No comments about The Ermatingers: A 19th-Century Ojibwa-Canadian Family.

No comments about The Canadian Martyrs.

No comments about Man of Mana: Marius Barbeau, a Biography.

No comments about 'Call Me Hank': A Stó:lõ Man's Reflections on Logging, Living, and Growing Old.

4 comments about Nunaga: Ten Years Among the Eskimos (History & Politics).

1. I've read several highly recomended books about Alaska and the North American Arctic, and Nunaga takes the cake. Pryde writes with compassion and honesty about his work as a fur trader in northern Canada, and his observations and insights are well drawn and articulate. I read this book with some sadness, knowing that the First Nations cultures he wrote about are all but gone, now. And the book took place barely fifty years ago! But his chronicles are worth it, a fast, fun and informative read. Don't be put off by the skanky hook on the back of some older paperbacks: they do this incredible work a shameful disservice.



2. Duncan Pryde, an orphan from Scotland was bored with his life as a factory worker and wanted to set out on an adventure. He saw an ad in the "Help Wanted" section that had been placed by the Hudson's Bay Company for a fur trader in Canada.
   
   This is the story of a young man who went to work in the Arctic and embraced the native way of life. He gained insights into the Eskimo culture that are rarely revealed to outsiders.
   
   I feel a real sense of gratitude that a man who had experienced a lifestyle that was soon to be lost forever was able to share it with the rest of the world.
   
   I originally bought a paperback edition but I read it so often that it fell apart. I had to get a hardcover replacement



3. Duncan Pryde gives us a story to connect with a culture that until only a generation ago was in the stone age. He reveals the traditions and taboos that effect the everyday life of the Inuit (Eskimo). From birth to marriage to death he covers it all. This book will enlighten whoever reads it. The story arranged in a cronological order which lends itself to enjoyable reading.



4. First of all, don't let the availability of this book daunt you. There are plenty of copies out there to be found by search.

   Pryde was a Hudson's Bay fur trader among the Inuit (Eskimos) of the Northwest Territories. He lived pretty much as they lived, did pretty much as they did, and assembled a lot of cultural, linguistic and handcraft lore about them. Also, worthy of note, he made friends in the process. He passed away in 1997, and the new territory of Nunavut posted a eulogy for him. This speaks strongly for the authenticity of his account; if he had not been truthful, the Inuit would hardly consider him a friend.

   Pryde is very frank about the basic details of life, from his sexual exploits with Inuit women to common myths about the Arctic which he takes pleasure in refuting. However, for an interesting account of what Pryde neglects to tell you about his actions in the timeframe of _Nunaga_, check out the excellent _Going to Extremes_ by James McGinniss, who ran into Pryde in Barrow, Alaska.

5 comments about Ordeal by Fire: A memoir.

1. Rita has shared a true life story. It is a brave revelation of the many twists of life. There are many lesson one picks up througout the book. To look at life with a broad, unselfish view while valuing every drop in the ocean of time is one. Every life event has a purpose, and one must have faith in the way life unfolds itself. Her presentation is truly pictureque --from Rajasthan in India to Africa and multi-cultural Canada.



2. Wow! An amazing story of survival and sacrifice. This extraordinarily personal story is written in a simple yet eloquent style that provides a window directly into the heart of a woman dealing with unbearable emotional confines in her life.

   It is both an awful story of an oppressive and controlling man and awesome story of a woman's struggle for emotional and spiritual freedom for herself and her children. And it is the story of an Indian woman's struggle to reconcile her own identity within traditional Indian culture and with family expectations about her role in marriage and in life.

   Read this book if you want to be astounded...and then inspired!




3. Hi! I am Rita Nayar.
   I am writing a message here to provide an email address to those of you who wish to get in touch with me!
   It is rita_nayar@hotmail.com
   Please do write as I would love to get your thoughts, comments, feedback or simply an acknowledgement of my book.



4. Rita's book is about her journey; an idyillic child hood living in
   exotic locations, her horrific first few months of marriage, her attempt
   to escape, her immigration to Canada, her constant quest to placate her
   violent and unstable husband, her carrer success, her wonderful children
   and the most unimaginable tragedy anyone can ever experience.

   Her story has a universal appeal which crosses cultural and economic
   boundaries. My admiration for her has no bounds, because she has
   survived and is willing to share her story to celebrate her son and to
   reach out to women.




5. This is a true story of love, abuse, suffering, tragedy, forgiveness, redemption and closure. When I began reading this book, I was not able to put it down until I had finished it.

   This is a memoir. If you are living through, or have lived through, family violence, or simply know someone in that situation, then this book may be very helpful. It grew out of Rita's own need to come to terms with these horrific events in her life. She has since also become active in providing support and counseling to others who are suffering or have suffered domestic abuse.

   Be warned: the violence that the author and her family endured is graphically described. But it is not gratuitous violence. The violence was real, personal and even fatal for some members of Rita's family. That it occurred in a middle class family in a middle class neighborhood in a major North American city provides a hint of the pain that may be only one friend or family away from each of us.

No comments about Jean de Brebeuf: A Giant in the Land of Huronia.

No comments about Paddling Her Own Canoe: The Times and Texts of E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) (Studies in Gender and History).

No comments about Sitting Bull in Canada.

No comments about The Frontier World of Edgar Dewdney.