Where Happiness Dwells: A History of the Dane-Zaa First Nations

by Robin Ridington, Jillian Ridington, Elders of the Dane-Zaa First Nations (Contributor)

The Dane-zaa people have lived in the Peace River area of northernBritish Columbia for thousands of years. Elders documented thepeople's history and worldview in oral narratives and passed ontheir knowledge through storytelling. Language loss in the youngestgeneration, however, threatens to break the bonds of knowledgetransmission.At the request of the Doig River First Nations anthropologists Robinand Jillian Ridington present a history of the Dane-zaa people based onoral histories collected over a half century of fieldwork. Taking apoetic form that does justice to the rhythm of Dane-zaa storytelling,these powerful stories span the full length of history, from the storyof creation to the fur trade, from the arrival of missionaries to casesheard in the Supreme Court of Canada. Elders document key events asthey explain the very nature of the universe and how people and animalslearned to live together on the land.These oral histories, told by one of the last First Nations toexperience the effects of colonialism, not only preserve traditionalknowledge for future generations, they also tell the inspiring story ofhow the Dane-zaa learned to succeed in the modern world.Robin Ridington is a professor emeritus ofanthropology at the University of British Columbia and has worked withthe Dane-zaa First Nations since the 1960s. JillianRidington is an ethnographer and researcher who has workedwith the Dane-zaa First Nations since 1978. Their books about theDane-zaa include Robin's "Trail To Knowledge andNarrative in a Northern Native Community," and a co-authored book,"When You Sing It Now, Just Like First Nations Poetics, Voicesand Representations."

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Alex Rohani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was just too dry for me. Lots of information and some interesting stories but didn't enjoy it all that much.