretia, yielded a valuable cargo
in 1812, few aboard the Yankee ishing boats and merchant of ishing gear, candles, soap, and shoes. Canadian historian
vessels cruising near Cape Cod saw the unfamiliar ship as a Faye M. Kert, an expert on the history of privateering, estimates
threat — until it was too late. the schooner earned its owners, investors, and crews at least a
The newcomer was the Nova Scotia privateer Liverpool Packet, million dollars, an astounding sum at the time.
under the command of Captain Joseph Barss Jr.; both names The Americans were incensed. “That an insigniicant ish-
were soon reviled all along the New England coast. In the sum- ing schooner … should be sufered to approach the harbour
mer and fall of 1812, Barss and his forty-man crew scooped of the metropolis of Massachusetts, capture and carry home in
up dozens of American merchant vessels, including eleven in triumph 8 or 9 vessels of sail,” the Boston Messenger fumed on

Caption
Captain William Rogers capturing

the Jeune Richard, 1 October,
1807, by British artist Samuel
Drummond. The painting
illustrates boarding and combat
techniques of privateers like
those who plied the waters off
eastern North America in the
1700s and 1800s.
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, GREENWICH, LONDON DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 21

New Year’s Day, 1813, “should seem utterly incredible were the motivation to join the ight was proit, not just patriotism. As
fact not placed beyond any doubt.” the Liverpool Packet’s lucrative career showed, there was money
In Portsmouth, Maine, ship owners outitted a privateer of to be made.
their own, the schooner homas. If it ever caught up with the The romantic, swashbuckling image of privateers was
Packet, it would be a formidable foe — it was twice the size of brought down to earth in 1976, when Canadian folksinger Stan
the Nova Scotia marauder and carried a crew of eighty. It also Rogers released his signature sea shanty, “Barrett’s Privateers.” It
bristled with ten cannons, double the number ready to ire from quickly became a staple of music festivals and tavern singalongs,
the Packet’s deck. with its well-known refrain, “I’m a broken man on a Halifax
Then, in June 1813, the captain of the homas spotted a ves- pier/The last of Barrett’s Privateers.” It tells the ictitious story
sel of Cape Cod: a small, low-slung schooner with a black hull. of a young Nova Scotia isherman who joins the crew of a leaky
The chase began. sloop, the Antelope, during the American Revolution, lured to
privateering by the promise of easy money. “I was told we’d
L ike pirates, privateers preyed on merchant vessels and

proited from the plunder they won. But there is a dis-
tinction between them that made a diference — privateers
cruise the seas for American gold,” the narrator says, “we’d ire
no guns, shed no tears.” The Antelope’s irst engagement with
an armed American merchant ship is its last, and the isherman
operated only in wartime, under legal authority, and within loses both legs in the battle.
strict rules of engagement. They were, in essence, private con- “Barrett’s Privateers” is set in 1778, but the British govern-
tractors retained to disrupt the enemy’s trade as part of the ment commissioned Nova Scotia’s irst privateers two decades
war efort, freeing up naval vessels for the front-line work of earlier, at the outset of the Seven Years War against France.
blockading, bombarding, and duelling with warships. Their Letters of marque — oicial decrees authorizing the seizure
PRINCE Cape Breton

EDWARD Island
ISLAND
NEW
LOWER CANADA BRUNSWICK TI
A
(QUEBEC) O
Saint John SC
VA Halifax
O
Eastport
N
Liverpool
Yarmouth
Cape Sable
Portsmouth
Salem
Boston Cape Cod
New Bedford
Providence Nantucket Island
New Haven Newport
Bridgeport
MAP ILLUSTRATED BY MATT YATHON, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE QUEEENS COUNTY MUSEUM, NOVA SCOTIA
New York
Long Island
Philadelphia
Above: Portrait of Captain Joseph Barss
Baltimore
Jr., skipper of the famed privateer vessel
Washington
ATLANTIC OCEAN Liverpool Packet.
This map shows principal ports used by
Cape Charles privateers during the American Revolution and
the War of 1812.
Outer
Banks
Wilmington
Cape Fear
Charleston

The Liverpool Packet was built for speed, as evidenced by its angled mast and long bowsprit. This painting of the Packet during the
War of 1812 is by Thomas Hayhurst.
of French vessels — were issued in 1756, just seven years after Privateers had to adhere to a rigid code of conduct. They could
Halifax was founded. Sea captains and merchants were “encour- not ly the Royal Navy’s colours to impersonate one of His Majes-
aged in every way,” Nova Scotia writer George Nichols noted in ty’s warships, and when they returned to port they were expected
an early account of the practice, “to it out privateers to distress to share “any valuable information obtained about the enemy”
and annoy the enemy.” At least ifteen privateering vessels were that was gleaned during their outings. Most importantly, once a
COURTESY OF THE QUEEENS COUNTY MUSEUM, NOVA SCOTIA/ COLIN MACHAFFIE
based in Halifax, and prominent businessmen such as Joshua battle ended or after an enemy vessel surrendered, these legalized
Mauger and Malachy Salter armed and dispatched vessels to pirates were to behave like gentlemen. Captured crewmen and
Caribbean waters in search of prizes. passengers were not to be mistreated. “No persons taken or sur-
This initial foray into privateering, Nichols wrote, set the ground prised in any vessel, though known to be of the enemy,” Nichols
rules for future conlicts. Privateers registered with Nova Scotia’s explained, “were to be killed in cold blood, tortured, maimed, or
Admiralty Court and returned all captured vessels to Halifax, where inhumanely treated contrary to the common usages of war.”
a judge would decide whether the seizure was legal. If it turned During the American Revolution, the colonies that would
out the vessel was not registered to enemy owners, or if the cargo one day form Atlantic Canada were targets for enemy attacks
was destined for British buyers, these would be restored and the on vessels and outports. Privateers from New England raided
privateers earned nothing. Ships and cargoes condemned as prizes Yarmouth, Lunenburg, Charlottetown, and other commu-
of war, however, were sold, and the privateering vessel’s owners and nities, sometimes looting private homes, burning forts and
crew shared the windfall. Fortunes were made. War, Nova Scotia’s barracks, and taking local oicials hostage. The Nova Scotia
merchants discovered, was good for business. government fought back in 1777 by issuing a letter of marque

at the mouth of Halifax Harbour, the Nova Scotia
brig Resolution squared of against the more heav-
ily armed American privateer Viper. The two vessels
raked each other with cannon ire for ninety min-
utes before the Resolution was forced to surrender.
At least eight sailors were killed, and dozens were
wounded. There were also examples of kindness and
camaraderie. When HMS Blonde went aground of
remote Seal Island in 1782, the captains of two
American privateers helped to rescue the survivors,
then set them free.
Privateers were again dispatched in the 1790s,
ahead of the Napoleonic Wars, this time in search
of French and Spanish ships. Liverpool, on Nova
Scotia’s south shore, joined Halifax as a major
privateer base. One Liverpool-based vessel, the
Charles Mary Wentworth, returned in 1799 with
four prizes, including a fourteen-gun Spanish pri-
vateer captured after an hour-long ight. One of
the iercest battles of the war, however, was waged
by the Liverpool brig Rover and its crew of ifty-
four men and boys, under the command of Cap-
tain Alex Godfrey.
In September 1800 a Spanish task force
— the armed schooner Santa Ritta and three
smaller gunboats — ambushed the Rover in the
Caribbean. Stalled in a light breeze and about to
be boarded, Godfrey nimbly swung his vessel to
ire on the gunboats at close range, then boldly
attacked, boarded, and captured the Santa Ritta.
The Spanish sufered horrendous losses, but
none of the Rover’s crew was killed or injured.
The engagement, naval historian William James
wrote in the 1820s, clearly proved “how well the
hardy sons of British America could emulate
A sailor heaving the lead in John Atkinson's 1807 Costumes of Great Britain. their brother-tars of the parent country.”
Atkinson wrote and illustrated the book. A new test of the mettle of colonial privateers,
against an old enemy, lay ahead.
to the commander of the aptly named Revenge. At irst the
thirty-gun schooner was ordered to defend the province’s
coast, but soon it and other privateers were authorized to hunt
for American prizes. “Seamen and able-bodied landsmen who
W hen Britain and the United States went to war again,
Enos Collins was ready. Born in Liverpool, Nova
Scotia, he had served as an oicer on board the Charles Mary
wish to acquire riches and honour,” said one enticing adver- Wentworth as a young man and was familiar with the busi-
tisement in the Nova Scotia Gazette in 1779, “are invited to ness of privateering. His ambitions “outgrew the opportuni-
repair on board the Revenge, private ship of war.” Large crews ties ofered even by the thriving seaport of Liverpool,” as his
were needed, as men would be transferred to each captured biographers have noted, and by 1812 Collins was a successful
vessel so it could be sailed back to Nova Scotia. With scores to merchant and ship owner in Halifax.
settle and trading ties to the American colonies severed, plenty That’s where he irst spotted a schooner named Severn, which
of idled ishermen and sailors were eager to sign on. There was had been seized for contravening British laws that banned the
another inducement — crewmen of privateers were protected transportation of slaves. It had been built for speed, with masts
IMAGE COURTESY OF RENÉ CHARTRAND
from the press gangs scouring Nova Scotia waterfronts and angled toward the stern as if bent in the wind and a long bow-
kidnapping sailors to serve on Royal Navy ships. sprit to carry as much sail as possible — think of Nova Scotia’s
In 1778, privateers returned to Halifax with captured ves- famous schooner Bluenose II, only smaller and sleeker. Collins,
sels at the rate of one per week. Seizing unarmed ishing boats wrote Kert in her book Privateering: Patriots and Proits in the
and merchantmen was easy and bloodless, but sometimes rival War of 1812, “knew a good privateer when he saw one” and
privateers battled toe to toe. In July 1780, of Sambro Lighthouse bought it at auction for £440. Renamed Liverpool Packet, the

Capture of Snap Dragon by The Martin, 1813, by Irwin John Bevan, shows a battle between privateers during the War of 1812.
Entrepreneurs from Saint John, New Brunswick, bought the American ship Snap Dragon and made it part of their privateering leet.
schooner ferried the mail between Liverpool and Halifax until The Yankee, a sixteen-gun brig operating out of Bristol, Rhode
the outbreak of war in June 1812. Collins was among the irst Island, led the pack with ifty-eight vessels seized. The Americans
to apply for a letter of marque. also sufered one of the deadliest disasters to befall a War of 1812
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick contributed more than privateer, and it was self-inlicted. A British warship trapped the
forty privateering vessels, and by mid-1813 Newfoundland had New York-based Young Teazer in Nova Scotia’s Mahone Bay in
commissioned nine. Over the course of the three-year conlict, April 1813. Boarding parties were approaching when the vessel
these raiders would bring home more than two hundred enemy exploded, killing twenty-nine of the thirty-seven men on board.
vessels. At one point, according to historian W.S. MacNutt, Survivors reported that a ship’s oicer, who had been released af-
thirty captured American prizes were tied up in the harbour ter an earlier capture and faced the gallows for violating his parole,
at St. John’s, and bottles of seized champagne were plentiful had ignited the vessel’s powder magazine.
THE MARINERS’ MUSEUM, NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA
enough to be used for target practice. One enterprising New- In Halifax, meanwhile, Collins moved quickly to outit the
foundland merchant, saddled with a cargo of American grind- Liverpool Packet for war. The vessel embarked on its irst cruise
stones, took advantage of the lean winter months and forced authorized to “apprehend seize and take any Ship vessel or goods”
customers buying bread to pay an extra two dollars for a stone. belonging to the enemy. It was said to be armed with ive rusted
The United States countered with some ive hundred privateers cannons that were serving as gateposts until brought out of retire-
of its own, inlicting heavy losses on British and colonial shipping. ment. It returned with two prizes and earned enough proit to
Kert estimates American privateers captured at least 1,400 vessels buy proper guns. Collins also found a new captain who could
and suspects the number may have been closer to two thousand. make the most of the Packet’s potential as a privateer.

Top: A plaque and a cannon near the Queens County
Museum in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Above: The museum
has many exhibits related to privateering, including a full-
scale replica of a schooner's bow section.
Right: A museum display about the accomplished

Liverpool privateer Captain Joseph Barss Jr.
PORT OF THE PRIVATEERS

It has been two centuries since the Liverpool Packet a weekend of music and events that recall the days
prowled the New England coast, but visitors to when Liverpool vessels set out in search of prizes.
the Queens County Museum in its namesake A highlight is an encampment of red-coated
Nova Scotia town can once again walk its re-enactors who portray members of the
deck. A full-size replica of the irst thirty- King’s Orange Rangers, a unit garri-
four feet of the vessel was installed as soned in Liverpool during the Ameri-
an interactive exhibit in 2014 to tell can Revolution to repulse attacks from
the story of the men who waged eco- American privateers.
nomic warfare in the age of sail. Large nineteenth-century homes,
Highway signs bearing the slogan built by sea captains and merchants
“Port of the Privateers” welcome visi- who grew wealthy from the sale of
tors to Liverpool, which was founded captured vessels and cargoes, line
in 1759. “Our privateers earned Liverpool’s Main Street. The closure
that name,” said Linda Rafuse, the of the area’s major employer, a pulp
museum’s director. “It’s an impor- mill shuttered in 2012, has made
COURTESY OF DEAN JOBB
A scale model of the

tant part of our history. That’s our Liverpool Packet. tourism even more important to the
drawing card.” town. Privateering — the memory of
Each June the town of 2,500, which is about a ninety- it, at least — is still a mainstay of Liverpool’s economy.
minute drive southwest of Halifax, hosts Privateer Days, –– Dean Jobb

Joseph Barss Jr., an experienced Liverpool mariner in his under a new captain. The reborn Liverpool Packet seized eigh-
mid-thirties, was the logical choice. He had commanded two teen more American vessels before hostilities ended in 1815.
privateering vessels during the Napoleonic Wars — he was “the As for Barss, he became part owner of a captured Ameri-
colony’s own Francis Drake,” wrote historian Edward Butts can privateer renamed Wolverine, which brought home eight
— and his brothers, John and James, were shareholders in the prizes. The Wolverine’s original name was the homas — in
Packet. Dark-haired and ive feet ten, with a sturdy frame and a remarkable coincidence, it was the vessel that had captured
intense grey eyes, he would be hailed as a hero in Nova Sco- him of Cape Cod.
tia and condemned as an “evil genius” in the American press.
Barss “prowled up and down the New England coast,” by one
newspaper account, “carrying of prizes under the noses of navy
brigs, revenue cutters and commerce raiders” lying the Stars
P rivateering survived as a form of warfare until 1856, when
it was outlawed as part of the Treaty of Paris negotiations
to end the Crimean War. Britain, France, Russia, and, ulti-
and Stripes. It was a perfect marriage of daring skipper and swift mately, another ifty-two nations declared that “privateering
vessel. “No spot was too perilous for Joseph Barss to reach if is and remains abolished” and agreed that letters of marque
there was a prize to be made,” noted Charles H.J. Snider in would not be issued during future conlicts. The United
Under the Red Jack, a 1920s account of East Coast privateering. States refused to sign on but nonetheless ended the practice,
Barss’s preferred hunting ground was the approaches to Bos- although the breakaway Confederate states authorized raiders
ton Harbour. The Packet was of Cape Cod and on its tenth to prey on Union shipping during the American Civil War.
cruise on the morning of June 11, 1813, when it was spotted Privateers may not have been pirates, but waging a form of
by the homas. The ships exchanged ire until the Packet ran warfare for the sake of prizes and money makes them look,
to modern eyes, more like mercenaries than patriots ight-
ing for their country. Unlike naval commanders, they could
PRIVATEERING SURVIVED AS A choose their battles — they could pick of easy targets and
avoid armed merchant vessels or other targets willing to put
FORM OF WARFARE UNTIL 1856, up a ight. “The bottom line, not bravery, was the deciding
factor” in captures, Kert has observed. Privateering ofered
WHEN IT WAS OUTLAWED AS “an opportunity to serve one’s country while conveniently
serving oneself.”
PART OF THE TREATY OF PARIS It remained a risky business, however. Many privateers
were killed in action or, like the unlucky narrator of “Bar-
NEGOTIATIONS TO END THE rett’s Privateers,” were maimed or wounded. Storms and
shipwrecks were occupational hazards. There was another,
CRIMEAN WAR. more patriotic bottom line: Privateers made an important
contribution to the war efort by attacking the enemy’s com-
out of ammunition. Barss ordered his crew to dump four of merce, communications, and supply lines.
the ive cannons to lighten the vessel, then it led. After a ive- George Nichols, one of the irst to chronicle the exploits
hour chase, and with no hope of escape, he surrendered. The of Atlantic Canada’s privateers, argued they deserve to be
homas’s trigger-happy crew continued to ire on the defenceless remembered not as “unscrupulous adventurers” but as cou-
Packet, killing three members of its own boarding party. rageous and honourable warriors. Liverpool historian Janet
In an era when the norm was for captured privateer crews Mullins agreed, describing them as “daring and intrepid,
to be quickly swapped and for captains and oicers to be re- self-sacriicing and patriotic mariners” whose bravery and
leased on parole, New England’s public enemy number one chivalry upheld “the best traditions of the sea.” Many pri-
was locked up in a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, jail. Ameri- vateer owners and oicers were leaders of their communities
can newspapers claimed his incarceration was retaliation for and held public oice after the War of 1812. Joseph Barss’s
British mistreatment of the captain of an American privateer, brother John, for one, was elected to the Nova Scotia leg-
but Barss’s brazen seizures and long list of prizes likely singled islature. Enos Collins, who used his privateering proits to
him out for punishment. It was months before Collins, who expand his mercantile empire, founded Nova Scotia’s irst
enlisted the aid of Nova Scotia’s lieutenant-governor, Sir bank and became one of the richest and most powerful men
John Coape Sherbrooke, secured his release. in Britain’s American colonies.
Captured privateering vessels were often used against their Joseph Barss commanded the Wolverine on a privateering
former owners, and the Packet soon put to sea under new cruise to the West Indies in 1814 before retiring from seafar-
names, irst as Young Teazer’s Ghost and then as the Ports- ing. His imprisonment after the Packet’s capture, biographer
mouth Packet. The Americans inherited Barss’s vessel but not Catherine Pross has suggested, left him in poor health. He
his luck. Within a few months the ship was spotted by the settled on a farm near Kentville, Nova Scotia, in 1817 and
Royal Navy’s HMS Fantome of the Maine coast, hunted died seven years later. The scourge of New England’s sailors
down, and taken to Halifax. Collins promptly bought it and ship owners, the “evil genius” behind the unparalleled suc-
back, restored its name, and sent it in search of more victims cess of the Liverpool Packet, was forty-eight.

M A G N E T I C
NORTHYOUNG RICHARD HOURDE WAS DRAWN TO THE

ARCTIC AND ITS PEOPLE DURING HIS SHORT
CAREER WITH THE BEAVER
by Katherine Schumm
I N THE SUMMER OF 1936, a twenty-one-

year-old man from London, Ontario, sat
on the shores of Baillie Island in Canada’s
Far North, listening to water lapping
against chunks of grounded ice and to the
sounds of Kentucky hillbilly music twanging
from the phonograph his Inuit companions
son’s Bay Company and its newly revamped
magazine, he Beaver.
Eighty years later, I am sitting at a desk that
belonged to my grandfather, who was Hourde’s
cousin. In my hands I have a leather wallet with
a brass zipper. I keep lipping it over and over,
thinking back on Hourde’s journey across the
were playing in a nearby tent. He continued Northwest Territories. Opening up the smooth
to take drags of his cigarette in the frigid air, wallet, I tick through the cards still tucked in
laughing to himself that the warbling “Bury the front pocket, exactly where they were when
Me Not on the Lone Prairie” was such a favou- he listened to that nighttime music. One of the
rite of local families. items is the business card he handed out while
Richard Nash Hourde sat wrapped in snow- Richard Hourde, working for the HBC; another is a dance card
covered beaver furs thousands of kilometres circa 1934. from a YMCA where he must have socialized.
from the comforts of home, tossing around I, too, am tossing around ideas for how to
IMAGES COURTESY OF KATHERINE SCHUMM
ideas for an article he had yet to pen. For the previous several write a story. It must run in the family. This time the story is
weeks, the young writer and photographer had been stranded Richard’s own, and in an act of poetic parity I am writing it for
on the island of Cape Bathurst, Northwest Territories, wait- the same magazine that once employed my relative. My task is
ing for the steamship Audrey to push past the ice loes that held a little harder though; unlike him, I don’t get to write about
it many kilometres away. Delayed as he was in getting home to sailing vessels and cartons of oranges. I am writing the story of
his grandmother, he was still surrounded by the exact material a young man who went of on a great northern adventure and
he needed to write his next story for his employers: the Hud- never made it home.

An unidentiied Inuit
man turns the camera on
Richard Hourde.

T he story of Richard Hourde’s exploits started in 1934,
when he seated himself in his grandmother’s parlour to
read a copy of Courtney Ryley Cooper’s 1929 book, Go
North, Young Man!, a tale of Canada’s northern frontier. Al-
ready an amateur photographer at the age of nineteen, Hourde
lapped up the thrilling stories of hunting bears, snowshoeing
through blowing drifts, and capturing images of northerners
in nature. Young and perhaps a little naive, he had been rest-
lessly stumbling from job to job during the Great Depression.
After reading Cooper’s book, Hourde turned to his indulgent
family for a small loan and set of for the wilderness surround-
ing Kapuskasing, Ontario, on his irst sojourn away from the
urban life he had known.
Laden with a sleeping bag, wool trousers, sheepskin-lined
moccasins, heavy fur mitts, and snowshoes, Hourde settled in
to a boarding house in “Kap” and planned his next move. He
took in some dances and went bowling, all the while stock-
piling supplies for his unfunded, experimental journey. He
bought a dog, a tent, and a little stove with folding pipes and
an oven. He planned to set up camp a few kilometres outside
of Kapuskasing and began limiting his diet to oranges and
milk in order to keep his budget in line — and to stay healthy.
He was going to photograph wolves and moose and then hunt
them for their meat and fur, selling the pelts to subsidize his
writing and photography.
Nature did not reward his enthusiasm. Everything he had
planned depended on heavy snow, but snowfalls were unusu-
ally light through most of the 1934–35 winter. Hourde sat in
his tiny tent and wrote letter after letter to his mother, begging
the heavens for more snow and outlining ideas for articles. At
the end of that irst winter, the would-be hunter had failed to
bag a single moose or wolf. He must have sustained himself on
tinned food as well as the milk and oranges.
Hourde retreated to London, Ontario, the next year to
regroup and to make contact again with the Hudson’s Bay
Company. By the spring of 1936, my tenacious relative hit
the road again, this time hitchhiking from London to Win-
nipeg, spending his twelve-day journey in motor cars, horse-
drawn wagons, and, during one leg, in the back of a truck with where he stopped to switch ships or where his vessel paused to
two pigs for companions. Finally he arrived at the Winnipeg deposit mailbags and crates of goods.
YMCA, clad in his best lannel shirt and his good hobnail At the end of June 1936, his ship stopped for forty-eight
boots, ready to talk business with Douglas MacKay of the hours to clean its boilers at Fort Norman, Northwest Territo-
HBC and he Beaver magazine (now Canada's History). ries. Hourde took the chance to paddle up the Great Bear River
After many days of spitballing ideas, and a few ireside in an RCMP canoe. He later wrote in a letter sent home that,
chats over glasses of bourbon, MacKay granted Hourde a rov- while he was out on the icy water, a storm swept in quickly
ing assignment to shoot “Eskimo” scenes in the Arctic using and forced him to paddle back madly toward Fort Norman.
company-furnished photographic equipment. His pay would Slipping ashore just ahead of the weather, Hourde tromped up
be $125 a month plus expenses. This was the big break! the riverbank straight into a pack of huskies that threatened to
Hourde scribbled the great news furiously to his mother on tear him to pieces. His letter to his mother remarked that the
plain cream-coloured stationery and quickly posted it via air- locals were quite delighted with his close call and had a grand
mail before setting sail from Edmonton on the grand adven- laugh at his expense.
ture of his life. A few days later, he arrived in Aklavik, Northwest Terri-
He travelled up the Mackenzie River, mostly aboard mas- tories, excited to greet the Indigenous residents who met the
sive paddlewheelers, including the Athabasca River and the SS ship with their own fervour — many of them had not received
Distributor. Hourde made friends easily, chumming around fresh supplies or outside news since the previous summer.
with Anglican missionaries and local folks at the various ports Hourde snapped photos as the locals lined up to buy oranges

Opposite page above: A mother and child, identities unknown, in the western Arctic, circa 1936. Opposite page below: This
photo appeared in the magazine with the caption “Freuchen, who makes a specialty of relaxation, at Baillie Island, 1936.” Above:
Unidentiied visitors disembark from a bush plane at Fort McMurray, Alberta, circa 1936. All photographs by Richard Hourde.
at a dollar per dozen and fresh eggs for a dollar and a quar- under his arm, and then visited with the man and his family in
ter — roughly four times their cost in southern Canada. He their home. Another young Inuk he met engaged Hourde in a
jotted down quick notes about how well they spoke English, long talk about his favourite toothpaste and camera equipment
courtesy of Anglican missionaries who had introduced the lan- and then invited him aboard his schooner to admire his own
guage, and how they travelled quite easily in their specialized photographic collection. Near a sprawling expanse of tundra —
Arctic schooners, one of which was named the Henry Ford. His he called it a ield — Hourde met a young boy who demanded
curiosity was piqued at the name — how had they heard of the a bribe of a single orange before he would sit for a photo, posing
famous automobile tycoon? with his citrus treat among Arctic lowers.
His party pushed farther north, stopping in Kittigazuit, Hourde found it nearly as thrilling to spend time in the
then Tuktoyaktuk, and all the way out to Baillie Island over company of Rev. Archibald Fleming, the Anglican bishop of
the course of about three weeks. All the while, Hourde spent the Arctic, and to watch him preach to the local communities
IMAGE COURTESY OF KATHERINE SCHUMM
time among the Inuit, dining with them and making as many as he worked to bridge the colliding cultures. Every letter sent
friends as he could. home was packed full of such tales and was sufused with an
One young man he met had just come ashore in a kayak. He overwhelming joy for living, if for a short period, in a very
greeted Hourde jovially and, with a broad smile, proceeded to diferent world.
haggle with the stranger, soliciting him to buy a carton of ciga- When it was time to head back south, the trip took a peril-
rettes for ive dollars — the equivalent of more than eighty dol- ous turn. Grievously icy conditions in the western Arctic stranded
lars today. The photographer happily agreed, tucked the carton Hourde and his district manager on Baillie Island for four weeks

RCMP oficers heading north. Left to right:
Corporal Ernest Covell, Constable Gifford
Moore, and Constable R.W. Christie. Photo
by Richard Hourde.
Opposite page: The second page of the

condolence letter written by Douglas MacKay
of the HBC to Hourde’s mother.
U.S. ARMY PHOTOGRAPHER, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

as they waited for the Audrey to pick them up. Night
after night, Hourde watched out over the water, coun-
try music yodelling across the ice, wondering if his ship
would ever make it or if the icy conditions might keep
him ashore on the island for many more months.
In haste, Hourde and his travelling companion
made the risky choice to hop aboard a smaller ves-
sel to catch the Audrey on Herschel Island. After
two days on the second island, and with no sign of
the promised ship, impatience inally got the bet-
ter of Hourde. He and another fellow made for
Aklavik via schooner. They might have succeeded,
but for the walls of ice barring their way. During
the irst week of September, the small schooner
struggled between grounded ice loes and the
shore. During one of those early fall nights, the
ice closed in on them. The men built two ires
and made camp on the beach between them.
The ice had completely hemmed them in; they
couldn’t even go back the way they came. The
snow was lying furiously, and they wondered
throughout the freezing cold and very dark night if a
rescue by airplane would be needed once the snow let up.
Clara Nash-Blanchard, was able to travel
I t is at this point in the story that I look out at my own snow-

covered landscape. Icicles hang from tree branches, and thick
snowbanks obscure the view of the road from my warm
and toasty home.
I want to pad over to the thermostat and tick up the tem-
to Kapuskasing to be with him for a brief time. Wheth-
er that was one day or several, she apparently complained of the
cold drafts through his hospital room the whole time. After he
died, she was the one who brought his body home.
Douglas MacKay, the HBC employee who had hired Hourde,
perature just a bit, and I struggle to imagine a night sleeping hand-wrote a letter of condolence to his mother, my great-aunt,
on the ground in the High Arctic surrounded by unyielding in April 1937. (This was just eight months prior to MacKay’s
ice blocks. Perhaps I did not inherit Hourde’s fortitude. own death in the iery crash of a fourteen-seater Zephyr plane.)
Hourde made it through that night in September 1936, “We had all here become genuinely attached to your son and
and by the next day conditions had improved enough that the we often remarked how certain he was of a real career in photo-
schooner was able to push through the ice. By early October, graphic work,” MacKay wrote. “His pictures, which we shall be
Hourde had arrived home in London, where he developed his using in he Beaver from time to time during the next year, will
photos and combed through all of his materials. The Decem- be reminders to us of his own merits.”
ber 1936 issue of he Beaver marked his publication debut,
with the printing of his photo essay “From the Western Arctic.”
That winter the restless Hourde eagerly awaited the coming
summer and the promise of his next HBC assignment in the
North. He could not resist, though. He had to get back out
into the wilderness even before that commission. So he packed
A s I thumb through the substantial, overly full binder
that holds all of Hourde’s original photos, ink draw-
ings and doodles, letters home, and magazine clippings
from he Beaver, I see that the last entry is a Canadian Paciic
Telegraph telegram of sympathy. This and MacKay’s letter take
his tent, camping stove, and snowshoes (no word on what had the place of what should have been countless more letters from
happened to the dog) and headed back to the Kapuskasing Hourde to his family, describing hillbilly music, packs of growl-
area, where he contracted with the Abitibi Power and Paper ing huskies, Inuit children and their oranges, and so many more
Company to photograph its operations. tales that were never to be told — not by him.
The last letter Hourde ever sent home was from Cochrane, Instead I sit here shuling through maps and letters, trying
Ontario, on February 20, 1937. Writing to his mother on to retrace his brief and fantastic adventures, trying to stitch
moose-adorned stationery from the Stevens House hotel, together all of the stories — many of them elevated to legend at
he said all was well and that he was about to catch a train to our family gatherings. he Beaver went on to publish his pho-
Moosonee. tos and articles on occasion well into the 1950s. And, all these
Hourde never made it on board. He took ill on February 25, years later, we still talk of him: Richard Nash Hourde, hero
developing a viral infection that quickly turned into pneumo- to his little cousin, my grandfather, Robert Stevens. Daring
nia. He was treated at the Kapuskasing hospital, where he died photographer. Loving son. The great Arctic adventurer whose
on March 3, 1937, at the age of twenty-one. His grandmother, life was cut short but whose stories and pictures endure.

One of Benjamin Chee Chee’s
famous goose paintings: Untitled,
acrylic on paper, circa 1976.

DANCING
HIS OWN
LINE
A CLOSE FRIEND REMEMBERS THE RAPID RISE AND
TRAGIC FALL OF OJIBWA ARTIST BENJAMIN CHEE CHEE.
BY ERNIE BIES
B
ALL ARTWORK IS REPRODUCED COURTESY OF GUY MATTAR, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF BENJAMIN CHEE CHEE. OPPOSITE PAGE: PRIVATE COLLECTION
ENJAMIN CHEE CHEE HAD IT ALL. By January 1977, summer of 1976, after a long separation from his mother,
he had achieved the goals he had set for himself. he inally located her in a tourist camp in northern Quebec,
He wanted to be appreciated as an artist, one where she was working. In his typically lamboyant style, he
whose work was instantly recognized. He wanted rented a plane and lew in unannounced to surprise her. She
respect from merchants who would supply his was swimming with some children, and Benjamin jumped
everyday needs and not demand immediate payment. He into the water fully clothed to embrace her. He brought her
wanted friends and love, and, above all, he wanted to ind his back to Ottawa with him, his family now complete.
mother; he had lost track of her years before. After selling every one of his paintings at a show in Van-
In his short career as an artist, Benjamin had risen from paint- couver in January 1977, he returned to Ottawa with plans
ing movie posters to seeing shows of his work mounted from coast to relocate to British Columbia with his mother. But irst he
to coast in Canada. His paintings were sought after in the United wanted to have one last show in Ottawa to coincide with his
States and in Germany. He enjoyed ine clothes, good wine and thirty-third birthday on March 26, 1977. He spent Febru-
food, and his drink of choice was Chivas Regal. He could walk ary creating new works, designing posters and newspaper ads,
into Chuck Delino’s men’s shop on Bank Street in Ottawa and and making a list of people to invite, including the prime
walk out with the best suit without ever having asked the price. minister, the Governor General, and the mayor of Ottawa.
When he needed a new pair of his favourite Beatle boots, Flor- Benjamin was on top of the world. Then came the tragic
sheim Shoes on Sparks Street took care of him. Wallack’s Art night of March 11. Arrested for creating a disturbance in one
Supplies ran a tab when he needed brushes, paint, or his favourite of his favourite restaurants, he was handcufed, taken to the
Arches paper. Jimmy’s Tavern and La Gondola restaurant in Ot- police station, and thrown into a cell for uncooperative pris-
tawa and Café Versailles across the river in Hull, Quebec, pro- oners. It was a bare cage.
vided him with food and drink, knowing he would pay at the end What went through his mind in the next few minutes that
of the month — and he was, after all, a big tipper. caused him to take his own life? There is no simple answer.
Benjamin had no shortage of friends, some fair-weather Benjamin Chee Chee lived life as a shooting star, briely light-
and others who genuinely cared about him. Tall and good- ing up the world around him before running out of energy,
looking, he never lacked for female companionship. In the his lame prematurely extinguished by tragedy.

B enjamin was born in Temagami, Ontario, a region of lakes
and woods northeast of Sudbury. He was an Ojibwa, the
only child of Josephine and Angus Chee Chee, who named him
control. In a CBC Radio interview, Ben spoke candidly about
his early life. “The memories of Temagami that I had were
good and bad, some ugly .... I used to stay out late at night,”
Kenneth Thomas. He was born in the house of his mother’s he recalled. “I didn’t start to drink until I was eleven years old
friend, Angele Egwuna Belaney, the irst wife of Archie Belaney, .... I stole things. I got into big trouble.”
the Englishman who had adopted First Nations ways and had When he was twelve, Benjamin and some of his friends bor-
become famous as the naturalist Grey Owl. It was Angele who rowed a car for a joyride. He was sent to a Roman Catholic re-
suggested that his parents add the name Benjamin. form school, St. Joseph’s Training School for boys, in Alfred, On-
His mother, Josephine Marie, grew up in Notre-Dame-du- tario, more than ive hundred kilometres to the southeast. With
Nord, Quebec. She moved to Haileybury, Ontario, and then no stable home to return to, he remained there for more than
to Temagami, where she met Angus, a tourist guide, trapper, four years. Hundreds of men have come forward over the years
and woodsman whom she married in 1943. Benjamin, who with stories of abuse at the school and have won signiicant settle-
was born in 1944, did not qualify for the designation of status ments. There have also been many suicides among its victims.
(registered) Indian because his parents were non-status and he Benjamin said he enjoyed playing hockey at St. Joseph’s,
was born of-reserve. Although the exclusion haunted him all but he would not talk about his time there except to refer to
his life, and even after his death, it also drove him to succeed the Christian Brothers, who were in charge, with a derogatory
on his own. As he told the Ottawa Citizen in 1973, “I want sexual expletive. Friends assumed that his words relected the
to do it by myself. Otherwise they will want to own you — abuse he sufered.
they’ll say ‘I helped you then.’ No one can say that now.” Richard McCann, a fellow student at the school, remem-
On March 24, 1945, while Angus was gathering irewood bered Ben’s repeated eforts to run away. “When they would
with two other woodsmen from the village, their truck broke bring him back they would literally beat him unconscious.
through the ice of Lake Temagami, and he drowned. He was First the students would be made to beat him, then the broth-
buried on Bear Island on Benjamin’s irst birthday. ers would beat him. He would never say a word, never cry
The early tragedy set the pattern for the diiculties Benja- out,” McCann told the Ottawa Citizen in 1990. He added
min Chee Chee was to encounter for the rest of his life. After that the Christian Brothers said Benjamin “could take a beat-
Angus’s death, Josephine had to ind paid work, often leaving like a man.” Benjamin left the facility an angry young
ing her young son in the care of others. As he grew older she man. The mistreatment he sufered helped to fuel the alcohol
noticed that he loved to draw and whittle, talents that under addiction he would battle his entire life.
diferent circumstances might have been developed sooner. His mother married Ed Roy in 1960 and moved to North
She also noticed a tendency to wildness in him that, because Bay, Ontario. On his release from St. Joseph’s, Benjamin came
of her own diiculties with alcohol abuse, she was unable to to live with them for a time, tried going to school in Sudbury,
Top and far right: Headline and

photo from a proile of Benjamin
Chee Chee in the Ottawa Citizen,
December 8, 1973.
Above and right: Reviews from

Ottawa newspapers of Benjamin’s
irst exhibition, in 1973.
COURTESY OF ERNIE BIES

and then returned to Temagami to be near his only friend,
Hugh McKenzie, whom he thought of as a brother. Benjamin
lived with Charlotte Peshabo and her husband on the nearby
Bear Island Reserve. Charlotte, who had been present at his
birth, cautioned him to avoid the gang of boys from his past;
but when they came calling he could not resist. The boys got
into mischief, including some “after-hours shopping” at the
Hudson’s Bay store, which led to Benjamin’s arrest. Charlotte
did not hear from him for years. He felt he had let her down,
and he decided to strike out on his own. Over the next few
years, he drifted through northern Ontario, trying his hand
at a variety of jobs and constantly running afoul of the law,
usually for liquor-related ofences. During this time, he lost
track of his mother.
In 1965 Ben moved to Montreal. Throughout the previ-
ous tumultuous years he had continued to display his artistic
talents, but he never found the support or the courage to pro-
mote himself as an artist. Benjamin busied himself with odd
jobs, becoming an exterior painter. He would point proudly
to the British pavilion at the Montreal world’s fair, Expo 67, This mixed-media work by Benjamin Chee Chee, Thunderbird
and say he worked on the two-hundred-foot-high scafolds Design, circa 1973, was bought at auction in 2017 and donated
where no one else would go. to the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa.
While on the Expo 67 site he undoubtedly would have vis-
ited the Indians of Canada pavilion and likely would have
made the acquaintance of some of the Indigenous artists who Assuming that Benjamin could beneit from federal grant and
were commissioned to create murals and other artworks for assistance programs in Ottawa, Brown sent a letter to Cathy
that project. Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, and George Donnelly Eberts, an employee of what was then the Depart-
Clutesi were among the commissioned artists. Several Indig- ment of Indian Afairs and Northern Development (DI-
enous Canadian artists also took part in an international exhi- AND), in 1972. That letter opened the door to Ben’s career
bition at Expo 67, something that may have inluenced Ben- as an artist.
jamin’s desire to pursue a career that would use his talents. Eberts worked with Six Nations artist Tom Hill in the Cul-
He found work with a promotional company doing posters tural Development and Education Branch of DIAND. Benja-
and billboards for movies. He was able to use his talent by min called her to follow up on Brown’s letter, and she decided
illustrating posters for ilms such as Yellow Submarine, where to visit him in Montreal. He was living in a neat basement
his love of abstract and surrealist work became apparent. His apartment with his partner at the time, Lucille L’Orange,
favourite project was a promotional display for he Graduate who was very supportive and even had him on the wagon.
in 1968, in which the leading character’s name was Benja- Eberts examined Benjamin’s portfolio of paintings, which
min Braddock. Chee Chee took great pleasure in painting the demonstrated techniques such as stencil, spatter, stipple, and
name “Benjamin” in large letters on a billboard. sponge. His subject matter relected his First Nations inlu-
In an efort to connect with Montreal’s artistic commu- ences; the works bore titles such as hunderbird Design and
nity, he attended cofee houses and bars frequented by artists Bufalo Design. The geometric patterns that later dominated
and would shyly show them some of his early attempts. Well- his abstract period were also evident.
known artists Robin and Dorothy Watt encouraged him to Eberts said some pieces were interesting and some were
devote more time to his art and to try diferent techniques bad, but she brought back several to display around her oice
and media. Dorothy presented him with a set of woodcarving with a note on the back that introduced him to the Ottawa
tools as well as a portable easel and painting supplies. Know- market: “Benjamin Chee Chee is an Ojibway from Tema-
ing that he had no formal art training, she gave him several gami, Ontario. He has started to paint seriously quite recently
books on the subject; one was a very basic book called Fun but the results are obviously very good. Due to his inancial
with Art that helped him to develop his stencilling and spat- circumstances Ben has had limited experience with diferent
ter-painting techniques. Watt also invited him to work in her media and techniques but hopefully with the sale of some of
studio, where she could coach him as he learned. his works will come a little money for art supplies. The work
A lawyer in Montreal named Fred C. Brown met Benja- you see here is done with inks and oil base paints. Each one is
COURTESY OF THE HEFFEL
min in 1969 and took an interest in him, providing advice an original and they are for sale.” She added her oice phone
and assistance that sparked the artist’s brief career. Brown de- number at the end for anyone interested in the work.
scribed Ben as “a brilliant man, logical, inventive, impeccable Benjamin’s unfortunate interactions with police continued
in his personal habits, meticulous in any work he performed.” during his eight years in Montreal, resulting in six stays at the

infamous Bordeaux prison. Looking for a new start, he decid- the label ‘Indian artist’ just as he rejected the traditional form
ed to move to Ottawa in 1973. He thought he could receive and materials of ‘Indian’ art.”
support and assistance from DIAND but learned that he was Pierre Gaignery of the Nicholas Art Gallery later observed,
not eligible; the department’s policy at the time was that only “Bennie went his own way and sometimes incorporated him-
status Indians qualiied for grants and training programs. self into a painting. He’d paint a group of animals or birds
Brown contacted Pierre and Marie Gaignery at the Nicholas with a lone image going in the opposite direction, saying,
Art Gallery in Ottawa and arranged for them to see Benjamin’s ‘That’s me.’” Benjamin tried several diferent styles, including
work. They were immediately taken by his versatility and range portraits and landscapes, but he always returned to his irst
and gave him his irst exhibition in July 1973. The works were loves, abstracts and birds. At times he would set up his easel
mostly abstract designs but included some paintings of birds and and sketch local scenes along the Rideau Canal or at Rideau
lowers and collages using beads on burlap. Ben attended the Falls near Ottawa’s city hall, but he felt self-conscious with
opening. Even at twenty-nine years old, he still found it hard to onlookers observing him too closely. He resorted to taking
believe that people would actually pay for his work. photographs from which he could work in privacy.
Jenny Bergin’s review in the Ottawa Citizen was titled “Tal-
ent trebled.” She suggested that viewers might think that, given
his range, “two — or even three — people were responsible for
Benjamin Chee Chee’s exhibition.” W.Q. Ketchum wrote in
I irst encountered Benjamin Chee Chee early in 1974 when
I worked at DIAND. I had been intrigued by the images on
posters for his exhibition at the University of Ottawa. One day
the Ottawa Journal, “Though he is largely self-taught, his work he wandered into my oice attempting to sell some paintings.
is at a professional level.” Tom Hill, who was coordinating I chose one and asked the price. With a mischievous gleam
the Canadian Indian Art 74 exhibition for the Royal Ontario in his eye, he responded, “How much money do you have?” I
Museum, bought a painting of a group of bison sheltering in counted out all the money I had with me, which totalled forty
the haze of a dust storm for the DIAND collection. Hill also dollars. He said, “Forty dollars,” and then reconsidered, saying
paid eight hundred dollars for a large painting entitled Migra- he didn’t want to leave me with nothing. He gave me a dollar
tion, which showed the tracks of caribou wandering aimlessly. back. We formed an instant friendship that day.
Benjamin’s second exhibition was held at the University Over the next few years he dropped by my oice many
of Ottawa in December 1973 and contained works similar times to visit or called me when he needed help, which was of-
to his irst. Catherine Jutras wrote a detailed article in the ten. The help ranged from advancing him money for food and
Ottawa Citizen entitled “Ojibway artist — selling beads back art supplies to helping him move when he wore out another
to the white man.” landlord’s patience, inding him legal representation when he
“‘I think of myself as an Ojibway artist — a member of the crossed the line, or just listening when he needed to talk.
Ojibway nation,’” she quoted him as saying, adding, “he rejects My oice was on the messy side, and one day he brought me
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Left: Benjamin Chee Chee folded a piece of scrap metal into one of his trademark “Benjie birds,” circa 1975. Right: He painted this lat
rock from the river to be a paperweight at around the same time.

Above: Untitled, acrylic on paper, circa 1972, by Benjamin
Chee Chee. This painting was purchased by Tom Hill, a fellow
Indigenous artist, for the federal government’s collection.
Left: Untitled (Ottawa Street Scene 2), print, circa 1974, also by
Chee Chee.
Fred Brown, and Cathy Donnelly Eberts, and he considered

Pierre and Marie Gaignery his second family. While he at-
tracted companionship in bars as long as he had money, there
were times when he found himself alone and reached out for
support. One Christmas Day he called me. I invited him over,
ABOVE: INDIGENOUS ART CENTRE, INDIGENOUS AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS CANADA. BELOW: PRIVATE COLLECTION
but, while he said he did not want to impose on my family

day, he kept me on the phone for an hour or more. Brown
also talked of getting phone calls, usually in the middle of the
night, in which a lonely Ben would chat for hours.
a lat rock from the river that he had painted and signed. He told Ben lived in an apartment in Ottawa’s Centretown neigh-
me that I now had the only Chee Chee paperweight in the world. bourhood and was a popular patron of nearby bars such as the
Another time, as we were walking down the street, he picked up Gilmour House and the Alexandra Hotel. After a big payday
a piece of metal strapping and twisted it while we walked, only to he’d be known to buy a round for the house. He had countless
discard it. I picked it up and asked him why he threw it away. He friends until his money ran out. He was a charmer, quick-witted
said, “It’s just a piece of junk.” I said, “No, Ben; it’s art.” He had and blessed with a sense of humour that was apparent in many
created a perfect image of one of his “Benjie birds.” of his paintings. When he drank his mood darkened and he
Wishing to help him reach a wider audience, I took a selec- would lash out, even at his best friends. I was never subjected to
tion of his work to galleries in Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, this anger, but I was aware of its potential. Ben, who stood ive
and Waterloo in Ontario. They were all interested in taking feet ten and a half inches tall and weighed 165 pounds, was de-
some pieces on consignment; by the time I got home they ceptively strong and did not react to pain, a stoicism that dated
were calling for more. back to his early days at the training school in Alfred.
Always appreciative of those who helped him, Benjamin While waiting for his big breakthrough, Benjamin busied
spoke with great reverence about people like Dorothy Watt, himself with small commissions illustrating legends, certii-

Top: Benjamin Chee Chee in his Hull,
Quebec, apartment, July 20, 1975.
Above: Writer Ernie Bies in a 1975
photo taken by Benjamin Chee Chee.
Right: Benjamin often worked for days
on end while focused on his painting.
This photo was taken August 3, 1975.
cates of achievement, and teachers manuals for the education lithographs featuring four local scenes. While the street scenes
branch of DIAND. His iconic stylized Canada goose image demonstrated one aspect of his talent, he wanted to perfect a
began to take shape. In 1974, People’s Art published his irst style that would be instantly recognizable as his work.
limited edition of four lithographs, known as the animal se- DIAND had created the Central Marketing Service (CMS),
ries: Running Horses, Black Bear, Sea Otter, and Mountain later the Canadian Indian Marketing Service (CIMS), to as-
Sheep. His Migration was displayed at the Canadian Indian sist and to promote Indigenous artists and craftspeople, re-
Art 74 exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, hanging gardless of status. CMS collected works from aspiring artists
beside works by Canada’s leading Indigenous artists. across Canada and acted as a wholesale supplier to galleries
That same year, Benjamin produced the Ottawa series of in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Its staf provided

From the Montreal series of lithographs, circa 1975. Benjamin Chee Chee returned frequently to the image of goose family groupings.
mentoring, training, and promotional services. Benjamin was at a star. The National Indian Brotherhood commissioned
introduced to CMS by fellow artist John Dockstader and a series of original paintings that were used to illustrate its
soon became a regular visitor and a rising star among its art- entire 1975 calendar. Throughout this period, Benjamin ex-
ists and artisans. perimented with his style and subject matter.
On August 31, 1974, he was featured in the Ottawa Journal He opened the year 1975 with another exhibition at the
in a full-page proile that included a large photograph of the Nicholas Art Gallery. It included thirty new works featuring
artist at work. “When I draw ish or birds or animals they have moose, geese, and seals plus some abstracts. W.Q. Ketchum
no symbolic meaning from the past. For me they are animals of the Ottawa Journal praised the show, noting, “he has a ine
of the present and I draw them because I like their clean lines color sense and his work has an admirable economy of line.”
and beautiful shapes,” Benjamin told the newspaper. The ar- The review in the Citizen was less kind. Although reviewer
ticle said he was working on a portfolio of stamp designs that Kathleen Walker acknowledged that “the collection consists
he wanted to send to Canada Post so that everyone who got of free-wheeling, imaginative drawings,” she dismissed the
a letter with his bird stamps on it could say, “I am collecting distinctive style Benjamin had worked so hard to achieve, say-
the art of Benjamin Chee Chee.” Nothing came of the efort. ing, “once you’ve seen one ... you’ve seen them all.”
The November 1974 issue of Canadian Indian Artcrafts Soon after, Robert McKeown proiled Ben in a feature article
proiled Benjamin, saying his work was “reminiscent of Paul in the Toronto Telegram’s Weekend magazine published on Janu-
Klee.” It also reported that Dr. Ted Brasser had purchased ary 11, 1975. Titled “The Search of Benjamin Chee Chee — to
several of his works for the permanent collection of what was ind fame and his mother,” the piece opened by saying, “Benja-
then called the National Museum of Man. min Chee Chee isn’t famous yet but he’s positive he will be. Not
Benjamin continued to develop his iconic birds, which arrogantly positive, just conidently positive.”
PRIVATE COLLECTION
would ultimately bring him the recognition he sought, and His friends cautioned Ben to exercise strong control of
closed out the year with a commission for a non-denomi- the marketing of his work and to continue to experiment as
national greeting card that featured three geese marvelling an artist. Eberts, one of his original champions, told me in

a 1977 interview that, after his initial triumphs, Ben went they became rock-steady. Focusing on a blank sheet of paper,
through a period of laziness, “churning things out for quick he would create the wing of a bird in one continuous luid
sales and ignoring advice on properly marketing his work.” motion. Without measuring or sketching in advance, he in-
With the early success, he had started drinking again, she stinctively knew where to begin and to end the brush stroke,
said, prompting a breakup with Lucille L’Orange. how much paint he needed, and when to turn the brush.
The CIMS provided Ben with studio space, in the form of That apartment was the base for many misadventures that
a drafting table used by its commercial artists, art supplies, demonstrated Ben’s disregard for his own well-being. The
and a stable work environment. The organization collected Café Versailles was just down the street, and he was on good
his works for future exhibitions and began to promote him. terms with the management. One day he had an argument
Peter Allard, who worked with CIMS at the time, met Ben in with his girlfriend and stormed out of the restaurant, kicking
June 1975 and gave him dedicated support and mentoring. the door open and, in the process, breaking the glass. He im-
“Benjamin tended to work in spurts of enthusiasm. Nothing mediately went back to the manager and put the cost, some
for a month and then a week of working night and day,” he four hundred dollars, on his tab. He then said to the manager,
said. “Not all of his work was accepted, and he would simply “That’s my door now, right?” When the manager agreed, Ben
tear up the rejected pieces.” went to his apartment, came back with a hatchet, and pro-
Benjamin’s paintings were included in group shows that ceeded to chop the rest of the glass out of the door.
year in Toronto, Kingston, and Brantford, Ontario. On No- Once Benjamin decided to swim home from Gatineau,
vember 16, 1975, Governor General Jules Léger opened the forgetting about the powerful current in the Ottawa River.
newest gallery at what was then called the McMichael Cana- He eventually came ashore well downstream, minus his shirt
dian Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario; it was dedicated solely and boots, later saying he had loated on his back and enjoyed
to Indigenous artists. Benjamin was thrilled that his work was looking at the stars.
included in the company of talents such as Norval Morris- That Christmas, Ben and Hugh realized that they didn’t
seau, Carl Ray, and Jackson Beardy. He had now joined the have a tree, so they took the fully decorated tree from their
ranks of those who had been represented at Expo 67. building’s lobby and dragged it up to the ifteenth loor, leav-
ing a trail of needles and broken ornaments right to their door.
T hat summer, after a visit back to Bear Island, Benjamin

and his old friend Hugh McKenzie moved into a bright
apartment across from Jacques-Cartier Park in Hull (now part
It wasn’t long before the angry superintendent came knocking.
In a panic they threw the tree of the balcony, and it landed on
a parked car ifteen loors below. Ben paid for all the damages,
of the city of Gatineau, Quebec). Ben furnished the apart- and I helped him to move shortly afterwards.
ment with government surplus furniture and his few other As relected by his art, with its minimalist lines, Ben seemed
possessions, including one cooking pot and his art supplies. to operate with little need for possessions. When he moved he
He modiied a wooden table by drilling several holes in it to simply took his art supplies and his clothes and left all his fur-
hold his brushes. niture behind. He gave me his paint-spattered table, of which
He would subject himself to marathon painting sessions, I have made great use over the last forty years.
sometimes lasting two days without a break, relying on Ben- Ben had no use for address books, ledgers, or detailed writ-
zedrine pills — aptly nicknamed bennies — to stay awake. ten records; he was blessed with a phenomenal memory and
Occasionally he would make a mistake or run out of ideas, honoured his debts.
sparking an instant of rage when he would throw his jar of On Friday afternoon he would visit CIMS, sell his week’s
paint against the wall in frustration. When the anger sub- production, and then make the rounds to pay of his accounts
sided, he knew he would have to pay for the cleanup and before hitting the bars. By Sunday, lat broke and hungry,
repainting; I once jokingly suggested that he just sign it and he’d call friends for help.
leave the new tenants with an original Chee Chee painting. Often, after one of these weekends, I would meet him at
It was fascinating to watch him at work. Although his a restaurant or grocery store and buy him food. I tried to
hands had a slight tremor, when he picked up his paintbrush advise him to put some money aside for a rainy day, but he

Opposite page: A review from the October
2, 1976, edition of the Kitchener-Waterloo
Record praised Benjamin Chee Chee’s
command of sweeping lines.
Clockwise from top left: Untitled, acrylic on
paper, circa 1975. Untitled, acrylic on paper,
circa 1975. Untitled, acrylic on canvas,
circa 1975.
TOP AND CENTRE LEFT: BURT CURTIS, BENJAMIN CHEE CHEE COLLECTION OF THE THUNDER BAY ART GALLERY.
scofed, “Money is just paper. I can draw something on this two black eyes and a bent nose. I asked him what happened,
napkin and sell it — that’s my money.” He lived for the day and he said it was the cops. I asked if he wanted to do anything
and never seemed to worry about tomorrow, although he did about it, and he said, with pride, “No, I deserved it. But it took
once ask me how he could be a straight-living guy like me. I four of them.” He accepted that his actions had consequences.
think we both realized that, with his artistic temperament, he One summer day in 1975 he “borrowed” a car on Bank
was a long way from a life in the suburbs. Street, unconcerned that he had no licence or insurance, and
Ben’s devil-may-care attitude often got him into jams. On side-swiped another car. I found him a lawyer, Eric Williams,
one occasion he even found himself married. The marriage and Ben made good all the damages and ines; he received a
only lasted a few months, and none of his friends or agents suspended sentence for his crime. He insisted on hand-deliv-
RIGHT: INDIGENOUS AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS CANADA
were aware of it until after his death. Occasionally he would ering payments to people for the damages to their cars, along
ask friends to hold money for him. Charlie Smith, a buddy with an apology.
from the Gilmour Hotel, recalled, “Once I was holding $160 Williams was impressed with Ben’s integrity and genuine re-
for him when he called from the Val Tétreault jail in Hull morse after causing trouble to other people. He felt Ben’s risk-
saying he needed $100 for bail. Then he went around telling taking would eventually catch up with him but observed that Ben
everyone that I had saved his life.” was determined to live life to the fullest: “He packed sixty years of
Ben was respectful of the law when he was thinking clearly, living into his thirty-two-year life.”
although he did have a police record dating back to 1961, most- On a later visit, I saw a very nice Chee Chee painting in Wil-
ly for alcohol-related ofences. Once he arrived at my oice with liams’ oice. Ben would often give his paintings away to people

who had helped him, whether they were oicers of the court, taxi excited about another solo exhibition at the Marion Scott
drivers, police oicers, or waitresses. Gallery in Vancouver at the end of January. His good friend
Fred Brown, who now lived in Victoria, would be there, and
I n January 1976, James Purdie of the Globe and Mail re-

viewed a solo exhibition of Benjamin’s work at the Evans
Gallery in Toronto. He supported Ben’s rejection of the “In-
afterward Ben would be able to boast of having had one-man
shows from coast to coast. He even attended an Alcoholics
Anonymous meeting with his mother, but he was not ready
dian artist” label, saying that attitude was “important, too, to to commit. His paintings were now selling for ive hundred to
the whole art movement now lourishing but lacking diver- a thousand dollars apiece, a far cry from the twenty or thirty
sity among the Ojibway.” Benjamin did not subscribe to the dollars he’d been getting just ive years earlier.
Woodland style founded by Norval Morrisseau; instead he Benjamin spent three weeks in Victoria, where he had
preferred to develop his own unique approach. many heart-to-heart talks about his life with his friend. Brown
The rest of 1976 saw a constant lurry of activity, including mostly listened. “All of the dark and dreadful caverns of his
exhibitions in Waterloo and in Halifax as well as the releases of mind were explored, all his terrors and fears were expressed;
a new edition of six silkscreen prints featuring animals and birds he knew the ultimate result of his addiction — the loss of his
and of boxed Christmas cards featuring Ben’s stylized caribou. great talent,” Brown recalled. “Yet he had hope and determi-
The highlight of 1976 was undoubtedly Ben’s reunion with nation: After moving permanently to Victoria at the end of
his mother. Peter Allard of CIMS had heard that she was in March, he intended to do something about that addiction,
northern Quebec. He located her working at a tourist camp in and I know he was serious, for he was a determined man.”
Notre-Dame-du-Nord, near the Ontario-Quebec border. Ben But, while in Victoria, Benjamin continued his partying ways
immediately set out to ind her, chartering a plane for the last and spent a night in a local police cell.
leg. “It was June 27, and I was swimming with my nieces at the He sent me a cheery postcard: “Exhibition is a roaring suc-
Ben often said that after he died he wanted to

come back as a bird so he could soar through
the heavens forever.
camp when a plane arrived and landed on the water,” she told cess. No snow out here. Say hi to your family. Benjie.” All
me in a 1977 interview. “Ben jumped out and ran into the wa- forty-ive paintings in the exhibition sold on the irst day,
ter to give me a hug.” Josephine returned to Ottawa with him. some for as much as $1,200, and he was asked to produce
Ben spent Christmas at Bear Island with his friend Hugh several new works while he was there.
McKenzie and came back to Ottawa on January 4, 1977. He Ben had decided to relocate to Victoria with his mother,
was so anxious to get home that he called me collect from but he wanted to have one inal show in Ottawa to coin-
North Bay and asked me to send him money so he could take cide with his thirty-third birthday on March 26, 1977. All
a taxi. I managed to persuade him to take the bus. through February and early March, Benjamin could not con-
He invited me to his room at the Alexandra Hotel and with tain his excitement for the upcoming show.
great excitement unwrapped his latest prototype drawings for The morning of March 11, 1977, started with so much
a new edition of silkscreen prints that he called the family promise. He walked his mother to the bus station — she
series. He had completed them at Bear Island and brought was going to attend an AA conference in Toronto — and
them with him as he rode on the back of a Ski-Doo to Tema- then had lunch with a friend at his favourite restaurant. After
gami. The prints featured images of two mature geese with lunch he delivered his newest paintings to CIMS, and then
a gosling. “Me, and my Mom, and my Pop,” Ben said with ran into Tom Hill on the street. “He planned to do a series of
glee. His favourite was a picture of the three of them lying paintings or drawings about the inding of his mother. It was
high. Ben often said that after he died he wanted to come just another day in Chee Chee’s life,” Hill said.
back as a bird so he could soar through the heavens forever. Filled with promise and good humour, Ben returned to the
His prospects for 1977 suggested that it would be the best restaurant for some celebratory refreshments with another friend,
year of his life. Publishing house Clarke, Irwin & Company Charlie Smith.
featured Benjamin’s soon-to-be-famous Dancing Goose as the The staf began to dim the lights and drew the curtains for the
January illustration on its annual “Indian Art” calendar. He evening dinner crowd, but Ben still wanted to party. He insisted
was scheduled to attend a solo exhibition of his work at the on opening the curtains and whooping it up. The management
Wildlife Gallery in Toronto on January 8 and another at asked him to go home, even ofering to call him a taxi. When they
the Wah-sa Gallery in Winnipeg in February. He was most inally escorted him outside, Ben struggled to get back into the

Top: Silkscreen print, 1976. Lower left: Josephine Roy, Benjamin Chee Chee’s mother, displays photos of some of
his work, September 1977. Lower right: A poster advertising a show scheduled for January 1977 in Vancouver.
TOP: PRIVATE COLLECTION BOTTOM: COURTESY OF ERNIE BIES
restaurant and, in the ensuing scule, broke the door. Smith tried to go home. He was arrested, booked for drunkenness at 6:45
to take him home, but he wouldn’t leave. p.m., and placed in a cell at 6:50. Cell No. 10 is a bare cage, de-
Smith later said of Ben that “when he was drinking there void of furniture and reserved for uncooperative prisoners.
seemed to be a persecution complex…. He would be mean, Brown later wrote a scathing letter to the Citizen condemn-
and vulgar, and sometimes violent. But even at those times you ing the treatment Ben had received on his arrest. “Had he
couldn’t help but like the man. To know Ben Chee Chee was to been a senator, cabinet minister, a prominent businessman
accept him when he was drunk.” (and I am sure some of those august groups sufer from a
The police were called and tried unsuccessfully to persuade Ben similar aliction) he might have been driven home.”

Although he did not title this 1975 work, Benjamin Chee Chee described it as a self-portrait.
In the few minutes it took for Ben to make the decision to cultural problems which have developed over the several hun-
end it all, what went through his mind? The degradation of dred years in which the North American Indian has been ex-
being thrown in a cage when he had been lying so high just posed to white man’s culture. The Indians’ loss of identity, of
an hour earlier? Did he dwell on the fact that he had humili- language, of traditions, of religion, of the sense of worth and
ated himself at the restaurant where he had gained respect value, of self-respect, no doubt have contributed to Benjamin’s
and friendships? Benjamin had in the past said he wanted death, as well as the suicides of increasing numbers of young
to be a role model for his people. Did he feel like he had let Indian men and women.” Evans published a book about his re-
them down? search in 2004, entitled Chee Chee: A Study of Aboriginal Suicide.
Such thoughts may have been the inal straws when added Ben watched silently from the back of the cell as an oicer
to the burdens he was already carrying. The tremendous de- made the rounds at seven o’clock. Approximately six minutes
mand for his work by galleries and collectors, his attempts to later, the cellblock oicer returned, escorting another pris-
maintain his artistic integrity, his desire to achieve stability in oner, and found that Ben had used his shirt in an attempt
his lifestyle, and his apparent failure to cope with his personal to hang himself. The oicer cut him down, but the damage
problems likely all combined to cause him to take that last had been done. Ben was taken to the Ottawa General Hos-
tragic step. And did the abuse he sufered at St. Joseph’s Train- pital and kept on life support until his death on March 14,
ing School set him on this destructive path? 1977. The Ottawa Citizen ran a story with the headline, “He
seemed bent on self-destruction.”
T he late Dr. Alvin L. Evans, former professor emeritus at

Wilfrid Laurier University, studied and lectured on the sui-
cide epidemic among Indigenous people in Canada. In a letter
When I inquired later about how the costs of Ben’s funeral
had been paid, Gary Lafontaine of the Odawa Native Friend-
ship Centre advised me that DIAND could not provide fund-
PRIVATE COLLECTION
about Ben’s death that he wrote to me in March 1979, Evans ing because Ben was non-status; it was one inal rejection.
said “there seemed to be some obvious motivations, such as, his In a news release to other Indigenous organizations, the friend-
arrest and alcoholism. I think, however, there are some deep ship centre announced, “Within our community, a Native person

Untitled (Family in Flight), 1977. Chee Chee said this painting, which was among his last, depicted himself and his parents reunited.
has passed away. His name was Benjamin Chee Chee — and of violence involving police. His two-page rap sheet, which
with him, he took the talents of a great Indian artist. We dated back to 1961, included his irst arrest at Bear Island for
will remember him through the work he left behind.” The the Hudson’s Bay store break-in, charges for drunkenness and
centre arranged for a traditional Ojibwa funeral, with a wake ighting in Northern Ontario, six alcohol-related incarcera-
at its downtown premises, where almost one hundred people tions at the Bordeaux jail in Montreal, some visits to Hull
signed the memorial record. “All costs were covered by dona- jail, and three incidents in Ottawa, including the infamous
tions,” said Lafontaine. car theft and charges for assaulting police oicers and resist-
A service was held at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church ing arrest.
on March 18, and, according to his mother’s wishes, he was Cellblock oicers testiied that they did not think he was
buried at Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa’s east end. His seriously injured as they detected “a weak pulse and seem-
friend and fellow artist John Dockstader designed a tomb- ingly shallow breathing.” The cellblock was not equipped
stone featuring Bennie birds, but there was not enough money with resuscitation equipment, and no attempt was made to
to complete it. revive him before the ambulance arrived at 7:15 p.m. Dr.
On June 9, 1977, about a dozen members of the public Phyllis Hierlihy of the Ottawa General Hospital testiied that
attended an inquest — which is mandatory when there is a his death was the result of a prolonged lack of oxygen that
death in custody. Thirteen witnesses, including the police caused severe brain damage. She also testiied that his blood
COURTESY OF THUNDER BAY ART GALLERY
oicers who were involved, the ambulance attendant, doc- alcohol level was elevated to the point where it would have
tors, the coroner, and Pierre Gaignery all testiied about the caused profound intoxication, and that no drugs were found
grim sequence of events that led to Benjamin’s death. The in his system.
younger police oicers seemed somewhat sympathetic, stat- The coroner’s jury made three recommendations: “that cell
ing that Ben was not violent and that he was being charged block oicers be qualiied to administer artiicial respiration
with drunkenness because he was “boisterous, intoxicated, with appropriate equipment; that mandatory and frequent
and staggering.” The older oicers emphasized his history rounds of the cell block be carried out; and that a better system

of monitoring the cell block from the oicer’s desk be in-
stalled.” Perhaps, in death, Benjamin saved other lives.
The day after the inquest, special sales that had been orga-
nized by the CIMS opened in four galleries across Canada:
Nicholas in Ottawa, Inukshuk in Waterloo, Marion Scott in
Vancouver, and the Wah-sa Gallery in Winnipeg. As happens
after many artists’ deaths, the demand for Benjamin’s work
escalated along with prices.
Wah-sa Gallery had originally planned to host a solo exhi-
The notorious St. Joseph’s Training School in Alfred, Ontario, bition of his art in February 1977. “Chee Chee’s death was
where Benjamin Chee Chee spent four years. the irst we experienced in artists we represented — tragic,”
Wah-sa’s Gary Scherbain said in a recent interview. He said
PROMISE UNFULFILLED Benjamin inspired many Indigenous artists who followed

him. “His lineal style led to a number of other Indigenous
Simon Brascoupé, a prominent Algonquin art- artists patterning his style into their approach — Clemence
ist, worked at the federal government’s Central Wescoupe, Doris Cyrette, Isaac Bignell, Hugh McKenzie,
Marketing Service in the 1970s. In Benjamin Chee and Sweetpea [Leo Neilson].”
Chee’s art, Brascoupé saw echoes of traditional In November 1978 the CIMS released the family series of
stencil designs used by generations of First Nations limited-edition silkscreen prints from the originals Ben had
craftspeople in creating images of animals, birds, completed at Bear Island around Christmas 1976. They were
and plants on birchbark. well received by the public. The Chee Chee estate beneitted
He also saw loss. “He was very quiet. I think he from the sale of the prints as well as from several commercial
missed his family. I felt that he was always search- ventures that promoted and sold images created by Benjamin,
ing for something.” making Dancing Goose and Friends some of the best-known
Chee Chee’s separation from his family and his time and most easily recognizable images in Canadian art.
at reform school shaped him. “I don’t think you get The nominations committee of the Royal Canadian Acad-
over it. His life experience emy of Arts had contacted Bob Gervais, CEO of Canadian
relects the life experience Indian Marketing Services, about Benjamin in 1976. Rebecca
of many Indigenous people Sisler, the academy’s executive director, advised me in a letter
in Canada,” Brascoupé said. from March 1979 that “it was felt by the Committee that Ben-
“He was another tragedy in jamin was a young artist, still developing, and that national,
our community.” professional recognition was a little premature. Doubtless, had
Chee Chee was “just he lived, he would have become a member of the Academy.”
starting to establish himself. In 1979, I contacted Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewar and
He was experimenting with suggested that the city consider buying a 1974 Chee Chee
pushing the boundaries of original painting of Rideau Falls with the city hall in the
Simon Brascoupé. his art,” Brascoupé said. He background. She responded favourably, and a reception was
can picture another path for held on May 24, 1979, when she and Ben’s mother, Jose-
Benjamin Chee Chee — one in which he is both a well- phine Roy, unveiled the painting that would hang on the
known artist and a beacon for others who struggle. main loor of city hall. More than three hundred people at-
“Some artists start out from a dificult early life, and, tended the reception.
as they mature, they are able to get out of their ad- Benjamin lay in a grave with no headstone for twenty years,
dictions,” Brascoupé said. “He wrestled with inding its only marker a small stick decorated with colourful ribbons
himself, with who he was as an Indigenous person,” and a miniature beaded headdress that a young Indigenous girl,
TOP: COURTESY OF ERNIE BIES. BOTTOM: COURTESY OF SIMON BRASCOUPÉ
experiences he could have shared with others facing Kelly Attigiak, had placed on the grave. Carl Crozier, an Indig-
the same questions. enous man who lived nearby, brought the state of Ben’s grave
Brascoupé knows many Indigenous people who to the attention of the Ottawa Native Concerns Committee
survived residential school or who were adopted (ONCC), a volunteer advocacy group. ONCC president Alex
away from their home communities during the Six- Akiwenzie mobilized local Indigenous artists, including Simon
ties Scoop but who have been able to focus on giv- Brascoupé, Barry Ace, and Albert Dumont, members of the
ing back to their community and to supporting oth- Odawa Friendship Centre, and many of Benjamin’s friends.
ers. Like so many who knew Benjamin Chee Chee, Together they created the Benjamin Chee Chee Memorial
he wondered what was going through the artist’s Fund. Brascoupé produced a new print called Dancing Goose,
mind before he killed himself. “People weren’t which was raled of in one of many fundraising eforts. Ot-
talking about these things back then. Maybe if they tawa Sun reporter Ron Corbett wrote several stories, and ra-
were, that would have helped.” — Nancy Payne dio personalities Lowell Green and Steve Madely took to the

Left: A report on the indings of the coroner’s jury looking into Chee Chee’s death, from the June 10, 1977, Ottawa Journal. Right:
Benjamin Chee Chee’s grave went unmarked for twenty years, but on June 27, 1997, ceremonies were held to unveil this gravestone.
airwaves to publicize the cause. Local citizens and businesses the graveside gathering of about one hundred people, saying,
— including Martel and Sons Monuments, which donated “I want people to recognize him as an artist … but also as a
the gravestone — got on board, and DIAND provided a sub- human being who sufered as many of our members do.”
stantial grant. Enough donations were raised to inally erect a Ben once expressed his philosophy of life in a CBC Radio
itting tombstone on June 27, 1997. interview: “The whole world is mine if I want it. God gave
Ceremonies lasted from dawn until dusk. A ire was started you a life, and it’s up to you to do the best with it. I got lots
at a sunrise ceremony, and maintained by keeper Richard of problems, but I think I can handle it. If I made it this far,
Yellow Quill until the day’s events were completed. Benja- I think I can make it the rest of the way.”
min’s mother unveiled the tombstone, which was inscribed The week before he died he came to my oice three times. I
with his likeness, his iconic dancing goose, and a quotation could see that he was anxious. He talked about his conquests, new
from the artist himself, in both English and Ojibwa: “My and old, and expressed concern that his mother was not keen to
works are not inluenced by inventions of mythology but move permanently to British Columbia. He bought and sent a
honour the totems of the present.” humorous card to Fred Brown and chuckled when I found two
Hugh McKenzie and many of Ben’s friends from Bear six-cent Christmas stamps in my briefcase for him to use. He was
Island, including Chief Jim Twain, band elders, and local going to work in Ottawa for a month or so to settle his debts and
drummers, participated in the events. The mayors of Ottawa to get a stake so that he could pay rent in Vancouver and take a
and neighbouring Vanier, Ontario, declared June 27, 1997, well-deserved holiday. I was leaving for a ield trip to the Yukon
Benjamin Chee Chee Day in their respective cities, and both the following week, and we arranged to have dinner on my return.
attended the graveside services. A community feast followed, The last thing he said to me was, “You’re a good friend to me,
and the irst plate illed was for Chee Chee himself, “to feed Ernie.” Those words haunt me still.
his spirit,” as Albert Dumont said. Kelly Attigiak, by then ten
years old, was introduced to the assembled crowd as the one he Temiskaming Art Gallery in Haileybury, Ontario, pre-
who had sparked the drive to mark the grave. sented a retrospective of Benjamin Chee Chee’s life and art early
“Respect at last” blared the headline of the Ottawa Sun the in 2018. Ben’s friend Hugh McKenzie assisted curator Felicity
next day. It was long-overdue but also well-deserved, lasting Buckell in this tribute. he exhibition is now touring to other
respect. Temagami First Nation Chief James Twain spoke to Ontario cities.

CREATIVE
VOICES
Competition honours talented Indigenous writers and artists.
C
anadians are becoming increasingly con- art and writing is vital to the continued survival and revival
scious of the importance of hearing and of Indigenous cultural heritage.
respecting Indigenous voices, and young It is also an integral part of our country’s shared recon-
people offer unique perspectives on inter- ciliation journey.
preting their heritage and contemporary Indigenous Indigenous Arts & Stories aims to inspire the next
identity. Historica Canada’s Indigenous Arts & Stories generation of Indigenous artists and writers to share their
program aims to provide youth with a platform to share voices and stories with the nation.
their stories, visions, and ideas. This year’s winners come from across the country and
Indigenous Arts & Stories encourages First Nations, relect the diverse experiences of our participants.
Métis, and Inuit youth from across the country to submit In the writing competition, the winners were: senior
creative writing or art exploring a moment or a theme in category, Shelby Lisk, Belleville, Ontario (Tyendinaga
their history, culture, or identity. Mohawk Territory); junior category, Leah Baptiste,
In the ifteen years since the program began, Indig- Brooks, Alberta (Deline, Northwest Territories); and in
enous Arts & Stories has evolved into the largest and the emerging category, Megan Tiessen, Summerland,
most recognized art and creative writing competition for British Columbia (Ojibway), and Bryan Bruno, Edmonton
Indigenous youth in Canada, with more than 4,200 young (Maskwacis, Alberta).
people, between the ages of six and twenty-nine, sharing In the arts competition, the winners were: senior cat-
their creativity. egory, Jared Boechler, Saskatoon (Métis); junior category
A jury of notable Indigenous artists, writers, and com- Tehatsistahawi Kennedy, London, Ontario (Beausoleil
munity leaders selects the winners. First Nation); emerging category, Jaelie Young, Calgary
In giving Indigenous youth a platform to celebrate their (Tahltan), and Tyson Moxam-Gosselin and Tristan Medwid,
heritage and to realize their creative potential, we are re- Winnipeg.
minded of the ability of art and writing both to empower To read the winners’ full writing pieces and to learn
Indigenous youth and to educate all Canadians. more about the artists, visit Our-Story.ca, where you can
Supporting youth as they explore their voices through also explore work by past winners and inalists.

Clockwise from top: Do Never, by Jared Boechler; Bear at the Lake, by Tyson Moxam-Gosselin and Tristan Medwid; Two Sockeye,
by Jaelie Young.

Crucible (excerpt) The Woodcarver
by Leah Baptiste
and his Wife (excerpt)
by Megan Tiessen
Crucible
(noun.) A ceramic or metal bowl in which metals or Once there was an elderly couple of craftspeople, a
other substances may be melted or subjected to very woodcarver and his wife. The woodcarver and his wife
high temperatures. were very skilled; every day they would go into the forest
to create their handiwork.
Or
The woodcarver took fallen branches that he found ly-
A situation of severe trial, or in which different ele-
ing around, found a log, and sat and carved. The wood-
ments interact, leading to the creation of something
carver’s carvings were very impressive, and they all told a
new.
story. The woodcarver’s carvings told stories of his culture,
Silver down my wrist the struggles it had faced, the victories it had won, and
Dim light hangs above me where it was now.
Knelt down before the cruciix The woodcarver’s wife was a weaver; every day when
Drip, slow she and her husband went into the forest she would col-
lect grasses that she found.
Into the stone bowl
The woodcarver’s wife took only enough grasses as she
Simmering needed, never any more ….
Flame grasps the bottom One day during their walk to the forest the woodcarver
Smoke rises from the hot blood and his wife found a notice saying, “in a few days the for-
est will be sold to the logging company.”
A wreath of stone, lame, and blood
Dismayed by the news that the woodcarver and his
They want it to separate
wife’s beautiful forest would soon be just sticks and
They ache to pour in the bleach stumps, they set off to ind the owner of the land, to talk
But the blood clots about the forest’s situation.
The blood binds
Hotter, hotter
And it only turns darker …
This is the story that I tell
Not one of stereotypical birds and wise men The Great Grandmother
A story coated in my Indigenous truth Spirit (excerpt)
The truth that may not yet set us free
No doubt will ill us with anger
by Bryan Bruno
As heated as this ire gets Kay-Lynn was searching for help. Kay-Lynn could not ind
anyone to help her.
Must clump together
She then stopped and started to pray to the Creator
Holding on to our identity
and Grandmother Spirit. She asked Grandmother Spirit
Hand in hand to help her ind her little brother Jacob.
With pride we will stand for our blood She started to walk down the trail and saw the sky go
The tint to our skin dark with big bright colours. She never saw the sky look
so beautiful.
The different curvature to our tongues
She then saw Grandmother Spirit in the sky. Grand-
The lives that we practise mother Spirit told Kay-Lynn to follow her, so she did.
In this crucible made to separate our culture from our Grandmother Spirit said, I am here to help you ind your
blood little brother Jacob.
Will only bring about a people stronger than before Kay-Lynn listened to Grandmother Spirit and trusted
Until the ire consumes lesh her while she followed her down the long, dark trail.
All of a sudden, the sun started to shine so bright in
Leaving behind a pool of brown blood
her eyes, and Grandmother Spirit was gone just like that.
That with no amount of bleach When Kay-Lynn looked again, she saw her brother Jacob
Can ever be washed away. down the trail.

Seventh Fire Leadership, by Tehatsistahawi Kennedy.
Invisible Indian (excerpt) by Shelby Lisk

It’s strange to me how people always want me to be an asking them for clean drinking water,
“authentic Indian” when I say I’m Kanyen’keha:ka. asking them why their women are going missing,
They want me to look a certain way, act a certain way. asking them why their land is being ruined.
They’re disappointed when what they get is ... just me. They want fantastical stories of Indians that used to
White-faced, light-haired. They spent hundreds of years roam this land.
trying to assimilate my ancestors, trying to create Indians They want my culture behind glass in a museum.
like me, who could blend in, but now they don’t want me, But they don’t want me.
either. They can’t make up their minds. I’m not Indian enough.
They want buckskin and face paint, drumming, songs in They say I’m fake, but they don’t realize that every time
languages they can’t understand recorded for them but I have to write and speak to them in English, the language
with English subtitles, of course. They want educated, well- of the colonizer, I am painfully aware of what I’ve lost.
spoken, but not too smart. Christian, well-behaved, never So, I sneak around quietly, gathering pieces — beads
question. They want to learn the history of the people, but here, a word there, a dance, a song — until I’m strong
not the ones that are here now, waving signs in their faces, enough to stand tall and tell them who I am ….

MACABRE D I S C O V E R Y
An iron cage resurrects the story of La Corriveau —
the witch of Quebec folklore.
by André Pelchat

I N SEPTEMBER 2013, AN UNUSUAL ITEM APPEARED IN
THE QUEBEC MEDIA: LA CORRIVEAU’S CAGE HAD BEEN
FOUND. THE DISCOVERY MADE HEADLINES AND WAS
THE SUBJECT OF NUMEROUS COMMENTARIES. WHAT WAS THE
STORY, AND WHY DID IT CAPTURE SO MUCH ATTENTION?
In 2011, Claudia Méndez, a volunteer and tour guide with the years of British military occupation immediately following the
Société d’histoire de Lévis, in Lévis, Quebec, found a surprising conquest of New France.
artifact at the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The On January 27, 1763, a neighbour found Louis Dodier in the
wrought-iron exoskeleton was identiied as having been used for stable, dead in a pool of blood. At irst the militia captain who
the exposition of “Mme Dodier’s body” after had been called in to investigate thought Dodi-
the woman’s execution in 1763. Méndez was er was “killed by his horse,” which the oicer
familiar enough with Quebec history to recog- wrote in his report to Major James Abercrom-
nize that Dodier was the married name of the bie, commander of British troops in the area.
woman known to Quebecers as “La Corriveau” But a rumour soon spread among neighbours
of French-Canadian legend. that Joseph Corriveau killed his stepson, and in
The grim object was taken to the Musée de February Dodier’s relatives iled a complaint,
la civilisation in Quebec City to be authenti- prompting General James Murray, the region’s
cated, and in October 2015 experts conirmed governor, to order an investigation. Dodier’s
that it was, indeed, the infamous “cage de la body was exhumed, and Dr. George Fraser per-
Corriveau.” Though essentially unknown to formed an autopsy. On February 14, he ruled
the rest of North America, the story of the that “none of the wounds found on Dodier’s
woman who was imprisoned in that cage is part body could have been made by a horse.” Joseph
of Quebec’s history, legend, and folklore. Corriveau and his daughter were arrested.
According to historian Luc Lacourcière, The trial was held in Quebec City, at the
in all of Quebec history there is “no woman Ursuline convent. Because Quebec was under
with a worse reputation than Marie-Josephte military rule, the proceedings took place in mil-
Corriveau.” La Corriveau was born in Saint- itary court with a jury of twelve British oicers,
Vallier-de-Bellechasse across the river from none of whom knew French, the only language
Quebec City in 1733. In 1749 she married understood by the accused and the witnesses.
Charles Bouchard. Their union produced Most of the testimony was based on “gossip
three children and all seemed to go smoothly and hearsay,” Lacourcière noted, and focused
until Bouchard died in 1760 of “putrid fe- on the enmity among the victim, his wife, and
vers,” a diagnosis nobody appears to have his stepfather. Some witnesses also painted
doubted at the time. Later legends whisper Marie-Josephte as a woman of loose morals,
that Marie-Josephte poisoned Charles or per- but no evidence exists to suggest she was un-
haps poured molten lead in his ear while he faithful to her husband or in any way behaved
OPPOSITE PAGE: ILLUSTRATION BY GMB CHOMICHUK . CENTRE: PUBLIC DOMAIN
was sleeping. Eventually, rumour would sug- improperly according to what was expected
gest that as many as seven husbands died by from a wife. On April 9, Joseph Corriveau was
her hand, but the stories were pure invention. A 1916 visitor’s guide to found guilty and sentenced to hang. Marie-
After Charles’ death (in the presence of a Salem, Massachusetts, Josephte was found to be an accomplice and
showed what is now known
priest and several witnesses, none of whom was sentenced to sixty lashes and to be branded
to be the iron cage or gibbet
saw anything suspect) Marie-Josephte sought that contained the body of on the hand with the letter M for murderer.
another husband, as was expected of a young Marie-Josephte Corriveau. On the day before Joseph’s scheduled execu-
widow with children. In 1761, she remarried tion, though, there was an extraordinary re-
to a farmer named Louis-Étienne Dodier. The new union was versal. When the priest came to hear Joseph’s confession and
tumultuous. The couple fought frequently, and Dodier also to prepare him for his death, Joseph suddenly claimed he had
clashed with his stepfather, Joseph Corriveau — mainly, it lied to protect his daughter and that, in truth, she was the
seems, about money issues and matters related to the manage- one who committed the crime. His eleventh-hour honesty,
ment of the farm. The family was dirt poor during the diicult he said, came from his fear of going to hell. The obviously

self-serving declaration was enough for
Governor Murray to have the confessions
of both accused re-examined. Marie-
Josephte eventually signed a confession
in which she admitted to killing Dodier
with an axe, “due to the bad treatment
she received from her husband.” Joseph
went free, and Marie-Josephte was sen-
tenced to hang. She was put to death on
April 18, and the legend of La Corriveau
was born soon after.
What captured the public’s imagination
was Murray’s decision to expose the young
woman’s body in a human-shaped iron cage,
hung at a crossroad at La Pointe-de-Lévis on
the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Nothing like it had been seen before, and
the macabre display created a stir among the
locals. In a morbid prank, a group of young
people took the cage down and carried it to
the local cemetery. The cage was removed
after forty days at the same spot and bur-
The 2016 Quebec documentary La Cage: L’histoire de la Corriveau explores the reality
ied in the cemetery, only to be exhumed and the legend of the grim artifact.
in 1849, when it was found to contain just
“one bone of a leg,” according to early nine-
teenth-century writer Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé. friend to us! We have 14,400 rounds to make before the crowing
The macabre cage, or gibbet, was briely put on display in of the cock and we have to leave!”
Montreal, “at the house of Mr. Leclerc,” according to the news- La Corriveau tells Dubé, “Well, if you won’t carry me there, I
paper La Minerve, and then, reported Le Canadien, by a Mr. will strangle you and I will get to the Sabbath by riding on your
Hall on the Côte du Palais in Quebec City. The cage — stolen, soul!” And that she does. François, however, doesn’t die. He loses
according to poet and author Louis Frechette — was eventually consciousness and wakes up in the morning in a muddy trench
sold to the American showman P.T. Barnum. After that, all traces near the road. He struggles up and inds his bottle of irewater
of it were lost until Claudia Méndez stumbled upon it in Salem. nearby. He wants to take a sip but ... it’s empty. Apparently, “the
Since then, researchers have discovered that the cage was listed in witch had drunk it all!”
1899 among artifacts owned by the Boston Museum and that a For generations, variations of this story have been told and
tourist guidebook included it in a description of the holdings of retold in French-Canadian families. I heard a very similar one
the Essex Institute in Salem. from my grandmother and found it a very scary tale. The
After her death, La Corriveau became a regular character in name of the traveller changes, but La Corriveau in her cage,
French-Canadian folklore. In his cloak-and-dagger novel he climbing on the man’s back and wanting to go to the witches’
Golden Dog, published in 1877, writer William Kirby makes Sabbath, always remains.
her a poisoner by trade and a descendant of an Italian alchemist Stories of creatures that scrabble to cling on a traveller’s back
with ties to the Borgias, no less. Aubert de Gaspé, in Les Anciens are found in folk tales around the world — it even happens to
Canadiens (1866), provides us with one of the irst written ac- Sinbad in the Arabian Nights. But in Quebec this familiar mo-
counts of the classic folk tale involving La Corriveau and her cage. tif attached itself to an actual historical character, La Corriveau,
In his version, a man named François Dubé, the father of the with a real artifact, the cage in which her body was exposed. And
narrator, is taking a nighttime stroll along the Lévis shore of the that is why the discovery of her cage in a museum is so striking:
St. Lawrence and hears a “tick-tack noise.” Suddenly he feels To a Quebecer who heard the creepy tale as a child, the discovery
IMAGE COURTESY MERLIN FILMS/FRANÇOIS GAMACHE
“two big dry hands, like a bear’s paws, squeezing his shoulders. of La Corriveau’s cage is comparable to somebody unearthing
Terriied, he turns his head and sees La Corriveau, clinging to Cinderella’s slipper or Aladdin’s lamp.
him. She extends her arms through the bars of her cage and tries In 2015, three separate experts concluded that the cage found
to climb on his back.” La Corriveau tells the man that she wants in Massachusetts was the one used to expose Marie-Josephte
him to carry her to Île d’Orléans, where her witch friends are Corriveau’s body. According to Jérome Morissette, an art restor-
holding a Sabbath. La Corriveau can’t cross the St. Lawrence on er who specializes in metals, the uniform corrosion on the iron
her own because it is a “blessed” river. bands makes it “impossible that this piece be a reconstruction.”
François can hear the witches holding their rites on the is- And so it was that, in the tale of La Corriveau, legend suddenly
land and shouting at him, “Are you coming, lazy dog? Bring our entered history.

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THE DEATH LIVE AT THE THE
AND LIFE OF CELLAR LAC-MÉGANTIC
STROTHER Vancouver’s Iconic RAIL DISASTER
PURCELL Jazz Club and By Bruce Campbell
A novel by Ian Weir the Canadian
Co-operative Jazz
Scene in the 1950s
and ’60s
By Marian Jago
In 1876, fabled lawman Strother Purcell Marian Jago combines archival Bruce Campbell reveals for the first time
disappears into a winter storm in the research, interviews, and photos to tell the full story of the 2013 oil train disaster
mountains of British Columbia, while the story of early jazz in Canada: the that devastated the community of Lac-
hunting down his outlawed half-brother. fascinating musical lives, the social Mégantic. Documenting the develop-
Years later he resurfaces — mangled interactions, and the new and infec- ment of fracking and oil transport over
and in jail. Failed journalist Barrington tious energy that paved the way for the past 30 years, this book uncovers
Weaverplan decides to write Purcell’s today’s vibrant Canadian jazz scene. the role of deregulation, profit-hungry
true life story. railway executives, and key events in this
50 B&W PHOTOS, 2 MAPS
unparalleled Canadian tragedy.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018 $24.95. PAPERBACK. 200 PGS.
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN 978-0-7748-3769-9 PHOTOGRAPHS
ISBN 9781773100296 UBC PRESS PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
GOOSE LANE EDITIONS ISBN 978-1-4594-1341-2 (PRINT)
ISBN 978-1-4594-1342-9 (EBOOK)
JAMES LORIMER & COMPANY LTD.
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By Ted Barris 1901–1961 ET LE RÊVE
By Evelyn Peters GÉODÉSIQUE
Jeffrey Lindsay and
The Fuller Research Foundation Canadian
Division / Jeffrey Lindsay et la Fuller
Research Foundation Canadian Division
Edited by Cammie McAtee
Based on personal accounts, flight Rooster Town documents the story of
logs, maps and photographs of the a community rooted in kinship, culture, Montreal was at the forefront of geode-
Canadians involved, Dam Busters and historical circumstance, whose sic dome experimentation in the 1950s:
recounts the dramatic story of the residents existed unofficially in the R. Buckminster Fuller’s U.S. Pavilion at
young bomber crews that were tasked cracks of municipal bureaucracy, while Expo 67 was preceded by extensive
with a high-risk mission against an navigating the legacy of settler colo- work by designer Jeffrey Lindsay (1924–
enemy prepared to defend the Father- nialism and the demands of modernity 84) and the Fuller Research Foundation
land to the death. and urbanization. Canadian Division (1949–56). This heav-
ily illustrated book traces their history
$34.99. HARDCOVER. 480 PGS. $27.95. PAPERBACK. 248 PGS.
ISBN 9781443455435 PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
and the construction of the Pavilion and
PATRICK CREAN EDITIONS ISBN 978-0-88755-825-2 other key geodesic projects. Bilingual in
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MAYBE MORE A TOWNSHIP
A Life of Choice and ABANDONED AT WAR
Chance MANITOBA By Jonathan F. Vance
Historical Fiction, Rivers, Rails,
WWII to 1952. and Ruins
Europe, Canada, U.S., By Gordon
Argentina Goldsborough
By R.J. Barnett
Nazi Germany’s youngest full general, Armed with a drone and a deep This book recreates one corner of rural
Reinhart Adler, in the tensest moments curiosity about local history, Gordon Canada, the southern Ontario township
of WWII and on the eve of his wedding, Goldsborough follows up the runaway of East Flamborough, during the First
suffers a horrific setback and becomes success of 2016’s Abandoned Manitoba World War. Drawing from rich narra-
a pawn in the always-shifting global with even more compelling aban- tive sources, this work uses the local to
chaos. A story of intrigue, romance, doned sites from across the province. understand the national, revealing what
espionage, and abject terror. Exploring everything from abandoned rural people were like a century ago
Experience Adler’s journey through quarries, to dance halls, to hospitals, — how they saw the world, what they
WWII politics as he plots his revenge Gordon Goldsborough connects our valued, and how they lived their lives.
on those who took away all that was present with the architecture of our
$34.99. HARDCOVER. 308 PGS.
dear to him. past. 25 ILLUSTRATIONS
$19.95 PAPERBACK. 207 PGS.
$35. PAPERBACK. PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2018
PUBLISHED FALL 2018 ISBN 978-1-77112-386-0
ISBN 9781928123026
ISBN 987-1-77337-002-6 WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
WWW.RJBARNETT.CA
GREAT PLAINS PUBLICATIONS
INFO@RJBARNETT.CA
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CLAIMING SAM STEELE FROM

THE LAND A Biography SUFFRAGETTE TO
British Columbia and By Rod Macleod HOMESTEADER
the Making of a New Exploring British and
Eldorado Canadian Colonial
By Daniel Marshall Histories and Women’s
Politics through Memoir
Edited by Emily van der
Meulen
An explosive new account of the 1858 Sam Steele was “the man who tamed Central to this book is a memoir writ-
Fraser River gold rush and the American the Gold Rush.” Macleod follows ten in 1952 by Ethel Marie Sentance.
miners who, in the “Canyon War,” tried Steele’s rise from farm boy in back- Beginning in 1883, it details Ethel’s life
to wipe out the Indigenous population woods Ontario to the much-lauded as a suffragette in her early twenties
and annex the country to the U.S. — Major General Sir Samuel Benfield and then her later life as a homesteader
saved by the negotiating tactics of Chief Steele, vividly recounting some of the in Saskatchewan. Surrounding Ethel’s
Spintlum (Cexpe’nthlEm) at Lytton. most significant events of the first fifty memoir are chapters by leading histori-
years of Canadian Confederation. ans and life-writing scholars that provide
ISBN 978-1-55380-502-1
further analysis and context, exploring
ISBN 978-1-55380-503-8 6 X 9 INCHES, 26 B&W PHOTOGRAPHS,
topics within and beyond those written
RONSDALE PRESS 5 MAPS, NOTES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX about by Ethel.
BIOGRAPHY / RCMP & MILITARY HISTORY $20. PAPERBACK. 128 PAGES
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018 PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2018
ISBN 978-1-77212-379-1 ISBN 9781773631264
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS FERNWOOD PUBLISHING


RECONSIDERING DYING FOR A DON’T NEVER
CONFEDERATION DRINK TELL NOBODY
Canada’s Founding How a Prohibition NOTHIN’ NO
Debates, 1864–1999 Preacher Got Away HOW
Edited by Daniel Hedit With Murder The Real Story of
By Patrick Brode West Coast Rum
Running
By Rick James
Reconsidering Confederation brings Known as “The Fighting Parson,” the Using first-hand accounts of old-time
together Canada’s leading consti- Reverend J.O.L. Spracklin broke into rum-runners, the often-sensational
tutional historians to explore how a notorious Windsor roadhouse one newspaper coverage of the day, and
provinces, territories, and Treaty areas chilly night in 1920 and shot and killed many archival photographs, this thor-
became the political frameworks we barkeep Beverly “Babe” Trumble, oughly researched and lively history
know today. solidifying Detroit-Windsor’s reputa- sets out to explain what really went
tion as the new Wild West. A provincial down along the West Coast during the
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
liquor inspector already known for his American “Noble Experiment.”
ISBN 978-1-77385-015-3 brash tactics, Spracklin never served a
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY PRESS day of time. Rollicking and incisive, 6 X 9 INCHES, 75 B&W PHOTOS AND MAPS
Dying For a Drink brings a forgotten PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
piece of Prohibition lore back to life. ISBN 978-1-55017-841-8
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THROUGH THE COURT OF RECIPES FOR

THE MILL APPEAL FOR VICTORY
Girls and Women in SASKATCHEWAN Great War Food from
the Quebec Cotton The First Hundred the Front and Kitchens
Textile Industry, Years Back Home in Canada
1881–1951 By David Mittelstadt Edited by Elizabeth
By Gail Cuthbert Baird and Bridget
Brandt Wranich
Girls and women were essential to A history of Saskatchewan’s highest Recipes for Victory combines history
industrialization in Canada, particularly court on its centennial, The Court of and cooking as it presents domestic and
in the textile industry, concentrated in Appeal for Saskatchewan ties together military recipes (and their modern-day
Quebec. Through the Mill is an invalu- legal analysis with a compelling nar- equivalents) used during the Great War
able contribution to feminist labour rative. David Mittelstadt includes a — in the trenches, behind the lines, and
history and one of the few studies biography of each judge who ever on the home front.
to analyze the lives of women indus- sat on the court and relates some of
$24.95. PAPERBACK. 215 PAGES
trial workers here. Eighty-four women the touchstone legal decisions that FULL COLOUR THROUGHOUT
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’80s tell the story in their own words. nation. ISBN 9781770503236
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Muscle on Wheels
Louise Armaindo and the High-Wheel Racers
of Nineteenth-Century America
M. ANN HALL
Cloth, 240pp, 40 photos
A fascinating account of high-wheel bicycle racing in the 19th

Beardmore century and one of Canada’s first women professional athletes.
TheViking Hoax That Rewrote History
DOUGLAS HUNTER “… transports the reader to the racetrack, to the exciting days
Cloth, 520pp, 18 photos, 2 maps when Armaindo rode every other North American woman
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“Hunter has written an excellent book that is en- –Literary Review of Canada
grossing from beginning to end, while also engaging
with critical issues that were in play at a time in
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–Quill & Quire
Delicious Mirth
The Life and Times of James McCarroll
MICHAEL A. PETERMAN
Safe Haven Cloth, 368pp, 20 images
The Wartime Letters of Ben Barman and
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household during the Second World War and the realities D’Arcy McGee and John A. Macdonald, as well as with
of evacuated British children, their families, and the a plethora of singers and writers and public figures.”
people who hosted them. –Gerald Lynch, University of Ottawa
McGill-Queen’s University Press mqup.ca

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @McGillQueensUP
New from University of Toronto Press
The Lamb and the Tiger

From Peacekeepers to Peacewarriors in Canada
by Stanley R. Barrett
Structured around an anti-war perspective,

The Lamb and the Tiger critically examines
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a peacekeeping role to one of war-making.
This book encourages Canadians to think
about what kind of military and what kind of
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BOWER HALIFAX WAGES FOR
A Legendary Life HARBOUR HOUSEWORK
By Dan Robson 1918 | LE PORT A History of an
D’HALIFAX 1918 International Feminist
Edited by Anabelle Movement, 1972–77
Kienle Poňka By Louise Toupin
Johnny Bower came to be known as Featuring more than 50 images, as well Wages for Housework is a major
one of the greatest Toronto Maple as bilingual essays by National Gallery contribution to the history of feminist
Leafs of all time, but he started from curator Anabelle Kienle Poňka, Gilman and anti-capitalist movements and a
humble beginnings. Dan Robson scholar Lily Foster, and Art Gallery of provocative intervention into contempo-
shares the never-before-told stories of Nova Scotia curator Sarah Fillmore, rary conversations about the changing
Johnny’s life and career, drawing on Halifax Harbour 1918 depicts the city’s nature of work and the gendered labour
interviews with those who knew and waterfront through the eyes of artists market.
loved him best. Arthur Lismer and Harold Gilman, fol-
lowing the Halifax explosion. 87 B&W ILLUSTRATIONS
ISBN 9781443457262 $35. PAPERBACK WITH END FLAPS. PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2018
HARPERCOLLINS CANADA 124 PGS. ILLUSTRATED ISBN 978-0-7748-3764-4
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018 UBC PRESS
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH, FRENCH
ISBN 9781773100876
GOOSE LANE EDITIONS
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VIOLA DESMOND ON THE LINE CZECH

Her Life and Times A History of the REFUGEES IN
By Graham Reynolds British Columbia COLD WAR
with Wanda Robson Labour Movement CANADA
By Rod 1945-1989
Mickleburgh
By Jan Raska
Considered by many to be Canada’s In prose that is both accessible and Jan Raska reveals how Czech refugees
Rosa Parks, Viola Desmond was a pio- engaging, and featuring over two secured admission as desirable
neer African-Canadian businesswoman hundred archival photos, On the Line immigrants and navigated existing
and became the pre-eminent Black tells the important story of how B.C.’s social, cultural, and political norms in
beauty culturist in Canada. She estab- labour organizations have shaped the Cold War Canada through an adher-
lished the first Black beauty studio in economic, political and social fabric ence to anti-communism, the promo-
Halifax, the Desmond School of Beauty of the province — at a cost of much tion of Canadian citizenship, and the
Culture, and created her own line of blood, sweat, toil and tears. cultivation of a Czechoslovak ethnocul-
beauty products. Accessible, concise tural heritage.
and timely, this book tells the incred- 8.5 X 11 INCHES, 220 B&W PHOTOS AND MAPS $27.95. PAPERBACK. 320 PGS.
ible, important story of Viola Desmond. PUBLISHED APRIL 2018 PUBLISHED AUGUST 2018
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PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2018 HARBOUR PUBLISHING UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA PRESS
ISBN 9781773631233
ROSEWAY PUBLISHING


IRON ROAD ORANGE
WEST CHINOOK
An Illustrated History Politics in the New
of British Columbia’s Alberta
Railways Edited by Duane
By Derek Hayes Bratt, Keith
Brownsey, Richard
THE HOMESTEADERS Sutherland, and
David Taras
By Sandra Rollings-Magnusson,
foreword by Nadine Charabin
Stories of pioneers often evoke Hayes charts the development of the The first scholarly analysis of the
images of romance and hardship. province through its railway lines, unprecedented New Democratic Party
Settlers came to the prairies from all using a wealth of photographs and victory in the 2015 Alberta Provincial
over the world seeking democracy other visuals to show how rails were Elections, Orange Chinook explores
and equality. But what they endured laid through the wild terrain that the election and the NDP in power, and
— arduous voyages, back-breaking characterized much of British Colum- it looks forward to what Alberta’s politi-
labour, homes built from sod, and the bia. The result will fascinate railway cal future may hold.
misery of pests, cyclones, and fires — enthusiasts and anyone interested in
made them a special kind of people. the history of Western Canada. PUBLISHED JANUARY 2019
$39.95. PAPERBACK. 275 PGS. $44.95. HARDCOVER. 240 PGS. ISBN 978-1-77385-025-2
11.5 X 8.5 INCHES, 175 PHOTOS 8.5 X 11 INCHES, 500 B&W AND COLOUR UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY PRESS
ISBN 9780889775152 PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS
UNIVERSITY OF REGINA PRESS PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2018
ISBN 978-1-55017-838-8
HARBOUR PUBLISHING
..................................................................... ..................................................................... .....................................................................
“LIVING LIGHTLY MARGARET LOUIS RIEL

ON THE EARTH” LAURENCE Let Justice Be Done
Building an Ark AND JACK By David Doyle
for Prince Edward MCCLELLAND,
Island, 1974–76 LETTERS
By Steven Mannell Edited by Laura K.
Davis & Linda M.
Morra
“This often intense and affectionate cor-

Built in 1976 by Solsearch Architects In this imaginative re-enactment of his
respondence between one of the country’s
and the New Alchemy Institute, the great writers and its most aggressive and trial, Riel is finally given the opportu-
Ark bioshelter integrated ecological nationalistic (not to mention deftly cordial) nity to respond to his conviction for
design features to provide a self-reliant publisher makes for interesting reading and treason, offering his side of the story of
life for a family and a model of sustain- provides an important roadmap through Batoche and Red River, and in particular
able living for the world. Illustrated with the complex terrain of Canadian writing the details of how his show trial was
dozens of original drawings and period and culture in the latter half of the twentieth manipulated — all of this showing why
century.”
photographs, the book traces the he deserves a pardon
— Michael Peterman
history, context, research, and construc-
tion of this still-relevant experiment. $39.95. PAPERBACK. 696 PGS.
6 X 9 INCHES, 10 B&W PHOTOGRAPHS
6 X 9 INCHES, 11 B&W PHOTOGRAPHS,
$34.95. SOFTCOVER. 116 PGS. ISBN 978-1-55380-496-3 (PRINT)
NOTES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS ISBN 978-1-55380-497-0 (EBOOK)
LETTERS / CANADIAN LITERATURE
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2018 RONSDALE PRESS
PUBLISHED MAY 2018
ISBN 9780929112695
ISBN 978-1-77212-335-7
DALHOUSIE ARCHITECTURAL PRESS
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS

Give the it of hitory.
Against the Current City in Colour A Not-So-Savage Land From Rinks to Regiments
The Remarkable Life of Rediscovered Stories of The Art and Times of Hockey Hall-of-Famers
Agnes Deans Cameron Victoria’s Multicultural Past Frederick Whymper, 1838–1901 and the Great War
cathy converse may q. wong peter johnson alan livingstone macleod
AVA I L A B L E W H E R E V E R B O O KS A R E S O L D
BOOKS
response to all manner of requests, to

today. Now a modern army of staff sup-
ports prime ministers who have trouble
simply staying on top of the correspon-
dence that amounts to two million let-
ters and emails a year.
Stewart offers captivating stories
ranging from the prime ministers’ break-
fasts and reading material, to the places
they took their vacations, to their inter-
actions with celebrities. Speed-reading
through papers, absorbing briefing
books, finding time to send the kids off
to school, or sneaking in a swim between
meetings were all part of the ritualized
and rigidly planned day-to-day activities
of these leaders who were rarely alone.
Stewart finds humour in all the
THE DAILY GRIND
greats and not-so-greats, ranging from
Being Prime Minister Lester Pearson’s folksy charm with
by J.D.M. Stewart American counterparts (and everyone
Dundurn, 344 pages, $26.99 else) to Louis St. Laurent’s gentle words
with workers at Parliament, and from
“I do not want my daily life to become woman who have so deeply shaped our John Diefenbaker’s exuberant charisma
public,” pleaded Prime Minister Wilfrid country. To weave together the many on the hustings to Stephen Harper’s
Laurier when asked in 1896 for some stories, Stewart has read widely, delved piercing jokes with his inner circle.
personal information from a journal- into the archives, and even — some- There is almost no venom for the var-
ist. While the reporter may not have what amazingly — interviewed six for- ious leaders; Stewart writes with respect
received an answer to his question, he mer prime ministers. and admiration throughout the book,
was neither the first nor the last to try Most striking is the long hours especially as he describes prime ministers
to better understand the inner lives of worked by all the leaders, as well as the dealing with crises over housing, travel,
Canadian prime ministers — who have incredible stamina of many of the older and health. The book includes a reveal-
consistently been the subjects of our ones. Almost every waking moment was ing chapter on the rise of security details
attention over the past 150 years. devoted to some task or meeting, or to and the incomprehensible incompetence
There are dozens of biographies of of the RCMP, who all but abandoned
Canadian prime ministers, almost all of
them focusing on prime ministerial acts
Stewart’s Jean Chrétien and his wife to an assas-
sin who broke in to the prime ministerial
and deeds, their successes and failures, wonderfully residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa.
and the constant re-evaluation of their All authors make choices of omis-
legacy. While there is space in any book, gossipy book is sion in a thematic book like this, and
specialized biography, or high school
text for John A. Macdonald’s drinking,
built on anecdotes I lamented the fact that so little space
was devoted to prime ministers’ part-
William Lyon Mackenzie King’s spiri- and stories ners. One is struck, for example, by
tualism, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Maryon Pearson’s sharp observation that
irreverence, J.D.M. Stewart’s Being responding to other politicians, the cabi- “Behind every successful man stands a
Prime Minister is entirely devoted to the net, civil servants, or the mass of well- surprised woman.” More of that, please.
daily lives of Canada’s prime ministers. wishers, donors, or patronage seekers. Nonetheless, Being Prime Minister
A teacher of Canadian history in Several of the prime ministers — Mac- is a good read that brings together mul-
Toronto, Stewart has written a book donald, Robert Borden, and Richard tiple stories of how the country’s political
that is wonderfully gossipy and is built Bennett — almost died from overwork. leaders spent their days and nights in the
on anecdotes and stories — “history by Stewart cleverly compares and con- relentless grind they all loved so dearly.
the ounce,” as historian Barbara Tuch- trasts the leaders. In one of many exam- Tim Cook is the author of eleven books,
man called it. Stewart tells us much that ples, he illustrates the change from the including The Secret History of Soldiers:
is new in a number of thematic chap- time of Macdonald and Laurier, each of How Canadians Survived the Great War
ters about the twenty-two men and one whom wrote dozens of letters a day in (2018).

BOOKS
EYES WIDE OPEN targeted and further alienated already In their book, Sethna and Hewitt
marginalized groups. Moreover, surveil- note that the redaction and outright
lance data was gathered not merely for its destruction of certain records has made
own sake but for its potential to disrupt, it impossible to discount the possibility
harass, and otherwise repress those com- that the RCMP carried out more seri-
munities when the government deemed ous acts of direct repression against the
it necessary to do so. women’s movement and other New Left
While Sethna and Hewitt focus on groups in the sixties and seventies. Simi-
a period of about two decades, Gregory larly — in two concluding chapters and
Kealey’s collection of essays, Spying on an appendix that I urgently recommend
Canadians, ranges more freely. Forging to classes on historical method — Kealey
Just Watch Us:
RCMP Surveillance of links between the history of the security writes at length about the trials, tribu-
the Women’s Liberation service and working-class Canadians, lations, and, indeed, risks involved in
Movement in Cold Kealey argues that unwarranted and seeking access to information. As late as
War Canada often-paranoid domestic surveillance the mid-1980s, CSIS cited security con-
by Christabelle Sethna
and, at times, outright repression have cerns in attempting to deny his access to
and Steve Hewitt
very deep historical roots, predating records from 1919 and 1920!
McGill-Queen’s University Press,
the creation of the RCMP and reach- In their respective books, these writ-
316 pages, $34.95
ing back to the beginning of Canadian ers emphasize that the history of the
statehood. These activities have been security service’s actions must be under-
Spying on Canadians: persistent over time but have waxed and stood, lest renewed transgressions of the
The Royal Canadian waned with the times, intensifying in law and of the rights of Canadians be
Mounted Police Security times of war, including during the Cold viewed as an aberration.
Service and the Origins of War and pseudo-wars — such as the I began this review with a mild
the Long Cold War “war on terror.” joke, but this is no joking matter.
by Gregory S. Kealey Kealey’s essays, while scholarly and The RCMP’s domestic surveillance
University of Toronto Press, academic in tone, are not beyond reach activities, of course, were not unique:
286 pages, $29.95 for non-specialists. They focus in par- American and British security services
ticular on the repression of labour and engaged in parallel acts and comparable
It’s not paranoia if they actually are “suspect” immigrant groups. Of par- acts of repression. But the revelation
out to get you, and readers of two new ticular importance, as Canadians com- of these activities will surprise many
books about the history of the RCMP’s memorate the end of the First World Canadians and may even seem like an
security service may very well conclude War, are Kealey’s essays on the repression affront to others. The current political
that they are. of these same communities in wartime. situation in the United States, where
Christabelle Sethna and Steve These chapters raise serious challenges to the president himself has impugned the
Hewitt’s Just Watch Us examines RCMP the uncritical claims, made too often at loyalty of the intelligence community,
surveillance of the “second wave” femi- commemorative events, that the world has resulted in the paradoxical sight
nist movement in Canada over a fifteen- wars were fought entirely to defend free- of progressives rushing to the defence
year period beginning in the late 1960s. dom and democracy. of the FBI and other national security
The core argument of their work is that Kealey’s essays were written between agencies whose agendas they have in the
the RCMP saw the women’s liberation 1988 and 2003. It is something of a past vehemently condemned.
movement through the lens of what the minor miracle that University of Toronto Similarly, many Canadians today
authors call a “red-tinged prism.” Largely Press agreed to print a collection of admire the bravery of members of the
ignorant of feminism and the authenti- papers that have been published else- RCMP, embrace the myth of the agen-
cally radical demands of the women’s where. But the force of Kealey’s indict- cy’s nobility, and associate its uniforms
movement, the RCMP instead searched ment — and it is that — is greater and pageantry with Canadian identity.
for phantom communists in the move- when his essays are considered together. But, in their respective works, Kealey
ment’s ranks. The authors of both works, and and Sethna and Hewitt have established
This in turn was part of a broader Kealey in particular, stress that the issue a devastating counter-narrative: that of
effort in the late sixties and the seventies is not merely passive surveillance but an RCMP that for decades imperilled
to root out “red” influences in the New the violation of fundamental civil liber- the rights of Canadians whose security it
Left and its attendant social movements. ties. Kealey provides ample evidence of purported to defend.
The RCMP’s activities, the authors note, egregious acts of repression, directed in Reviewed by Graham Broad, an associate
should be of particular concern to Cana- particular at organized labour, by the professor of history at King’s University
dians, as the organization invariably RCMP and its predecessors. College at Western University.

BOOKS
decision to enlist changed their fam- crime crusaders, Inspector John F.C.B.
MORE BOOKS ily forever. The book is a poignant Vance (J.F.C.B. to his family) was an
reminder of the sacrifices we demand of international legend and earned the nick-
One for the Boys: John Wayne Blake’s our veterans and, sadly, of how quickly name “Sherlock Holmes.”
Extraordinary Story society can forget about their service. Vance invented many of the tools
by Cathy Saint John — Mark Collin Reid and equipment he needed at a time
Sinjin Publishing, 480 pages, $29.95 when forensics was in its infancy, and
Any Other Way: his approach to forensic investigation is
Tens of thousands of How Toronto Got Queer reflected in techniques used today. Laza-
young Americans fled edited by Jane Farrow, John Lorinc, et al. rus is quick to point out that her book
north to Canada to escape Coach House Press, 368 pages, $25.95 isn’t a biography of the man: “It’s the
the draft during the Viet- story of Vance’s extraordinary work in
nam War. Much has been This large, varied collec- forensic science … a history of the early
written about these war tion of essays is connected work in forensics.”
resisters, many of whom stayed in Can- by a desire to uncover Nonetheless, aspects of Vance’s char-
ada following the end of the war. Toronto’s queer history in acter are brought to the fore. According
Less is known about the nearly thirty all its diversity. To this end, to Lazarus, he was a “white hat” work-
thousand young Canadians who headed Any Other Way begins ing in an ocean of “black hats.” His
in the opposite direction to enlist in the with a story about Jackie Shane, a queer, career began shortly before the Anti-
U.S. military to stop the spread of com- black, working-class, trans musician who Asiatic riots and continued through
munism in southeast Asia. Among them performed in Toronto’s thriving rhythm prohibition, the Depression, and two
was John Blake, a patriotic teenager from and blues scene in the 1960s. world wars. And if the bad guys weren’t
the Newfoundland community of Top- There is no single editorial voice. enough, Vance was employed by two of
sail, who in 1968 announced to his fam- Many essays are personal recollections, the most corrupt police chiefs Vancou-
ily that he was heading off to fight. some are more standard histories, and ver ever had.
Blake did two tours in Vietnam, still others cannot easily be categorized. The evidence he obtained led to
earning the U.S. Bronze Star Medal One particularly interesting portion of the successful prosecution of many
along the way. Like so many other Viet- the book reproduces an LGBT maga- criminals, but it came with a cost —
nam veterans, he returned home suffer- zine’s 1979 “Guide to Arrest and Trial.” Vance and his family became targets.
ing from post-traumatic stress disorder The book’s organization is loosely In 1934 alone, there were seven assas-
and didn’t receive the treatment or sup- thematic and non-chronological, fre- sination attempts; car bombs and mail
port he deserved. quently jumping from 2017 to 1917 bombs were the preferred methods of
That story alone is worth reading. and back again. Given the personal the day.
But it’s what happened next that truly nature of many of these essays, the A rare treat, Blood, Sweat, and Fear
elevates Blake’s tale. After advocating emphasis is largely on more recent also presents many images that were pro-
tirelessly for his fellow veterans, in 1982 queer histories. Many essays are less vided to the author by Vance’s grandchil-
Blake decided to march across Amer- than two pages long, making this a dren. Vance’s wife made a scrapbook of
ica to raise awareness of their plight. fairly approachable book in spite of its all his newspaper clippings, and the case
Dressed in full combat gear and carrying often-heavy subject matter. files he kept after retirement were found
an American flag, the proud Newfound- Because the essays in Any Other Way in a box in their attic. For those who
lander walked alone from Washington uncover hidden histories in Toronto’s enjoy true crime or murder mysteries,
State to Virginia, a journey of roughly streets, parks, bars, and hotels, readers this book is a must-read. — Tanja Hütter
5,100 kilometres. familiar with the city are likely to find this
Along the way, he helped to dispel the book particularly interesting. — Alex Judge Lake Agassiz: The Rise and Demise
stigma that unfairly surrounded Vietnam of the World’s Greatest Lake
veterans. As American news media picked Blood, Sweat, and Fear by Bill Redekop
up on his story, it fostered greater com- by Eve Lazarus Heartland, 280 pages, $29.95
passion and empathy for all the veterans Arsenal Pulp Press, 219 pages, $21.95
of that war. The book’s final section deals Despite being one
with the fallout of Blake’s PTSD, his deci- Author Eve Lazarus fol- of the Prairie prov-
sion to take his own life, and the heart- lows up her previous book, inces, Manitoba is
wrenching tale of what happened next. Cold Case Vancouver, with undoubtedly also a
One for the Boys is truly a labour a book that is just as fasci- province of lakes;
of love for author Cathy Saint John. nating. One of Vancouver’s thousands of them dot its landscape.
Blake was her older brother, and his top early twentieth-century More than eight thousand years ago,

BOOKS
SEAFARING ARTIST The MV Jessie Cull was built in 1939 and was purchased by Ted Drover,
who registered the vessel in 1943 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Drover and a friend reitted the
FINDING
forty-seven-foot-long vessel for use as a charter boat. It was operated for almost two decades
and, like other similar vessels, provided an essential service to communities on the coast of MR. WONG
Newfoundland and Labrador. But Drover was also a trained artist who studied at the Ontario By Susan Crean
College of Art, including under Group of Seven member J.E.H. MacDonald. Drover, who died
in 1980, had a great love for the sea and planned to publish a book about “seagoing crafts
engaged in the ishery and general commerce of the island of Newfoundland and Labrador
from about 1850 to 1950.” The new book Ted Drover: Ships Artist (Flanker Press, 208 pages,
$21.95), by his daughter-in-law, Sheilah Mackinnon Drover, presents dozens of Drover’s
charcoal drawings along with the stories of the vessels he portrayed.
Susan Crean’s memoir Finding

Mr. Wong chronicles her effort to
most of the land comprising the Hudson Bay. But what truly captures a piece together the life of the man
present-day province — and regions reader’s attention is the way he relates the she knew as Mr. Wong, cook and
beyond — was covered by just one human history of the region to its envi- housekeeper to her Irish-Canadian
body of water: Lake Agassiz. ronmental history. Redekop interweaves family. A Chinese head tax payer
In his book Lake Agassiz: The Rise geological and scientific data with the hired by Crean’s grandfather in 1928,
and Demise of the World’s Greatest Lake, narrative of those who discovered the Wong Dong Wong remained on the
former Winnipeg Free Press journalist historical lake and stories of his own job following Gordon Crean’s death
in 1947. The book is an important
Bill Redekop provides a comprehensive exploration of the province.
contribution to a growing body of
look at a lake that is unknown to many While doing this, he shows that,
writings that illuminate the lives
Canadians. With a size larger than all while Lake Agassiz no longer exists, it of people silenced or otherwise
of the Great Lakes combined, it was, continues to affect people’s lives today. negated by myopic history.
perhaps, the largest lake the world has Filled with beautiful photographs and
ever known. packed with information, Lake Agassiz is
PUBLISHED 2018
Redekop traces Lake Agassiz’s his- a fantastic read that brings new meaning ISBN 9781772011944
tory from its formation during a period to the phrase “I’m heading to the lake.” TALONBOOKS
of glacial melting to its drainage into –– Brooke Campbell

CHRISTOPHER MOORE
Lots of Canadians share that adult in-

terest, I know. All over the country, I’ve
been inspired by how committed adult
Canadians are to history and heritage.
here we are, visiting museums and his-
toric sites, attending book events, and
watching documentary ilms. Adult Ca-
nadians are doing genealogy, publish-
ing local history, reading biographies,
preserving sites — and supporting this
magazine. Sure, we may disagree, and
argue, and worry about Canada’s history
and what it means — but that is what
history is: not the past but a constant
discussion about the past.
Grown-up history — challenging, sur-
prising, full of questions — can be useful.
But it really is a cultural pleasure too, like
an appreciation for Mozart, or astronomy,
or sport. Historical appreciation should be
a normal part of being an adult.
Despite all the vigour and liveliness of
grown-up history, Canadians often deny
that it exists at all. We declare that Ca-
nadians are all horribly ignorant about
our history and we pretend that other
countries do it better. (hey don’t.) Ev-
ery time some historical controversy
arises, we rush to blame the schools, or
the teachers, or the textbooks.
It’s as if somehow it is not an adult
responsibility to keep ourselves abreast
Recipe for success of historical developments, and if we just
ram enough history into Grade 5 kids
Served up fresh, Canada’s stories will keep then somehow we can all forget about
it as adults. Ask Canadians what month
the public hungry for more. the October Crisis occurred, goes the
joke, and we will probably say, “I don’t
H ave you been following the his-

tory of apples lately? In Canadian
orchards the McIntosh remains num-
Around the time I was reading about
apples, some new acquaintances asked
what line of work I was in. When I told
know — they don’t teach enough Cana-
dian history in the schools.”
he kids? hey notice. he best way
ber one by far. But after ifty years the them, they said, “hat is great. Our his- to ofer kids a lifelong engagement
Red Delicious has been dethroned as tory is so important ... for the kids!” with history is to model it to them —
the most-grown American apple by the I know it’s well-meant, but I’ve heard to demonstrate in our own lives that
Gala, a New Zealand variety unknown that praise before, and it rankles a bit. It adults know, and appreciate, and enjoy
in North America until the 1970s. seems to imply that history is like a Red their own history and others’. But if the
One American food critic celebrated Delicious apple: good enough for kids but kids see history as something that adults
the fall of the Red Delicious. Bland and not something an adult would bother with. think is, well, kid stuf, they will see it as
boring, he called it, saying it was valued I’m second to none in believing in the a scam and turn away.
mostly for being cheap, durable, and value of history for kids — hey, I’ve re- Let’s keep lots of tart and tasty histori-
brightly coloured. It is the kind of apple ceived prizes for children’s history books cal fruit in our own cultural diet, and we
people buy for kids’ lunch programs, he I’ve written. But I’m a grown-up. I write will ind that the kids have an appetite
ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
wrote. Kids mostly learn that if the Red history mostly for adults. And I think for it, too.
Delicious is adults’ idea of good fruit of my interest in history as a grown-up, Christopher Moore comments in every
they should skip fruit altogether. adult thing. issue of Canada’s History magazine.

Governor General’s History Awards
Canada’s History Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2018 Governor General’s History Awards.
For more information, visit CanadasHistory.ca/Awards
Governor General’s History Awards Other Awards
Excellence in Teaching Excellence in Popular Media: Experiences Canada Award

The Pierre Berton Award
Presented by Canada’s History with the Presented by Experiences Canada
support of TD Bank Group Presented by Canada’s History
Pat Watson, Elgin, ON
Lisa Howell, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Bill Waiser, Saskatoon, SK
Elementary School, Gatineau, QC
Indigenous Arts and Stories
Temma Frecker, The Booker School, Excellence in Community Programming
Presented by Historica Canada
Port Williams, NS
Presented by Canada’s History
Tehatsistahawi Kennedy, London, ON
Paul Paterson, Westmount Secondary
“Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots Beausoleil First Nation
School, Hamilton, ON
Oral History Project” Shiloh Centre for
Jared Boechler, Saskatoon, SK
Lisl Gunderman, Wildwood School, Multicultural Roots, Edmonton, AB
Métis
and Maxine Hildebrandt, Mother
“Mon vélo raconte” Société d’histoire
Earth’s Children’s Charter School, AB Leah Baptiste, Brooks, AB
et de généalogie de Montréal-Nord et
Deline, NT
Eric Chassé, École Internationale les Artistes en arts visuels du Nord de
Lucille-Teasdale, Brossard, QC Montréal, Montréal, QC Shelby Lisk, Belleville, ON
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Jean-François Gosselin, École
Marcelle-Mallet, Lévis, QC Excellence in Scholarly Research:
The Sir John A. Macdonald Prize Kayak Kids’ Illustrated History
Challenge
Excellence in Museums: History Alive! Presented by the Canadian Historical
Association with the support of Presented by Canada’s History with the
Presented by the Canadian Museums
Manulife Financial support of TD Bank Group
Association with the support of
Ecclesiastical Insurance Elsbeth Heaman, Tax, Order, and Jonathan Chassé, Gaspé, QC
Good Government: A New Political
“Footprints: A Walk Through Kaira Picard, Whitby, ON
History of Canada, 1867–1917
Generations” Aanischaaukamikw
McGill University, Montreal, QC
Cree Cultural Institute,
Ouje-Bougoumou, QC
ALBUM
A dangerous job
This photograph shows men working on a logjam at the Using pick poles and peaveys the men would gradually clear a
“Bench” on the Terra Nova River at Glovertown, Newfound- jam and send the logs and poles on their way to the salt water of
land, in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I know that my dad, Alexander Bay, where they were captured in a boom and even-
Nelson Sparkes, was there, and I believe one of the men is tually towed to the nearby sawmill for processing into lumber.
Max Blackwood, my dad’s right-hand man. Some of the longer poles were used for building wharves,
The logs and poles were cut upriver during the winter and and some went to mining companies as pit props used to sup-
were then hauled out by horse or, in later years, by tractor. In port the roofs of tunnels. White pine poles were sometimes
the high waters of the spring, they were floated some twelve to sold as schooner spars.
fifteen kilometres down to the mouth of the river. Submitted by R. Wayne Sparkes of Glovertown, N.L., the son of Nelson Sparkes.
Do you have a photograph that captures a moment, important or ordinary, in Canada’s history? If so, have it copied (please don’t send priceless originals) and
mail it to Album, c/o Canada’s History, Bryce Hall, Main Floor, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9. Or email your photo to album@CanadasHistory.ca.
Please provide a brief description of the photo, including its date and location. If possible, identify people in the photograph and provide further information
about the event or situation illustrated. Photos may be cropped or adjusted as necessary for presentation in the magazine. To have your posted submission
returned, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

A photographic exploration of Canada’s First World War experience, presented
for the first time in full, vibrant colour, with complementary essays by some of
our country’s leading public figures including Margaret Atwood, Tim Cook,
Charlotte Gray, Paul Gross, Peter Mansbridge, and many others.
"Scrawled in chalk on a rusty brick Toronto wall--"Don't Forget Us." Five wounded Canadian soldiers,
only one willing, or able, to smile, sit beneath the graffiti. This is but one of the extraordinary glimpses
of Canadians at home and at the front filled with the tones, tints, and hues of Life and Death during the
First World War. The text, and the photographs, in colour for the first time, educate and then haunt us;
they are, in fact, quite unforgettable." — Linda Granfield, historian
AvAilAble FroM your FAvouri Te bookseller
#TheyFoughtInColour
vimyfoundation.ca
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BONUS 2018 BOOK & GIFT GUIDE

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TRAILBLAZING HAUNTED HISTORY PHOTOGRAPHER’S

Hudson’s Bay has raised over $32 million for Canadian

Dancing His Macabre pistols brandished, boards

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10 The Packet Not-so-ancient

12 Currents Armistice declared

16 Trading Post Surgical

50 Creative Voices Celebrating

57 Holiday Book & Gift Guide

68 Books Daily grind. Eyes

74 Album Men work to clear a COMING UP IN

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We share the stories of

shared and preserved.

motivate future historians; All rights reserved. Printed in Canada.

and promote greater popular

Preserving our history...

204.944.9474 | wpgfdn.org 4525-47A AVE, RED DEER AB

CANADA’S PAST, WITH

Historical Tour of the Maritimes

Reserve soon, spaces limited!

Ernie Bies, who wrote

Making waves ects in the Arctic and in First Nations

8 DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 CANADASHISTORY.CA

Roundtrip from Sudbury, this 4-day, 3-night tour

Familiar experience Mental health awareness

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SOCKS NOTECARDS MAGAZINE SLIPCASE

ORDER ONLINE AT CANADASHISTORY.CA/STORE OR PHONE 1-888-816-0997

Marijuana — it’s the burning weed with roots in hell,

of marijuana and listing possible side effects of using the drug.

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Documentary to address Confederation, and the

Belgian town honours Brunswick). In Quebec,

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Arrival of the Circus

At a time when his fellow painters drew

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Left: The Museum of Anthropology at the

N orthwest Coast Indigenous art and

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mass-produced replicas — while explaining Indigenous B.C.-based artists. Temporary

in 2016. Historical artifacts are displayed munities for generations.

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A SCHOONER EMERGED ON THE HORIZON

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Captain William Rogers capturing

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, GREENWICH, LONDON DECEMBER 2018–JANUARY 2019 21

L ike pirates, privateers preyed on merchant vessels and

PRINCE Cape Breton

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Right: A museum display about the accomplished

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