MAPPING MY WAY HOME: A GITXSAN HISTORY

"Today it is one of the most picturesque communities in all of BC--a tiny, tourism mecca nestled quietly in Gitxsan territory at the foot of an iconic mountain and bordered by two nurturing rivers. But as recently as 140 years ago the adjacent villages of Hazelton and Gitanmaax were the economic hub of northern British Columbia. Packers, traders, explorers, miners, surveyors and hundreds of tons of freight passed through every year. From Port Essington on the coast east to the Omineca gold fields, from Quesnel north to Telegraph Creek, author Neil Sterritt tells how the trails and the cultures of the north converged where the Skeena meets the Bulkley. Mapping My Way Home: A Gitxsan History is also the story of a people, recorded in both the oral and written traditions, and their adaptation to ever-changing geographies, cultural imperialism and economic opportunity. And finally it is the author's story. Born and raised in two cultures, Sterritt shares his journey from the wooden sidewalks of 1940s Hazelton to the world of international mining and back again to the Gitxsan ancestral village of Temlaham where he helped his people fight for what had always been theirs."--… (more)