“My name is Weetaltuk; Eddy Weetaltuk. My Eskimo tag name is E9-422.” So begins From the Tundra to the Trenches. Weetaltuk means “innocent eyes” in Inuktitut, but to the Canadian government, he was known as E9-422: E for Eskimo, 9 for his community, 422 to identify Eddy.

In 1951, Eddy decided to leave James Bay. Because Inuit weren’t allowed to leave the North, he changed his name and used this new identity to enlist in the Canadian Forces: Edward Weetaltuk, E9-422, became Eddy Vital, SC-17515, and headed off to fight in the Korean War. In 1967, after fifteen years in the Canadian Forces, Eddy returned home. He worked with Inuit youth struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, and, in 1974, started writing his life’s story. This compelling memoir traces an Inuk’s experiences of world travel and military service. Looking back on his life, Weetaltuk wanted to show young Inuit that they can do and be what they choose.

From the Tundra to the Trenches is the fourth book in the First Voices, First Texts series, which publishes lost or underappreciated texts by Indigenous writers. This new English edition of Eddy Weetaltuk’s memoir includes a foreword and appendix by Thibault Martin and an introduction by Isabelle St-Amand.

Eddy Weetaltuk (1932 to 2005), was born on Strutton Island, James Bay. He enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in Korea. He left the army in 1967 and was stationed in Germany for many years.

Eddy Weetaltuk's profile page

Thibault Martin is a professor of Sociology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais and is the author of De la banquise au congélateur: mondialisation et culture au Nunavik.

Thibault Martin's profile page

ISABELLE ST-AMAND is an Assistant Professor in the Department of French Studies and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Queen’s University. Her research as a settler scholar focuses on Indigenous literary criticism in Quebec and Canada. 

Isabelle St. Amand's profile page

• Winner, Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher

“Resonates with an honesty and humour that is refreshing.”

Prairie Fire

"Tender, honest, and often raw, Weetaltuk’s storytelling is masterful, engrossing, and deeply human. He has imbued his writing with a philosophical nuance that is characteristically Inuit: very subtle, yet profound."

The Malahat Review

“From the Tundra to the Trenches is Eddy Weetaltuk’s lifetime achievement of publishing his memoirs. As an Inuit and a Canadian veteran of the Korean War, Weetaltuk tells a story of his early years in the Arctic with his family and his military service. Weetaltuk’s identities weave intersections of meaning between Indigenous and white ways of life.”

The Goose

“Endlessly interesting; an account of a traditional way of life now lost, a gripping first-hand account of a front-line soldier during the war, and an honest account of a young man’s adventures and misadventures. It is to all our benefit that it has, at last, found its way into print."

The National Post

"For those interested in Inuit culture it offers the rare and valuable perspective of an Inuk looking out from his culture at the world rather than the world looking in."

CHOICE

“Recounts the adventures of Inuk veteran Eddy Weetaltuk, from his early life in the North to his escape to the south under an assumed identity, to his enlistment in the Canadian Forces, which took him across the Canadian West, to Japan and Germany, and into battle in Korea. Adopting the name Eddy Vital was necessary in 1951 because the federal government restricted the movement of Inuit people. Through his alias, Weetaltuk was able to see the world; in the army, he experienced equality and respect—all the while never forgetting his true identity as an Inuk.

The publication history of From the Tundra to the Trenches is itself a four-decades-long saga of many twists and turns. That it now finds English publication (after first appearing in French and German) owes to the author’s conviction that his life story be read as a work of literature with the makings of a bestseller. Eddy Weetaltuk was right.”

The Globe and Mail