In 1886, the Ihalmiut people of northern Canada numbered seven thousand; by 1946, when Farley Mowat began his two-year stay in the Arctic, the population had fallen to just forty. With them, he observed for the first time the phenomenon that would inspire him for the rest of his life: the millennia-old migration of the Arctic's caribou herds. He also endured bleak, interminable winters, suffered agonizing shortages of food, and witnessed the continual, devastating intrusions of outsiders bent on exploitation. Here, in this ...
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In 1886, the Ihalmiut people of northern Canada numbered seven thousand; by 1946, when Farley Mowat began his two-year stay in the Arctic, the population had fallen to just forty. With them, he observed for the first time the phenomenon that would inspire him for the rest of his life: the millennia-old migration of the Arctic's caribou herds. He also endured bleak, interminable winters, suffered agonizing shortages of food, and witnessed the continual, devastating intrusions of outsiders bent on exploitation. Here, in this classic and first book to demonstrate the mammoth literary talent that would produce some of the most memorable books of the next half-century, best-selling author Farley Mowat chronicles his harrowing experiences. People of the Deer is the lyrical ethnography of a beautiful and endangered society. It is a mournful reproach to those who would manipulate and destroy indigenous cultures throughout the world. Most of all, it is a tribute to the last People of the Deer, the diminished Ihalmiuts, whose calamitous encounter with our civilization resulted in their unnecessary demise.
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Seller's Description:
Samuel Bryant. Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Light Creasing on Front, Rear Covers, Spine; Front, Rear Covers, Spine Lightly Chipped; Slight Yellowing Due to Age. Canada's Greatest Storyteller, Farley Mowat, the author of Never Cry Wolf. The Classic Tale of Courage and Survival. ALSO KNOWN AS: The author wishes to thank the Atlantic Monthly for permission to use here some material that first appeared in its pages. CONTENTS: Foreword; Foreword to the New Edition; I The Why and Wherefore; II Into the Barrenlands; III The Intruders; IV The Children; V The Lifeblood of the Land; VI Under the Little Hills; VII Feast and Famine; VIII Of Houses and Tongues; IX Eskimo Spring; X These Are Their Days; XI The Boy and the Black One; XII The Shape of the Law; XIII Kakumee; XIV The Breaker of the Law; XV Stone Men and Dead Men; XVI From the Inland Sea; XVII Ghosts, Devils and Spirits; XVIII Ohoto; XIX Days of His Father; XX Last Days of the People; XXI The Days to Come. SYNOPSIS: THEY WERE IN HARMONY WITH THE LAND BUT THEY WERE ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION. Sixty years ago, the Ihalmiut numbered 7, 000. When Farley Mowat visited them, their population had dwindled to forty. For two years, Mowat shared their hard life-the bleak winters, the shortages of food, the fervent struggle to withstand the intrusion of white men-and came to understand them. Here, Farley Mowat indicts those who have abused the Ihalmiut. But, foremost, he pays tribute to the last of the People of the Deer-the proud, valiant Eskimos, desperately trying to survive. Born in Belleville, Ontario in 1921, Mowat grew up in Belleville, Trenton, Windsor, Saskatoon, Toronto and Richmond Hill as his librarian father moved a household that included a miniature menagerie around the country; those early adventures were chronicled in Owls in the Family and The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. During World War II Mowat served in the army, entering as a private and emerging with the rank of captain. The experience of battle seared the imagination of the young soldier and ultimately gave rise to And No Birds Sang, a gripping eyewitness account of combat in Italy and Sicily. Following his discharge, Mowat renewed his interest in the Canadian Arctic, an area he had first visited as a young man with an ornithologist uncle. Since 1949 he has lived in or visited almost every part of Canada and many other lands, including the distant regions of Siberia. He has said of himself, "I am a Northern Man… I like to think I am a reincarnation of the Norse saga men and, like them, my chief concern is with the tales of men, and other animals, living under conditions of natural adversity." His experiences have inspired such works as People of the Deer, The Desperate People, Never Cry Wolf, A Whale for the Killing and The Boat Who Wouldn't Float. Farley Mowat's books have been published in over twenty languages in more than forty countries.
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I enjoyed it very much. Very interesting from first page to last.
thoughtfulreader
May 21, 2008
powerful, moving, & important
An excellent and important book, ranking with his more famous Never Cry Wolf. Farley Mowat is a Canadian treasure, a superb author.
Raech
Aug 17, 2007
People of the Deer
This book is very sobering. It chronicles Farley Mowat's exploration into the Barrens of Northern Canada, where he studied caribou and lived with a group of isolated inland Eskimo, the Ihalmiut. Entirely dependent upon the caribou, they were almost wiped out by starvation in the 1940s. Attempts by the Canadian government and others to help them only intensified their demise. The first several chapters outlining Mowat's struggle to reach the remote area make rather dry reading. But once he is among the Ihalmiut and learns the rudiments of their language the book springs to life. It describes individuals, customs, legends and the history of a very peaceable and communal culture. The story of Mowat's daily life with them in a bleak and forbidding land is sprinkled with humor and full of vitality. This is an utterly fascinating account.