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During My Time: Florence Edenshaw Davidson, A Haida Woman
This book is the first life history of a Northwest Coast Indian woman. Florence Davidson, daughter of noted Haida carver and chief Charles Edenshaw, was born in 1896. As one of the few living Haida elders knowledgeable bout the culture of a bygone era, she was a fragile link with the past. Living in Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands, some fifty miles off the northwest coast of British Columbia, Florence Davidson grew up in an era of dramatic change for her people. On of the last Haida women to undergo the traditional puberty seclusion and an arranged marriage, she followed patterns in her life typical of women of her generation.
Florence's narrative ― edited by Professor Blackman from more than fifty hours of tape recordings ― speaks of girlhood, of learning female roles, of the power and authority available to Haida women, of the experiences of menopause and widowhood. Blackman juxtaposes comments made by early observes of the Haida, government agents, and missionaries, with appropriate portions of the life history narrative, to portray a culture neither traditionally Haida nor fully Canadian, a culture adapting to Christianity and the imposition of Canadian laws. Margaret Blackman not only preserves Florence Davidson's memories of Haida ways, but with her own analysis of Davidson's life, adds significantly to the literature on the role of women in cross-cultural perspective. The book makes an important contribution to Northwest Coast history and culture, to the study of culture change, to fieldwork methodology, and to women's studies.
Florence's narrative ― edited by Professor Blackman from more than fifty hours of tape recordings ― speaks of girlhood, of learning female roles, of the power and authority available to Haida women, of the experiences of menopause and widowhood. Blackman juxtaposes comments made by early observes of the Haida, government agents, and missionaries, with appropriate portions of the life history narrative, to portray a culture neither traditionally Haida nor fully Canadian, a culture adapting to Christianity and the imposition of Canadian laws. Margaret Blackman not only preserves Florence Davidson's memories of Haida ways, but with her own analysis of Davidson's life, adds significantly to the literature on the role of women in cross-cultural perspective. The book makes an important contribution to Northwest Coast history and culture, to the study of culture change, to fieldwork methodology, and to women's studies.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 4, 2014
In 1992 I was taking a women's studies course at Hunter College; taught by a visiting professor from Oxford University. The focus was on art and culture. My paper was on the one of their great matriarchs, Florence Davidson of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was truly a fascinating time. The paper highlighted the Haida Button Blankets and their significance to culture, history and art. I remember those days fondly. Thinking back now, remembering my first New York City apartment, the smell unique to pre-war buildings, a Hungarian coffee shop with great pastries, St. John the Divine, the smell of books, bottles of red wine, Prince music playing and a beautiful labrador puppy, "Samantha," who chewed up the rattan furniture my father had given us to take across the country. It reminds me to live fully in the moment, to try and squeeze every ounce out of each experience.
August 6, 2016
I found this book to be a great balance between Davidson's life and the author's relationship and inputs. When you are conducting an ethnography, you have to be able to find yourself in the story. Without letting your audience know about yourself, how you came to know the subject, and how your own biases and opinions might influence the story, the ethnography loses truth. I for one think that Blackman has written about Davidson's life from a wonderfully emic standpoint and more contemporary ethnographers and anthropologists could learn a thing or two from this style of writing.
April 13, 2018
Many may not find this book as interesting as others. This book is an enrichment to an open mind that wants to learn about other cultures and its people. While there are occasionally some "dry spots", the majority of this book is interesting and detailed in describing life among the Haida Indians...this particular book holds a place in my heart for several reasons. I was stationed at CFS Masset from November 1981 through November 1983, I became well acquainted with many of the Haida population and last but certainly not least, I had the honor and privilege to meet and know Mrs. Florence Davidson. I spent an afternoon with her via the invitation by her daughter. Her daughter and I had shared a hospital room and we became friends. She introduced me to her mother. Mrs. Davidson welcomed me with open arms and she was so gracious. She provided me my copy of this book and autographed it for me. It is one of my most treasured items. She was not just a Haida elder, she was a pioneer of her time...missed and much loved!!
November 5, 2008
This book is 200 pages long, 60 pages is actually about Davidson, the rest is dedicated to Blackmen situating herself and justifying her work. Very dated.
October 4, 2025
Life story of a messenger from the past
The Haida are a North American people among those known more generally as “Northwest Coast Indians” living in British Columbia and southern Alaska, those who created the elaborate totem poles and amazing art works that have entranced me for most of my life. They lived in a rich environment full of food and building materials, their cultures were the ones which had the “potlatch”, a ceremony in which a man gave away almost everything he had for prestige’s sake. In the latter part of the 19th century, missionaries came and wrought a good deal of change at the same time as disease and alcohol did a good deal of damage, killing off a large percent of the population. (By the 1880s, only 12.5% of the Haida remained.) The survivors adapted Christianity and much of Western lifestyle. Slowly, over the next century, some of the old customs and traditions were brought back, for instance wood-working.
This book is the life story of a Haida woman born in 1896 in the Haida Gwaii (long-called the Queen Charlotte Islands by the Anglophone Canadians). She spoke the Haida language all her life, but learned English. She married at 14 to a much older man and bore him 13 children four of whom died young. They did get along. She worked hard all her life, mostly at home and for church purposes. It was not a life full of surprises or exciting adventures. You will read of her childhood days, her troubles, her relatives, and her local activities. The anthropologist who painstakingly encouraged the old lady to talk about her life has written some material at the beginning and end to tie the reader into more general knowledge about the Haida, their modern history, and how this story was written.
I found it interesting, but not overly revealing of what makes Haida culture different from others. Their language appears in many phrases or words and seems utterly different from any language I’ve ever seen, but there is no comment about this though there’s a pronunciation guide in the front. Florence Edenshaw Davidson—the Haida lady—seems a very likeable person, but her life story does not emphasize what she retained from the traditional culture as opposed to what she got from the more general Canadian culture. You have to get this by inference. The author does not tell what she thought about Mrs. Davidson’s life—how close or how far it was to the older tradition, except that the old lady says on occasion, “once we did that, but now we don’t anymore”.
It’s a quiet book with a few interesting photographs but it doesn’t overwhelm you with its vibrancy or with its analysis. The Haida lady was an artist and craftsman but not much is made of her baskets and button blankets. As I don’t think any other Haida women of that age are left, this may be a precious memoir of an older time, like many other autobiographical books of indigenous folk in North America.
Florence Edenshaw Davidson died in 1993 at the age of 97.
The Haida are a North American people among those known more generally as “Northwest Coast Indians” living in British Columbia and southern Alaska, those who created the elaborate totem poles and amazing art works that have entranced me for most of my life. They lived in a rich environment full of food and building materials, their cultures were the ones which had the “potlatch”, a ceremony in which a man gave away almost everything he had for prestige’s sake. In the latter part of the 19th century, missionaries came and wrought a good deal of change at the same time as disease and alcohol did a good deal of damage, killing off a large percent of the population. (By the 1880s, only 12.5% of the Haida remained.) The survivors adapted Christianity and much of Western lifestyle. Slowly, over the next century, some of the old customs and traditions were brought back, for instance wood-working.
This book is the life story of a Haida woman born in 1896 in the Haida Gwaii (long-called the Queen Charlotte Islands by the Anglophone Canadians). She spoke the Haida language all her life, but learned English. She married at 14 to a much older man and bore him 13 children four of whom died young. They did get along. She worked hard all her life, mostly at home and for church purposes. It was not a life full of surprises or exciting adventures. You will read of her childhood days, her troubles, her relatives, and her local activities. The anthropologist who painstakingly encouraged the old lady to talk about her life has written some material at the beginning and end to tie the reader into more general knowledge about the Haida, their modern history, and how this story was written.
I found it interesting, but not overly revealing of what makes Haida culture different from others. Their language appears in many phrases or words and seems utterly different from any language I’ve ever seen, but there is no comment about this though there’s a pronunciation guide in the front. Florence Edenshaw Davidson—the Haida lady—seems a very likeable person, but her life story does not emphasize what she retained from the traditional culture as opposed to what she got from the more general Canadian culture. You have to get this by inference. The author does not tell what she thought about Mrs. Davidson’s life—how close or how far it was to the older tradition, except that the old lady says on occasion, “once we did that, but now we don’t anymore”.
It’s a quiet book with a few interesting photographs but it doesn’t overwhelm you with its vibrancy or with its analysis. The Haida lady was an artist and craftsman but not much is made of her baskets and button blankets. As I don’t think any other Haida women of that age are left, this may be a precious memoir of an older time, like many other autobiographical books of indigenous folk in North America.
Florence Edenshaw Davidson died in 1993 at the age of 97.
September 22, 2024
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this. As I have visited Haida Gwaii three times and loved every minute of my time there, I have a soft spot for the islands. Knowing the land a tiny bit helped me create pictures as Florence told the story of her life. Reading about the life of people living on Haida Gwaii from her birth in the late 1800s until the book's end in the early 1980s, gave me a true glimpse of the way it was. What a life! Married at 14, gave birth to 13 children, Florence became a pillar of her community, holding onto the valued traditions of her people and bridging to the many changes as she aged. She was the chosen Elder to meet Pierre Trudeau and later Queen Elizabeth, all the while quietly leading by example.
May 20, 2021
This is a wonderful biography of a woman who is a vital link between past and future Haidas. Married at 15 in an arranged marriage, she lived through many rapid cultural changes while becoming the matriarch of her lineage. This is a wonderful read.
May 26, 2024
I learned a lot about Haida culture. According to ancestry.com I am related to her. It was a very interesting book.
September 24, 2012
3.5 Stars. Read for an Anthropology course at school. Interesting look into Haida life and how it was effected by the newcomers ('whitemen').
March 18, 2014
An absorbing read with occasion to immerse oneself in a culture and place, strong and remote. Well-written, interesting, and most enjoyable!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews