Extraordinary Accounts of Native Life on the West Coast: Words from Huu-ay-aht Ancestors

David Mardiros is a lawyer and anthropological consultant in Terrace,
British Columbia.

When one browses the bookshelves at airport and tourist shops these
days, it is increasingly common to find short books describing the
cultural and social traditions of Canada’s West Coast First Nations.
These works are often condensed from academic studies and typically have
short descriptions on subsistence, material culture, social life,
religion, and so on. The descriptions are invariably brief, geared as
they are for a popular audience that will have little if any familiarity
with the cultures described, and often contain highly generalized,
idealized, and romanticized representations of Aboriginal cultures.
Unlike the more extensive literature available on the Aboriginal peoples
of Central and Eastern Canada, the short works that have typically been
produced on the peoples of the West Coast rarely link pre-contact
traditions with the present-day challenges faced by Western Canada’s
indigenous peoples. Extraordinary Accounts provides a welcome exception
to this trend.

Taken from the stories of elders of the Nuu-chah-nulth culture group of
Vancouver Island, this book will appeal to a general readership on
several levels. It weaves a rich tapestry of encounters with spirits,
cataclysmic events, whaling stories, and cross-cultural encounters with
both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. The accounts presented are
not only entertaining but also offer revealing insights into the
worldview of the storytellers and how the stories are used to teach
cultural precepts to the youth of the community. The stories have a
richness that goes beyond the usual stereotypes of Aboriginal life that
can result when complex narratives are simplified for a general audience
and reveal the very real conflicts that occurred between individuals and
among groups in pre-contact times. Perhaps most significant are the
stories that demonstrate that the dispute over ownership and access to
resources between First Nations and settler cultures long predates the
legal wrangles of the late 20th century.

Extraordinary Accounts is written in a way that encourages further
reading about West Coast Native peoples. It’s very useful bibliography
provides the general reader with the tools to further his or her
knowledge of the region, its peoples, and its colourful history.