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My Name Is Masak
Good condition. Moderate wear to the edges of the spine
- GenresNonfictionIndigenous
110 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2020
What a lovely little autobiography of her early life by a woman Eskimo born in 1930 in Northwest Territories. No rancor and no apologies. The brief forward is written by Wally Firth who was apparently an Eskimo who became an MP for the Northwest Territories. It is only a page long, but should be reprinted and read by as many people as possible. Here is an excerpt:
“People who grew up in the North during this time lived through many changes. I myself started life as a trapper and hunter and went on in turn to become a fur trader, broadcaster, pilot and Member of Parliament. Some people would call this progress. We in the North are not so sure.
“Education and communication are fashionable ideas in northern society today. Unfortunately, until recently, education and communication have been one-way streets.
“For all his goodwill, the conventional southerner has usually not stopped to listen and learn much about the original people of the Arctic before he began to teach the ways of his world. Native northerners are now beginning to talk back. They are finally telling other Canadians the way it is and the way it was. Alice French’s book is a great contribution to this process.
‘
“Our history has been largely written by outsiders and these stories do not often mention people like Alice’s family. However, one can never understand the northerner without getting to know its people. My Name is Masak is one northerner’s story in her own words. The North will never be the same again, but Alice’s memories will help to keep the recent past alive.
“People who grew up in the North during this time lived through many changes. I myself started life as a trapper and hunter and went on in turn to become a fur trader, broadcaster, pilot and Member of Parliament. Some people would call this progress. We in the North are not so sure.
“Education and communication are fashionable ideas in northern society today. Unfortunately, until recently, education and communication have been one-way streets.
“For all his goodwill, the conventional southerner has usually not stopped to listen and learn much about the original people of the Arctic before he began to teach the ways of his world. Native northerners are now beginning to talk back. They are finally telling other Canadians the way it is and the way it was. Alice French’s book is a great contribution to this process.
‘
“Our history has been largely written by outsiders and these stories do not often mention people like Alice’s family. However, one can never understand the northerner without getting to know its people. My Name is Masak is one northerner’s story in her own words. The North will never be the same again, but Alice’s memories will help to keep the recent past alive.
April 19, 2008
This was my absolute favorite book as a child - I have probably read it 20 times and will read my tattered copy to my children one day.
Alice French was a former student of Inuit residential schools in what is now the NWT and Nunavut. So beautifully written as a memoir.
Alice French was a former student of Inuit residential schools in what is now the NWT and Nunavut. So beautifully written as a memoir.
October 20, 2016
Just finished reading my great grandmothers book! Awesome, going to read again.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews