Whaling and Eskimos: Hudson Bay, 1860–1915 by W. Gillies Ross (review)

REVIEWS 319 it istoomuchat the expense of their content.The originalcaptions giveonlythe briefestidentification of buildingsandpersons. Whileinteresting in themselves, the photographs wouldbemuchmoremeaningfulhadadditionalhistorical information beenprovidedtoexplainthesignificance of thesubjects in thedevelopment of Red River. While the opportunityto createa valuablepictorialhistoryof Red River was missed, Huyda'sbookwillbefascinating tothoseinterested in thehistoryof photographyin thiscountry.The inventoryof Hime'sphotographic equipmentisanindex ofthecomplexities of earlylandscape photography whicharedescribed inthebook's final section. AsHuydasumsit up, 'collodion wet-platelandscape photography was an exactingoperationrequiring definite skillsand artistry, a goodlyamount of physical stamina andenergy,sufficient time,andnotalittlegoodfortuneintermsof weather, climate and environment.' SYLVI^ v^S KIRI• University ofToronto WhalingandEskimos: HudsonBay,•86o-•9• 5. w. GILLIES ROSS. Ottawa, National Museumof Man Publications in Ethnology Number lO, 1975.Pp. 164,maps.$9.oo. This work in the socialsciences bringsinto conjunctiontwo fieldsof inquiry geography andethnology - andthe resultisa finescholarly treatmentof a hitherto uninvestigated thoughnonetheless importantsubject. Professor Ross's researchhas painstakingly takenhimthroughtheextantlogsof halfofthe 146knownBritishand New Englandwhalingvoyages in HudsonBayfrom 186oto 1915. This herculean taskhasbeenpartlyundertaken byothers in reportingsea-ice distribution, climatology , animal and plant introductionand extripation,and, of course,phasesof maritimehistory.ButRoss hasusedtheserecords toassess thenatureanddegreeof contact between immigrantandaboriginal populations in HudsonBay. His discoveries arenumerousandvitalto our understanding of culturecontact in oneArcticarea.Whalingcontact withtheEskimos occurred onlywherecurrentsand iceconditions wouldallow,andthismeantthatplaces suchasNorth Bay,thecentre of Akuliarmiutoccupation, became importantsites of culturalchange,whereasthe southern side of Hudson Strait witnessed little or no whaler-Eskimo contact. These sameconditions, plusthedistribution of bowheadwhales,governedthe locationof the whalers.The whalingseason wasshortowingto problemsof navigationand required the whalersto winter in the Bay.Whaler influenceextendedbeyondthe places of actualcontact astradegoods weredispensed throughintertribaltrade.This influenceoccurrednorth of Hudson'sBayCompanyposts,whichremainedto the Eskimos tothesouthwards theprincipalagents ofchange. Someof theseconclusions mayseemobvious, buttheyarenecessary andthepointsmadearewelldocumented byextensive research whichsubstantiates linesof inquiryonlymarginallyfollowedby previousscholars. To thesediscoveries canbe addedthe pioneeringscope of this book:whalers didnot,aspreviously claimed, undermine Eskimo healthbytheliberal 320 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW distributionof liquor(in trade or asgifts).Many Scottish and New Englandvessels wereself-proclaimed temperanceships.Whalersprovidedincreased foodsecurity, reducedrisk of starvation, and providedmedicaltreatment.On the other hand, because whalemenenjoyedextensivesexualrelationswith Eskimowomen,they introducedvenerealdiseases whoseinfluences weregenerallydetrimentalto native healthandvitality.WhalemensiredmanymixedbloodEskimos, whose descendants constitute a stillvisuallegacy of whalingin thattimeandplace. Students of theCanadiannorth,pastandpresent, willfindthisausefulresearch tool, made more soby its extensivebibliography; they will, however,be partly shackled bytheabsence of anindex,whichsurelyoughttobeastandard offeringin NationalMuseums of Canadapublications. Two photographs, eighteenmaps,two graphs, andtwenty-one tables supplement thetext,addingcharacter toanotherwise Spartangovernment production. Thesematters aside, thisisanimportantworknot onlyin itssubject andconclusions but because it offersthe promiseof newtypesof research in Canadianmaritimestudies(for whichProfessor GilliesRoss's work may usefullyserveasa model)- for example,in the St Lawrencesealindustryor the NorthwestCoastmaritimefur tradeto saynothingof future Arcticscholarship. For this labour and for these new directions we are in the author's debt. BARRY M. GOUGH WilfridLaurierUniversity Gabriel Dumont:TheMdtisChiefandhisLostWorld.CEOI•CE WOOI)COCI•. Edmonton, Hurtig Publishers, 1975.Pp.256,illus.$8.95. M6tisleaderGabrielDumont'was, astheMexicans wouldsay, muy hombre' (64).In the Canadianworld of lettersWoodcock is something of a prodigyhimself.Dumont playedaleadingrolein thetransitionofwestern Canadafrom theopenhomeland of free-ranginghalfbreedsand Indians to the confineddistrictof neat, rectangular farms.The M6tischieftainepitomizedthe metamorphosis, going from leading buffalohuntsatmid-century,throughanunsuccessful resistance in 1885,to abrief andhumiliatingstintasacuriosity in BuffaloBill'sWild WestShow.Woodcock, for hispart,hasmovedfromexploringanarchism, throughoverseeing thepainfulbirth ofserious studies inCanadian literature,toproducing eruditepopularhistory. To all hi.swork he hasbroughtcourage,a finely-honedwriting style,and a broad and culturedmind.Whobut Woodcock wouldhaveattemptedyetanotherstudyof the death of the old West?Who but Woodcockwould have publisheda poem 'On CompletingaLife of GabrielDumont'in Canadian Forum(November1975)? Woodcock's Dumont succeeds moreasaliteraryworkthanasamajorcontribution tohistorical knowledge. It isbestwheretheauthorbringshisfamiliaritywithsimilar personalities andmovements in Europetoilluminatehisprotagonist's temperament, and where a lucid and evocative stylemakesthe subjectlive for the reader. For example, Woodcock offersaconvincing explanation ofwhyDumontallowed himself ...