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The Resource Waswanipi

Waswanipi

Creator
Author
Summary
"Jean-Yves Soucy's story and encounter with my Dad provides a charming glimpse into a changing world, for us all." Romeo Saganash It's 1963, Jean-Yves Soucy is 18 and dreams of being a fire warden scanning the boreal forest from a fire tower. But he ends up at an equipment depot between Val-d'Or and Chibougamau. To his delight, he is located near the Cree community of Wawanipi. With two Cree guides, including a man named William Saganash, he will be canoeing through the lakes and rivers of the region. On each encounter with the Crees, Jean-Yves expects to see a new world. Instead, he meets a different civilization, as different from his own as Chinese civilization. Yet he knows nothing about it. He wrote Waswanipi because Romeo Saganash, son of William, insisted: "You have to write that, Jean-Yves. About your relationship with my father and the others, how you saw the village. You got to see the end of an era." Provides a Cree-English glossary. Jean-Yves Soucy (1945-2017) was an award-winning writer, publisher, journalist and scriptwriter, based in Montreal. His previous work in English includes Family Secrets, The Controversial & Schocking Story of the Dionne Quintuplettes and A Summer Without Dawn. Romeo Saganash, born in 1961 on the shores of a lake in his parents' tent near Waswanipi, is a former Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Cree. He was MP for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou from 2011-2019. Peter McCambridge is an award-winning Quebec City translator and Fiction Editor of QC Fiction. In the media "Waswanipi is both a breezy summertime read, a slim and lively book that can be devoured in an afternoon, and a story brimming with big ideas to be savoured slowly. Soucy demonstrates great storytelling with an impressive memory for details and the translation is expertly handled by Peter McCambridge. It's a valuable resource from an anthropological perspective, helping both Cree readers to learn about a valuable part of their own history and outsiders 'to get to the heart of the Cree soul,' as Soucy puts it." Patrick Quinn, The Nation (Cree Nation News) "Soucy's narrative vividly recalls a time when the traditional life - living off the land, hunting, fishing, gathering - was still possible for the Cree community .... What makes Waswanipi compelling ... is (his) astute observation and recollection.... Soucy's reflections are made more poignant and powerful by the inclusion of an epilogue by William's son, Romeo Saganash." Julie McGonegal, Quill & Quire "A book that feels like a movie." Mathieu Lavigne, Radio Ville-Marie "an appeal to generosity and openness... This beautifully written-and witty-story becomes particularly significant through the encounter of two cultures, the overcoming of ignorance or distrust that separates them..." Nuit Blanche "like a summer gift, to be savoured, slowly." Yvon Paré Litterature du Québec
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Waswanipi
Title
Waswanipi
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"Jean-Yves Soucy's story and encounter with my Dad provides a charming glimpse into a changing world, for us all." Romeo Saganash It's 1963, Jean-Yves Soucy is 18 and dreams of being a fire warden scanning the boreal forest from a fire tower. But he ends up at an equipment depot between Val-d'Or and Chibougamau. To his delight, he is located near the Cree community of Wawanipi. With two Cree guides, including a man named William Saganash, he will be canoeing through the lakes and rivers of the region. On each encounter with the Crees, Jean-Yves expects to see a new world. Instead, he meets a different civilization, as different from his own as Chinese civilization. Yet he knows nothing about it. He wrote Waswanipi because Romeo Saganash, son of William, insisted: "You have to write that, Jean-Yves. About your relationship with my father and the others, how you saw the village. You got to see the end of an era." Provides a Cree-English glossary. Jean-Yves Soucy (1945-2017) was an award-winning writer, publisher, journalist and scriptwriter, based in Montreal. His previous work in English includes Family Secrets, The Controversial & Schocking Story of the Dionne Quintuplettes and A Summer Without Dawn. Romeo Saganash, born in 1961 on the shores of a lake in his parents' tent near Waswanipi, is a former Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Cree. He was MP for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou from 2011-2019. Peter McCambridge is an award-winning Quebec City translator and Fiction Editor of QC Fiction. In the media "Waswanipi is both a breezy summertime read, a slim and lively book that can be devoured in an afternoon, and a story brimming with big ideas to be savoured slowly. Soucy demonstrates great storytelling with an impressive memory for details and the translation is expertly handled by Peter McCambridge. It's a valuable resource from an anthropological perspective, helping both Cree readers to learn about a valuable part of their own history and outsiders 'to get to the heart of the Cree soul,' as Soucy puts it." Patrick Quinn, The Nation (Cree Nation News) "Soucy's narrative vividly recalls a time when the traditional life - living off the land, hunting, fishing, gathering - was still possible for the Cree community .... What makes Waswanipi compelling ... is (his) astute observation and recollection.... Soucy's reflections are made more poignant and powerful by the inclusion of an epilogue by William's son, Romeo Saganash." Julie McGonegal, Quill & Quire "A book that feels like a movie." Mathieu Lavigne, Radio Ville-Marie "an appeal to generosity and openness... This beautifully written-and witty-story becomes particularly significant through the encounter of two cultures, the overcoming of ignorance or distrust that separates them..." Nuit Blanche "like a summer gift, to be savoured, slowly." Yvon Paré Litterature du Québec
Member of
Cataloging source
Midwest
http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/collectionName
hoopla (Digital media service)
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1945-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Soucy, Jean Yves
Dewey number
971.4/1100497323
Index
no index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
dictionaries
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Soucy, Jean Yves
  • White people
  • Cree Indians
  • Cree Indians
  • Waswanipi (First Nation)
  • Québec (Province)
Target audience
adult
Label
Waswanipi
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Distribution
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Control code
MWT15167621
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource.
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Isbn
9781771862547
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • c
Publisher number
MWT15167621
Specific material designation
remote
Stock number
15167621
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Label
Waswanipi
Link
Publication
Distribution
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Control code
MWT15167621
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource.
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Isbn
9781771862547
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • c
Publisher number
MWT15167621
Specific material designation
remote
Stock number
15167621
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web

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