The many voyages of Arthur Wellington Clah : a Tsimshian man on the Pacific Northwest Coast

First-hand accounts of indigenous people’s encounters withcolonialism are rare. A daily diary that extends over fifty years andtwo thousand pages is unparalleled.Drawing on a painstaking transcription of Arthur WellingtonClah’s diaries, Peggy Brock pieces together the many voyages --physical, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual -- of a Tsimshian manwho moved in both colonial and Aboriginal worlds. Clah’s birth in1831 coincided with the establishment of a permanent fur trade post,and he became student, teacher, and confidant to missionary WilliamDuncan. Later, Clah’s spiritual voyage into the world of colonialculture transformed him into a devout Christian and an evangelist forthe faith.From the goldfields of BC and Alaska to the hop fields of WashingtonState, Clah witnessed profound change. His diaries reveal thecomplexities of personal interactions between colonizers and thecolonized and the inevitable tensions within a community undergoingrapid change. They also show how Clah’s hopes for his people weregradually eroded by the realities of land dispossession, interferenceby the colonial state in cultural and political matters, anddiminishing economic opportunities.Taken together, Clah’s many voyages offer an unprecedentedAboriginal perspective on colonial relationships as they played out onthe Pacific Northwest Coast. Cover ......Page 1 Title Page ......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Chronology......Page 12 Introduction......Page 22 The Life and Times of Arthur Wellington Clah......Page 26 Keeping Account: The Diary......Page 50 The Fur Trade Era......Page 61 Chasing Gold......Page 81 Food Production and Wage Labour......Page 102 Land Matters......Page 123 Becoming a Christian......Page 143 Parading and Preaching......Page 159 Clah and the Missionaries......Page 174 The Changing World of Feasting......Page 195 Ligeex, Chief of the Gispaxlo’ots......Page 216 Old Age: The End of Voyaging......Page 230 Conclusion......Page 243 Appendix 1 Clah’s Trade Records for 24 and 25 December 1865......Page 248 Appendix 2 Key People in Clah’s World......Page 250 Notes......Page 256 Bibliography......Page 299 Index......Page 309 "First-hand accounts of indigenous people's encounters with colonialism are rare. A daily diary that extends over fifty years is unparalleled. Based on a transcription of Arthur Wellington Clah's diaries, this book offers a riveting account of a Tsimshian elder who moved in both colonial and Aboriginal worlds. From his birth in 1831 to his death in 1916, Clah witnessed profound change: the arrival of traders, missionaries, and miners, and the establishment of industrial fisheries, wage labour, and reserves. His many voyages physical, cultural, and spiritual provide an unprecedented Aboriginal perspective on colonial relationships on the Pacific Northwest Coast."--Pub. desc