Convergences

Mary Jane Starr was with the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.

Lionel Kearns bases this work on the encounter between the Mooachaht Indians and Captain James Cook in Nootka Sound on the northwest coast in 1778. He describes this month-long encounter in a narrative poem that begins with a description of the physical setting prior to the arrival of the Englishmen. Mr. Kearns then draws on the records of the crew, their journals and drawings, and on the oral tradition of the native people. Adopting a chronological progression, the poem concludes with a factual summary of the fates of those involved. Juxtaposed to the text of the poem are Kearns’s interpretive notes. In these notes, he explores a number of convergences: he seeks to explain the link between the past and the present; to explore the discontinuity between time and space; and to illustrate the relationship between the original accounts and the contemporary historical version.

In the poem, Kearns succeeds in providing a spiritual telling of the convergence of two distinctive cultures. The poem’s fluidity rests on the sympathetic manner in which the varied sources are rendered, including those in the native dialect. The illustrations are numerous and effectively complement the poem. The poet’s notes are problematic, however, due to their physical placement on the page. Kearns admits that this may be troublesome: “do not be misled by the format of this composition...even my editor is confused on this point.” As well as being intrusive, the notes are self-indulgent and obfuscating at times.

Unlike George Bowering’s Burning Water (1980), where this same visit of Captain Cook is subjective and fictionalized, Kearns strives to be faithful and accurate in his poetic documentary. He weaves an objective, balanced, and intriguing poem of cultural convergence. He leaves unresolved, however, the question of the nature of history and its formation. This is an innovative and ambitious treatment of an historical subject that has already received considerable literary attention.