Biography & Autobiography Native Americans
Song of the Earth
The Life of Alfred Joseph
- Publisher
- Creekstone Press
- Initial publish date
- Jan 2019
- Category
- Native Americans, Native American
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781928195054
- Publish Date
- Jan 2019
- List Price
- $21.95
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Description
Grounded in the wisdom of his elders, Gisdewe Alfred Joseph wove respect, kindness and courage into his years of service to the Witsuwit’en people of northwest British Columbia. As an artist, teacher, chief band councilor, house chief and lead plaintiff in Delgamuukw-Gisday Wa v. BC – one of the most important Aboriginal title cases in Canada – Alfred relied on the lessons he learned as a boy to deal with a pervasive colonial reality.
Written in collaboration with Alfred Joseph, Song of the Earth brings us inside the heart and mind of a man who grew up in the heart of Witsuwit’en culture and lived to see it transformed. But he was no passive observer; he initiated and participated in legal battles that have reshaped how Canada addresses its colonial past and struggles to find ways to reconcile with Indigenous nations. In the face of current Witsuwit’en attempts to block pipeline construction across their territories in northwestern BC, this book provides insight into the people standing up for the rights that Canadian courts have affirmed.
About the authors
Awards
- Joint winner, Jeanne Clark Local History Award
Contributor Notes
Ross Hoff man is a professor in First Nations Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. He lived, worked and raised his family on Witsuwit’en territory between 1985 and 2006. He worked at the elementary school in Witset and later as a consultant with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en. Two of his daughters and his grandchildren live in the Widzin Kwah Valley. Ross worked with Alfred for eight years to prepare for Song of the Earth.
Excerpt: Song of the Earth: The Life of Alfred Joseph (by (author) Ross Hoffman; with Alfred Joseph)
Alfred was spared the ordeal of attending residential school until he was twelve years old. This meant that he did not have to endure the total indoctrination others faced at a younger, more vulnerable point in their lives. More importantly, it also meant he was able to spend those early, receptive years immersed in his language and surrounded by elders who had lived most of their lives according to the seasonal rounds established by their ancestors.
In the 30s and 40s, Hagwilget was like Victoria – a place where people retire. Trappers had houses here. Long Charlie from Stellaquo had a house here. In the summer, people came from all over – Babine, Bear Lake. … Families came from Babine at the end of June. My friends from Babine would spend all summer here.
There was a regular tent city beside the buildings. Each group had their own songs. The songs they sang were different. The medicine men had their own songs. The secret society had their own songs. The high chiefs was a different group again, all their songs were different.Those elders had their own hit parades. You know those small pieces of paper that used to list the popular songs. They had their own list in their head. After they sang it, they would explain the history of it. Who made it and for what reason, like a stone was put up, or a pole. Each had its own beat and its own name.
Editorial Reviews
from Ormsby Review by Diana French
Song of the Earth is the story of Alfred Joseph, a long time Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief, a respected “knowledge holder” of the Nation’s history, an artist, teacher, and a noted defender of Wet’suwet’en rights. It is also the story of how the arrival of European settlers changed Wet’suwet’en lives.
Albert Joseph was born in 1927 in Hagwilget, a Witsuwit’en village on the lower Bulkley River in northwestern British Columbia. Until the European settlers arrived, the villagers were independent. They fished, trapped, hunted, and gathered berries and medicinal plants in their territory. As the settlers’ development encroached on their land, the villagers had to depend on the wage economy, finding work in off-reserve industries such as fish canneries and logging.