John Whalika
Who was John Whalika? He was one of my great-great-grandfather’s First Nations slaves — a Haida man who James Birnie rescued from the Indian slave trade that flourished up and…
Read moreMichel Kaonassé
I fell into Michel Kaonassé’s story long before I knew how important it would be in my York Factory Express book. Kaonassé worked at Fort Alexandria under my great-grandfather Alexander…
Read moreWhaleteah, chief of the Alexandria home guard
Alexander Caulfield Anderson called the one of the Native men who lived outside Fort Alexandria “Whaletah,” and Chief Trader Donald McLean (who took over the post after Anderson left) wrote…
Read morePeu-Peu-Mox-Mox
I have always been interested in the story of the Walla Walla Chief named Peu-Peu-Mox-Mox — an Indigenous man who I think was a very honorable man. I run across…
Read moreBlackeye Folklore
At the turn of the century, a small group of Athapascan warriors from the Chilcotins crossed the Fraser River and made their way south, toward Kamloops Lake. They knew they…
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