The Ecological Buffalo: On the Trail of a Keystone Speciesby Wes Olson and Johane Janelle
Published by University of Regina Press
Review by Madonna Hamel$39.95 ISBN 9780889778719 As a child Wes Olson knew he would dedicate his life to learning everything he could about the buffalo and as an adult there is no bison-related question you can throw at him to stump him. I’ve tried. He carries his childhood glee for his subject into every project he approaches, and never is that more evident than in The Ecological Buffalo: On The Trail of a Keystone Species. As he writes in the introduction: “For more than thirty years, Johane and I have been captivated by all things buffalo.” The Ecological Buffalo is a look at the animals and species with whom the bison share their space and time. The term “keystone” refers to the integral role bison play in keeping others species alive. Take for example, bison poop. Once bison digest grass they deposit buffalo chips that contain insects and those insects feed a variety of birds like woodpeckers who in turn create cavities in trees for creatures like squirrels who create dung for beetles and so on. This book not only celebrates…

On the Hunt for William Hallett: Discovering a Forgotten Métis Leaderby Audrhea LandePublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Toby A. Welch  $29.95 ISBN 9781778690525 A nearly forgotten figure from Métis history has come alive! On the Hunt for William Hallett drew me in initially because of its beautiful cover: a man galloping across the plains on horseback, a rifle in one hand, a buffalo running alongside. The image pulled me in but the vivid writing and fascinating storyline kept me hooked. I had never heard of William Hallett, but I assumed that he was an interesting fellow if someone penned a book about him; after all he has been dead over a century. A sworn enemy of Louis Riel, Hallett called himself “a loyal half-breed of the Red River settlement.” He was born in 1811 to a mother of the Blood (Kainai) tribe, which was part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He went on to do unforgettable things. Author Audrhea Lande summed Hallett up better than I could: “A man who loved the wild prairies and knew them intimately. A man connected to the original people of the plains. A man who spoke up for justice and fair treatment. A man of great stamina and endurance….

Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada’s North: A Bush Pilot’s Adventuresby Dorrin Wallace with Deana J DriverPublished by DriverWorks InkReview by Sally Meadows$24.95 ISBN 9781927570883 I always marvel when someone can trace the trajectory of their life’s work back to a pivotal moment rooted in childhood. For Dorrin Wallace, who built his career as a bush pilot, trainer, and aircraft maintenance engineer, that moment was when he received a book about one of the world’s largest airplanes at age seven. Step by step, with a dash of serendipity, Wallace carved out his aviation career with intentionality and enthusiasm in his quest for an adventurous life. The title of the book comes from his favourite plane to fly, the Douglas DC-3, affectionately known as the “Gooney Bird.” With a folksy tone, the book details Wallace’s multifaceted career while paying homage to the many pilots and others in the aviation industry who were mentors to and sources of inspiration for him. With a large, colourful supporting cast of real-life characters, this book will pique the curiosity of many about Wallace’s perspective of life in the Saskatchewan aviation industry. Often learning the hard way–that is, through trial and error–Wallace has included amusing and…

Ways to Go: Rediscovering Travel as told through Two Himalaya Adventures – 1971 and 2023Edited by Bob Henderson and Torbjørn YdegaardPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Michelle Shaw$29.95 ISBN 9781778690549 In most mountaineering exploits that I’ve read or heard about, the point always seems to be about reaching the summit – and the blood, sweat and tears involved to get there. Ways to Go explores a completely different approach. How can we travel more intentionally and responsibly with less impact on the world around us? The book is shaped around a particular journey. In 1971, three Norwegian mountaineers – Arne Næss, Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng, and Nils Faarlund – embarked on an expedition to the Sherpa community of Beding, Nepal, located in the Rolwaling Valley near the sacred mountain of Tseringma. The men were scholars, philosophers and activists and their perspective was vastly different to most of the mountaineers of their day. They weren’t interested in simply forging ahead to reach the summit of a sacred mountain regardless of the wishes of the local community. They had a more focused, thoughtful approach – and they decided theirs would be an anti-expedition. Ways to Go explores the development of eco-mountaineering and…

We are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Traditionby Sarah HernandezPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$39.95 ISBN 9780889779181 In We are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Tradition, American academic Sarah Hernandez (Sicangu Lakota) examines the colonial dismantling of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota intellectual traditions, including “star knowledge through oral storytelling.” She writes that when missionaries arrived in the early nineteenth century, the “linguistic [colonization]” began. Hernandez teaches Native American literature and is the director for the Institute for American Indian Research at the University of New Mexico. She states that “missionary translations of the Dakota language set a dangerous precedent that denigrated Oceti Sakowin star knowledge and supplanted [their] tribal land narratives with new settler-colonial land narratives that ensured that many of our people converted to Christianity and assimilated to the American nation.” Missionaries learned the Dakota language and printed bilingual Dakota-English newspapers which contained “misinterpretation[s] of Dakota origin narratives” and essentially “delegitimize[d] the Oceti Sakowin’s intellectual traditions”—and Christians replaced them with their own. These settler-colonials subsequently “stripped the Dakota nation of 35 million acres of land” and forced them onto a “ten-mile-wide reservation” in Minnesota. Hernandez frequently makes…

Courage and a Castle: A Tribute to a Remarkable Womanby W.J. KoczkaPublished by Wood Dragon BooksReview by Sally Meadows$24.99 ISBN 9781990863950 I can’t imagine a more meaningful tribute to a parent than chronicling their life story in a published book so that many can benefit from their wisdom and grace. Author W.J. Koczka does exactly that, with respect, gratitude, honour, humour, and above all, love, in her new book Courage and a Castle, a memoir of her years with her remarkable mother, Mary. Koczka does an admirable job detailing the resilience and steadfastness (“courage”) with which her mother navigated life’s many challenges. The “castle” referenced is none other than Saskatoon’s own Delta Bessborough, where Mary built her career, providing not only income and stability for her family, but also where her children learned about the value of hard work and the importance of being dedicated to whatever work is at hand. Courage and a Castle is also a story of Mary’s deep faith, rooted in a devastating event early in her marriage that changed the course of her life forever. Koczka lovingly shares how Mary navigated trials without complaint or lament, all while raising six children and working full time…

Walking Together: The Future of Indigenous Child Welfare on the PrairiesEdited by Jason Albert, Dorothy Badry, Don Fuchs, et al.Published by University of Regina PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $39.95 ISBN 9780889778900 This fascinating book touches on so many topics. Walking Together begins by diving into why it is such a struggle for so many families to access services for their children. We then get right into Bill C-92, the connection between FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) and colonization, and the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care. We learn about the importance of supporting Indigenous child welfare workers as well as how Indigenous people are making changes in the welfare systems for their children.  As I went through the chapters, I loved the constant reinforcement that one of the ways forward for Indigenous children is with culture and a sense of belonging through Indigenous stories and traditions. We need to remember the past while we look toward the future.  I value books that don’t steer away from tough issues. Life blows sometimes and reality can be harsh. So even though it was uncomfortable, I appreciated reading about topics such as the forced sterilization of Indigenous girls and women. As we dove into the…

“Nakón-wico’i’e né uspénic’iciyac/Practising Nakoda: A Thematic Dictionary”by Vincent Collette, Tom Shawl and Wilma KennedyPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$27.95 ISBN 9781779400185 Language and cultural identity are intrinsically connected, and for the Nakoda people, who believe that “language is a gift of the Creator,” the Nakoda language is, “through prayers and songs, the means by which important cultural values and spiritual knowledge are transmitted from generations to generations.” This is the first tenet I learned in the tri-authored book, Nakón-wico’i’e né uspénic’iciyac/Practising Nakoda: A Thematic Dictionary, published by University of Regina Press. In Canada, Nakoda (aka Stoney or Assiniboine) is spoken by an estimated 50-150 people … and they’re aging. Understanding the import of language to one’s culture, Vincent Collette—professor of linguistics at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi—teamed with Montana’s Tom Shawl (former Nakoda culture and language instructor at the Aannii Nakoda College) and activist Wilma Kennedy (d. 2020), who lived on the Carry the Kettle Nakoda First Nation in Saskatchewan and had previously worked with Collette on two other Nakoda books (including a concise dictionary), to create a “thematic” dictionary for Nakoda-learners. The thematic dictionary makes learning Nakoda easier as Nakoda’s a “polysynthetic language where…

Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskinby Johnathan A. AllanPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$32.95 ISBN 97817794003307 Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin is a well-researched interdisciplinary book by Manitoba professor Jonathan A. Allan, and though it’s structured like most academic books I’ve read—with an introduction, an appendix, an impressive bibliography and index, and conclusions at the end of each chapter—the subject matter is completely unique, and perhaps not one my aunt will be discussing in her book club. Uncut gets up close and personal with foreskins. It includes the age-old debates concerning circumcision; aesthetics; the penis in art; the topic of cut/uncut sexuality; foreskin restoration; and it speaks of “the ongoing fear of the foreskin, since the foreskin is so absent from American culture.” Allan’s no stranger to sensitive topics. The Canada Research Chair in Men and Masculinities at Brandon University previously authored Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus. I was curious to learn why he writes about “really rather odd topics”—like the pros and cons of foreskins—and found my answer in his introduction: “While it may be tempting to dismiss the foreskin as an irrelevant object ofstudy, I argue the…

“#BlackInSchool”by Habiba Cooper DialloPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$20.95 ISBN 9780889778184 Young Halifax writer Habiba Cooper Diallo has much to say about being a Black student at a Halifax high school that prides itself on being the “most diverse school east of Montreal”. #BlackInSchool is her non-fiction account of the International Baccalaureate student’s frequent experience with racism, and it clearly airs her frustrations with the “complete absence of cultural competency on the part of staff/administrators and many students,” and with the school’s curriculum itself. The writer decries the “graphic whitewashing of school through posters;” says “Africa, the hashtag, [is] inserted like a punctuation mark wherever empathy is needed;” and disparages “the Eurocentric approach to learning”. She writes letters to politicians and administrators, and creates a petition re: equity for Black students at Dalhousie University. Interestingly, this unsettling story’s told via journal entries Cooper Diallo wrote in Grades 11 and 12 (2011-2014). The author’s articulate and mature, but some of her activities (ie: “chatting for hours in the mall’s food court” with friends) are also youthful, and she adopts the Twitter-world’s # (hashtag) in her title—a symbol rarely used in formal writing—and throughout the book to reiterate…