A Death Feast in Dimlahamid. 2nd ed.

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

Originally published in 1990, this book about the
Gitksan-Wet’suwet’en has been revised and reissued following the
1997 Delgamuukw decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. Neither a
scholarly review of the case itself nor a journalistic account of the
events leading up to it, A Death Feast in Dimlahamid is a highly
readable account of the author’s own experience of the years of
struggle between the Gitksan and the Canadian and British Columbia
governments.

The book centres on the events of the 1980s, chronicling the
negotiations, blockades, and the beginnings of the court case that took
place. Some background information on the history, geography, and
politics of British Columbia (northwestern British Columbia, in
particular) is included, giving a more general view of the context
within which the more recent events have occurred. Primarily, however,
the book is about people—the individuals who were responsible for
leading the challenge against those in the timber companies and the
province who made the decisions about, and received the majority of the
benefit from, the resources of the lands claimed by the Gitksan and
Wet’suwet’en. In focusing on the leaders, Glavin both sheds light on
individual motivations and paints a compelling portrait of their
society—past and present.

His treatment of the nonaboriginal society of northwestern British
Columbia is somewhat weaker. Throughout the book Glavin emphasizes that
the Gitksan are interested in working with their neighbors to develop
industry and livelihoods that can sustain all those who call the area
home—an approach that has made headway since the 1980s. While he
affords a great deal of space to those who oppose this vision, he
mentions those who support it only in passing. This unbalanced portrait
serves only to perpetuate prejudices.