A Death Feast in Dimlahamid

Thomas S. Abler is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo and the author of A Canadian Indian Bibliography, 1960-1970.

Journalist Glavin describes the roadblocks set up by Indians—Gitksan
and others—on logging roads in British Columbia’s interior in 1987,
1988, and 1989. Since then, the confrontation at Oka, Quebec, and the
refusal of B.C. Supreme Court Judge Allan McEachern to allow land claims
have made headlines. But these more-recent events do not date this book;
it still merits reading.

Glavin’s perception of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en (Bulkley
River Carrier) relationship to the land and to its history is much
different from Judge McEachern’s. Glavin relates the richness of the
mythical past (before the destruction of Dimlahamid and the dispersal of
its population) to the reality of the present. The Gitksan nobility
today bear the same titles held by the chiefs of Dimlahamid; at death
feasts today, Gitksans witness relatives of deceased chiefs, assuming
these titles.

One of the book’s strengths is its depiction of the social fabric of
these people. Glavin shows the continuing importance of matrilineal
clans, their division into “houses” headed by chiefs, and the
relation of these houses to the land. He stresses social continuity by
consistently identifying people by the titles they inherited from their
ancestors, in lines going back to the residents of ancient Dimlahamid.

Unfortunately, Glavin also incorporates some speculative anthropology
into his account. The Gitksan speak a language of the Tsimshian language
family. A link has been suggested to Penutian languages, but
conservative linguists see this as unproven; similarly, the link between
Zuсi and Penutian is tenuous at best. Nonetheless, Glavin presents the
Zuсi as linguistic kinsmen of the Gitksan. Similarly, most
anthropologists are not as convinced as those he quotes of strong and
regular prehistoric contacts with Asia’s Pacific Coast.

Some small errors—for example, “Onendaga” for “Onondaga” and
“Bureau of American Anthropology” for “Bureau of American
Ethnology”—reduce the reader’s confidence in the accuracy of
Glavin’s presentation. Also, although Glavin has appended a lengthy
bibliography, he does not refer to it in his text. A strange omission
from that bibliography is The Gitksan Potlatch, by John Adams.

This book remains, though, a strong contribution, demonstrating the
continuing importance of the past and of the Native worldview to
contemporary Native issues. Too much of the current reporting of Native
affairs in Canada is done by reporters with little knowledge or
appreciation of Native history and culture. Glavin clearly appreciates
and respects both.