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How a People Die
It's Saturday morning on the Kwasi Reserve. The citizens are red-eyed and bleary, their shabby houses littered with empty bottles. But this Saturday is different. Last night while her parents partied, a baby girl died in her crib, her body crusted with filth and sores.
RCMP Corporal Thompson stirs up a hornet's nest when he charges the infant's parents with criminal neglest. But who, or what, really killed Annette Joseph? "Tell us how a people die," one character says, "and we can tell you how a people live."
When How a People Die appeared in 1970, its chilling picture of a culture mired in squalor caused an international sensation. Now, as a plague of substance abuse and suicide sweeps Canadian reserves, it is more timely than ever. In a new introduction, author Alan Fry offers alternatives to the bleak future he envisioned in How a People Die .
". . .required reading for anyone who is seriously concerned about the [present] social turmoil."
-Vine Deloria, author of Custer Died For Your Sins and God is Red
"Come on Indians, dammit yes, read this book and get angry." -David Monture, Indian News
RCMP Corporal Thompson stirs up a hornet's nest when he charges the infant's parents with criminal neglest. But who, or what, really killed Annette Joseph? "Tell us how a people die," one character says, "and we can tell you how a people live."
When How a People Die appeared in 1970, its chilling picture of a culture mired in squalor caused an international sensation. Now, as a plague of substance abuse and suicide sweeps Canadian reserves, it is more timely than ever. In a new introduction, author Alan Fry offers alternatives to the bleak future he envisioned in How a People Die .
". . .required reading for anyone who is seriously concerned about the [present] social turmoil."
-Vine Deloria, author of Custer Died For Your Sins and God is Red
"Come on Indians, dammit yes, read this book and get angry." -David Monture, Indian News
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 16, 2022
Still sits with me today though I read it some 8 years ago. I do remember precise details but I remember the feelings of despair and darkness as I read this short volume. The pages are filled with a lot of conversation and dialogue but is nonetheless engaging. Temper one's view and appreciation of the profound work with the knowledge that it is written by a settler and one who willing served the settler government under the capacity of the oppressive and unjust Indian Act as an Indian Affairs Agent.
This book is not the last word from the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw peoples that now currently live directly to the north of Port Hardy, BC. This novel was based on Fry's experience on this First Nation. in 2013, when I lived in Port Hardy they released a documentary of their fight to keep their language and culture alive called "How a People Live". A more moving and inspiring testimony of courage and determination in the face of injustice and colonial malice is hard to find. https://movingimages.ca/products/how-...
In 2011/12 I wrote: A very intense docu-novel of life on the reserve in Northern BC (fictional setting, though Port Hardy is the north end of Vancouver Island) during the late 60's. Follows the story of a baby's death and the Indian Agent and Police Chief involved in the investigation/prosecution. Wonderful dialogue (now I would rather have said- well written, moving dialogue or something to that effect).
This book is not the last word from the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw peoples that now currently live directly to the north of Port Hardy, BC. This novel was based on Fry's experience on this First Nation. in 2013, when I lived in Port Hardy they released a documentary of their fight to keep their language and culture alive called "How a People Live". A more moving and inspiring testimony of courage and determination in the face of injustice and colonial malice is hard to find. https://movingimages.ca/products/how-...
In 2011/12 I wrote: A very intense docu-novel of life on the reserve in Northern BC (fictional setting, though Port Hardy is the north end of Vancouver Island) during the late 60's. Follows the story of a baby's death and the Indian Agent and Police Chief involved in the investigation/prosecution. Wonderful dialogue (now I would rather have said- well written, moving dialogue or something to that effect).
September 25, 2017
A tough read, but I am glad I did persevere. I don't know either!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews