Walking on the Land
by Farley Mowat
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Book Summary Information
Author: Farley MowatEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-10
ISBN: 1586420240
Number of pages: 200
Publisher: Steerforth
Book Reviews of Walking on the Land
Book Review: Hooked on Mowat
Summary: 5 Stars
Mowat once again deals with the subjugation of Inuit peoples by the Canadian government, the Episcopal and Catholic churches as well as various companies who decide there's big money to be made in the arctic. The government ignores pleas that Inuits are facing starvation and medical crises. Churches try to convert and some officials feel justified in relocating children to specialized schools. Company employees exploit native women for sexual favors in exchange for food for their starving families. There are some good guys here but they are few and far between. Mowat has written a series on this subject which include "People of the Deer" and "The Desperate People" all of which report the history, mythology, customs, habits etc of the Ihalmuit people who lived in what is now the new Canadian province of Nunavut-just north of Manitoba. Various pressures, the greatest being starvation, reduced their numbers to less than 200. They were relocated as is related in this book to a coastal region which they were unused to and were not adapted to surviving there. This was another government folly. The Canadians came later to their own chapter in conquering native peoples as this takes place in the 1950's. I say this as a general term because there were and are Canadians who appreciate Inuit culture and attempted to intervene. Mowat himself was not well liked by any of the major players in those episodes which he is very candid about.
I am totally hooked on Mowat's work. He is a cultural anthropologist but he's such an adventure writer, a person gets so caught up in the unfolding drama. The characters are so richly portrayed and their customs explained so well that their way of life as it was will forever be recorded in his books even if it has disappeared. By the way "walking on the land" refers to an Inuit custom of going out into the cold to die. It was done by gracious elders whose younger families faced starvation in order to save children. It was also done by people who felt they had outlived their usefulness.
Summary of Walking on the Land
Using one of his own trips through the Eastern Arctic as a starting point, Farley Mowat interweaves the stories of the Barren Ground Inuit with stunning, lyrical descriptions of the Northern landscape.With great beauty and terrible anguish, Mowat traces the history of the Inuit, revealing how the arrival of the Kablunait ? white man ? in the early part of the century and the subsequent obliteration of the caribou herds combined to unleash a series of famines and epidemics that virtually wiped out the Barren Ground Inuit population.
Full of larger-than-life characters ? old-time Hudson's Bay company men, eccentric priests, wild bush pilots and well-meaning interlopers ? Walking on the Land is an unforgettable account by one of Canada's most committed and impassioned voices.
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