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Standing Up with G̲a'ax̱sta'las

Jane Constance Cook and the Politics of Memory, Church, and Custom

by (author) Leslie A. Robertson & the Kwagu'l Gix̱sa̱m Clan

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2012
Subjects
Native American Studies, General, Native Americans
Categories
About indigenous people or experiences , About British Columbia
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774823876
    Publish Date
    Oct 2012
    List Price
    $125.00

Library Ordering Options

Description

Standing Up with G̲a’ax̱sta’las is a compelling conversation with the colonial past initiated by the descendants of Kwakwa̱ka̱’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. G̲a’ax̱sta’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 Gix̱sa̱m revived their dormant clan to forge a positive social and cultural identity for future generations through feasting and potlatching.

About the authors

Awards

  • Short-listed, The François-Xavier Garneau Medal, Canadian Historical Association
  • Winner, CCWH Book Award, Canadian Committee on Women’s History
  • Short-listed, Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, BC Book Prizes
  • Winner, CLIO Prize for BC, Canadian Historical Association
  • Winner, Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize, American Society for Ethnohistory
  • Winner, Aboriginal History Prize, Canadian Historical Association
  • Joint winner, K.D. Srivastava Prize for Excellence in Scholarly Publishing

Editorial Reviews

In this most innovative book, Robertson and the Gix̱sa̱m Clan collectively write a book that will quickly become a methodological model for ethnohistorians. The non-linear narrative, with the focus on an interaction between the anthropologist, the indigenous community (Cook’s descendants), and the memory of Cook, provides a way of dealing with memory and history through the presentation of multiple voices. As one committee member stated, “The book models a collaborative process that more and more of us will be challenged to undertake. I think the future of our profession is that we will be expected to write with, rather than about, Indigenous communities. That this book presented a cohesive narrative about a woman whose life was so complicated and whose memory has been so contested by weaving together the voices of so many contributors is stunning to me.”

Wheeler-Voegelin Prize, American Society for Ethnohistory