Nahoway a Distant Voice

by Donna G. Sutherland

A Distant Voice is a unique, deeply personal and emotional narrative of the author’s quest to discover and reconnect with her Cree/Scots ancestry in the Hudson Bay fur trade.

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read an EXCELLENT book about Cree/Scots Métis roots. This is the book to read.

[Lizinka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing. While doing some research on the Steele part of my family, I discovered the existence of William and Nahoway Sinclair of York Factory, Manitoba. Imagine my delight to see that there was a book about Nahoway! I got it from the library, expecting a dry read, full of ancient HBC journals and ships logs.

Instead I have been spellbound by this tale, and immersed in a life long forgotten. It is beautifully and very personally told, and the reader ends up on the search for answers alongside the author as she weaves the threads together of our common ancestor's story. The amount of research done by Sutherland is staggering and the book's true value lies in the way she seamlessly intertwines contemporary stories from the elders, the journals of the HBC men and company, a geographical study of the region at the time, anthropological research on first nations burial sites, and the accounts of Nahoway's descendants into a vivid and graphic account of Nahoway and her life on Hudson's Bay. I can't stop reading!

[Donna Sutherland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved writing this story. It was a true labour of love to write about the life & times of a distant grandmother whose life was unknown to me until the late 1990s. Weaving together the remnants of oral story, archival record, and modern thought about a life long extinguished was a true test of my abilities as a writer.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was overall quite impressed with this book, despite finding our my ancestor likely was not Nahoway's daughter and therefore her story was not really included in this research. I enjoyed the presentation of the material and I particularly enjoyed the way Sutherland explained how she reached certain conclusions when there were gaps in the source material. I also appreciate the personal touch brought to the work. Too often history is presented in a dry, matter-of-fact way that makes it difficult to read and retain the information. This challenged that notion, laying bare the process of research so that others can follow the steps for themselves, and showed why this research is important for the average person to do in the first place. Regardless of a person's connection to Nahoway or William Sinclair, I would recommend this book as a way to understand the early days of the HBC and the importance of Indigenous women in the survival of the HBC.

[John Hirst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. But cover photo, unfortunately, is not of my 4x Great grandmother, Margaret Nahoway Sinclair as it may imply.