I picked up this book at The Second Cup on Osborne Street where we had our August meeting for the Winnipeg BookCrossers group. They have quite an extensive bookshelf of free books even though they are not an Official BookCrossing Zone. We might have to change that. I've read several other books by James Houston and enjoyed them very much. I hope I will like this one too. NOTE: The cover is different from the one shown.

The subtitle to this book is “An Eskimo Saga” which indicates that it was written before the present day when the indigenous peoples of the Canadian north were called Eskimo, not Inuit. One might conclude that the author was a white person who did not value the indigenous perspective. But “one” couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, James Houston was white but he was the first white person who seriously started collecting Inuit art and, in his writings, he shows how the native people survived and thrived in a harsh climate before the intrusion of Europeans.
Houston says in his Author’s Note that the events chronicled in this book are based upon true events which were told to him during the 12 years he lived in the Eastern Arctic. A whaling ship from Massachusetts was hunting right whales off the coast of Baffin Island in 1896. One of the boats that went out to harpoon the whales was hauled off by the whale and the fog and ice prevented finding the boat. Of the six men on board, two fell into the water and one died soon after the boat was abandoned. The other three were found by a small tribe of Eskimos and they were nursed back to health. The story of the next year is told by Avinga, a young man who lived with the family of the chief, Sarkak. Avinga’s mother was married to Sarkak but it was thought that some other man fathered Avinga. When Avinga was very young he was attacked by dogs and badly injured so that he could not walk very far. He says he was basically a slave in Sarkak’s household but he was not mistreated and he ate just as well as any other member. Avinga was one of the people who first saw the white whalers. He and his half-brothers were retrieving meat from a cache when they found the deceased man and then followed the tracks of the others. On their return to camp they told Sarkak who commanded them to go out and find the others. This was a life changing decision for Sarkak and all his people. Avinga was able to observe how the white men interacted with his own people because Sarkak had them added to his own household.
The three white men were the third mate, Billy, the harpooner who is only called the Portuguese and a sailor by the name of Daggett. The Eskimo called them respectively Pilee, Portagee and Kakuktak (which means the white-haired one because Daggett was blonde). Kakuktak was the white man who made the most effort to learn the Eskimo ways. He learned words in their language and went out hunting with the native hunters. All three of the men took Eskimo girls to bed but Kakuktak was very serious about his girl, Neevee, whom he asked to go to America with him if their ship returned. Pilee had two girls sharing his bed and their antics were a source of wonder to the Eskimo women who came to watch them in bed. Portagee was very popular with all the women and he probably even slept with Sarkak’s second wife. Sharing wives with visitors was a common occurrence but it had to be done with the consent of the wife and the knowledge of the husband. Avinga asserts that the women in the village were very much involved in matters regarding the tribe and had at least as much power as the men although they wielded their power diplomatically.
The three white strangers impacted Sarkak’s tribe in small ways and big ones. They introduced new games and new positions for intercourse. They started a fashion of sticking pictures made from sealskin to the inside of igloos. However, they also made liquor from berries which caused many people to become drunk for the first time in their lives. They talked back to Sarkak and refused his orders which none of the Eskimo had ever thought of doing. These white strangers changed the way of life that had existed for years. They were also changed but read the book to find out how.

This book is going to the winner of the 2017 Canadian Literature Sweepstakes. Congratulations!

When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.

And the book is here!
Thank you soo much, this is an interesting period of history which I know nothing about, and will certainly enjoy reading.
Thanks a lot!! :)

Sent to the winner of the Colour Sweepstakes... :)

Thank you for this book! :)

An enjoyable read.

Sent in the bookbox 12.
I don't know if there are participants that read in english, we'll see if the book comes back to me at the end or not! ;-)

Back home with the bookbox 12.

Sent to the winner of the "Book and bookmark" sweepstakes.
Congrats and enjoy! :-)

Thank you, Harobed82, the book has safely arrived and certainly looks an interesting read.