And another, published this summer, a life and times style biography from UBC Press,
Standing Up with Ga'axsta'las: Jane Constance Cook and the Politics of Memory, Church, and Custom by anthropologist Leslie Robertson and the Kwagu’l Gixsam Clan. Order here.
Standing Up with Ga'axsta'las is a
compelling conversation with the colonial past initiated by the descendants of
Kwakwaka'wakw leader and activist, Jane Constance Cook
(1870-1951). Working in collaboration, Robertson and Cook's descendants open
this history, challenging dominant narratives that misrepresent her motivations
for criticizing customary practices and eventually supporting the potlatch ban.
Drawing from oral histories, archival materials, and historical and
anthropological works, they offer a nuanced portrait of a high-ranked woman who
was a cultural mediator; devout Christian; and activist for land claims, fishing
and resource rights, and adequate health care. Ga'axsta'las
testified at the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission, was the only woman on the
executive of the Allied Indian Tribes of BC, and was a fierce advocate for women
and children. This powerful meditation on memory documents how the Kwagu'l
Gixsam revived their dormant clan to forge a positive social and
cultural identity for future generations through feasting and potlatching.
Standing Up with Ga'axsta'las is a
compelling conversation with the colonial past initiated by the descendants of
Kwakwaka'wakw leader and activist, Jane Constance Cook
(1870-1951). Working in collaboration, Robertson and Cook's descendants open
this history, challenging dominant narratives that misrepresent her motivations
for criticizing customary practices and eventually supporting the potlatch ban.
Drawing from oral histories, archival materials, and historical and
anthropological works, they offer a nuanced portrait of a high-ranked woman who
was a cultural mediator; devout Christian; and activist for land claims, fishing
and resource rights, and adequate health care. Ga'axsta'las
testified at the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission, was the only woman on the
executive of the Allied Indian Tribes of BC, and was a fierce advocate for women
and children. This powerful meditation on memory documents how the Kwagu'l
Gixsam revived their dormant clan to forge a positive social and
cultural identity for future generations through feasting and potlatching.
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