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Social Science Native American Studies

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
Category
Native American Studies, General, Native Americans
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774823845
    Publish Date
    Oct 2012
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774823852
    Publish Date
    Mar 2013
    List Price
    $39.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774823876
    Publish Date
    Oct 2012
    List Price
    $30.99

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Description

Standing Up with G̲a’ax̱sta’las tells the remarkable story of Jane Constance Cook (1870-1951), a controversial Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw leader and activist who lived during a period of enormous colonial upheaval. Working collaboratively, Robertson and Cook’s descendants draw on oral histories and textual records to create a nuanced portrait of a high-ranked woman, a cultural mediator, devout Christian, and Aboriginal rights activist who criticized potlatch practices for surprising reasons. This powerful meditation on memory and cultural renewal documents how the Kwagu’l Gix̱sa̱m have revived their long-dormant clan in the hopes of forging a positive 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
  • Winner, Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize, American Society for Ethnohistory
  • Joint winner, K.D. Srivastava Prize for Excellence in Scholarly Publishing
  • Short-listed, Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, BC Book Prizes
  • Winner, CLIO Prize for BC, Canadian Historical Association
  • Winner, Aboriginal History Prize, Canadian Historical Association

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

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