Chiwid

Kerry Abel is a professor of history at Carleton University. She is the author of Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History, co-editor of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects, and co-editor of Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History.

Chiwid was a remarkable Chilcotin woman who lived in the Williams Lake
area of British Columbia. This collection of reminiscences about her and
about her people from both Native and non-Native people of the region
recalls in its format Studs Terkel’s famous oral histories.

Chiwid’s story will be seen as a tragedy by some and as inspirational
by others. The daughter of a non-Native man who had little (if any)
knowledge of her, she was a rape victim who suffered abuse at the hands
of her husband. Following one particularly dreadful beating, she
withdrew from human society and lived the life of a recluse on the land.
Some admired and respected her ability to survive, crediting her with
special powers; others simply dismissed her as crazy.

Although there is extraordinary raw material here for a compelling
story (and perhaps even a parable about recent Native history),
Birchwater does not provide sufficient context for the stories. The
result is a book that teems with intriguing contradictions but lacks
coherence.