Borneo Log: The Struggle for Sarawak’s Forests by William W. Bevis (review)

174 Western American Literature Popular history can go beyond im ages and entertaining stories. After read­ ing The Am erican West, I had a hankering for some straight DeVoto and Stegner, chased with Limerick. KEVIN HOLDSWORTH Salt Lake City, Utah When Coyote Howls: A Lavaland Fable. By Robert Gish. (Albuquerque: University of New M exico Press, 1994. 138 pages, $22.95.) As unbelievable and unnatural as it may seem, Coyote has lost his howl. Coyote the trickster, the prankster, the hero, the fool finds him self at a disad­ vantage, and he w ill need to gain the trust and aid of those very characters who in the past might have suffered the result of C oyote’s pranks or worse— his car­ nivorous appetite. When Coyote com es to Raven for help, Raven deliberates cautiously as he exam ines C oyote’s sincerity: “Pardon me in hesitating, but you know what they say about you. Que Vato! Coyote, Huehue hijito! I fear you are up to no good. Fear you are fooling. Are you, in your tendencies toward m is­ chief and misadventure, really telling me the truth?” Finally convinced, Raven advises Coyote that he must take a perilous journey to Lavaland where he w ill ask Moon to return his voice. U sing the same wit and cunning previously used for m ischief, Coyote must convince everyone he meets of his sincerity in this quest. C oyote’s community recognizes that like all of the intricate parts of their world, they need C oyote’s howl as much as he does. Robert G ish’s humorous frolic through Lavaland explores the character and myths of Coyote, but most importantly reveals the critical value of having all elem ents of nature— including humans— in balance. BARBARA TRACY LANGDON Southeast Community College, N ebraska Borneo Log: The Struggle fo r Saraw ak’ s Forests. By W illiam W. B evis. (Seattle: University of W ashington Press, 1995. 264 pages, $19.95.) “A t the expense o f the many . . . ” It’s im possible to step back into history, relive the past, and attempt to undo our mistakes. But, surprisingly, “colonialism is not dead” and we can examine its consequences in our world today. There’s plenty in W illiam B evis’s Borneo Log to ponder, although logging softwood rainforests to make dispos­ able plyw ood for Japan’s rapacious building boom is the topic of this unsettling volum e. Just like the natives of the Canadian and American West, the Baram peo­ ple stood in the path of the surveyor, blocking progress. Bulldozers came any­ Reviews 175 how. A culture fell as chain saws toppled trees. Government officials in distant capitals accepted payment as life ended in the forests where life itself began. Leave your office for a walk in a city park and your perspective on life changes: leave your country, continent, hemisphere, language, and culture behind and you experience another place and time. B evis took a walk far from comfort. His notes are not a travelogue: they inform us of the intimate history, geography, politics, econom ics, and racism of colonialism — Japanese and C hinese, of course, but also British and American. Its facelessness fascinates because it destroys without breaking international law. But the law of nature cannot forever be broken. How many North American children wandering in a forest can find north with their eyes closed? The moss growing on the shady side of the tree is a reliable compass, but we teach civi­ lized children little of the natural order. B evis’s update to his Borneo walkabout states that protests have forced the logging to leave clear-cut Borneo, to move on to Papua New Guinea. Only the last few lines suggest solutions. Land use policies seem sensi­ ble— to us. Perhaps a BTU tax w ill reorient our wallets. But his suggested attempts to pressure Japan to change its attitudes are merely colonialism in another guise. Perhaps, when there are no more undeveloped countries with natural resources for the civilized world to pillage, we may reconsider our ways. It may be too late. DAVID FINCH Athabasca University, A lberta Our N atural...