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Pine Bugs and 303's
Pine Bugs and .303s is the story of two families in Northwestern Ontario. Elmer Wabason, a Cree man and Gilbert Bertrand, a white man grew up three miles apart. Until World War II they had never met. The town and the reserve are separated by the newly named Trans-Canada Highway. A fast-paced story uncovering the bond of soldiers, the strength of women, the impact of racism and resilience. The families endure disaster, deceit and corruption. They achieve many firsts even though the odds seem stacked against them at almost every turn. The search for justice takes them to a pivotal trial in 1965.
322 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2022
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 15, 2023
SPOILER ALERT!!
This is the reward in actively looking for titles that are flying under the radar. A title from a teeny little publishing house out of Sudbury that specialises in the stories of Northern Ontario. Indeed, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) has only 4 hard copies and 1 e-copy for the entire system. Thank goodness I have access to a TPL library card because my local library system - halfway between Toronto and Sudbury - doesn’t have any hard copies of this, and the OLS Download Centre doesn’t even have a copy - though I have recommended they get one!
Put your hold on this title now! Better yet, buy multiple copies of this title and start gifting it far and wide. This is a book that needs to be read and championed far and wide. Truly a little gem of a book. This is the fictional companion to one of my favourite titles of the past year: Valley of the Birdtail.
Centred on two men - and their families, one white and one Indigenous - who lived their entire lives only 3 miles away from each other - one in town, one on the reserve - but knew nothing of each other or their communities until they served together as soldiers during WW2.
This is a powerful story about so many things: the power of friendship, the strength of women, the bonds of family and community, the real price of systemic racism, and most importantly, the possibilities of and for true reconciliation.
I love the metaphor of the pine bugs - they are a perfect fit… sadly there are so many characters in this title - in real life - who can aptly be described as pine bugs. It’s going to become my new code phrase for such people in my own life. But there are equally as many - indeed more - characters who are so much more - so much better - than pine bugs… characters who live their lives with truth and integrity in the face of so much stacked up against them.
It is the relationships that drive this novel - Elmer and Gil, and Mary and Frances, in particular - but equally the rest of the cast as well: Walter, Kurt, Lucy, Elias, Helen of special note. It is because the characters are so well crafted - their stories so compelling - that the reader is driven to keep reading. When, approx ⅓ of the way in, both Gil and Elmer are dead, the story was really only just beginning… I had to keep reading because I wanted - needed! - to know when and how justice was going to prevail and be served. It took a long time coming, but it was - and with a bit of a twist right near the end that I didn’t see coming - my own bias in under-estimating a character, but also a shout out to the craft of the author in setting me up and distracting me. And speaking of the ending… oh the irony, it had me laughing out loud as I read the final two paragraphs.
This book is not perfect, but any complaints - besides some annoying copy edit issues - are minor. The author is a retired, Indigenous, police officer and soldier who has previously written non-fiction titles about his life and work (which I am inclined to find and read by the way). This is his debut fiction title… a book I fully expect he has been crafting in his head for many, many years.
Read this book. Now.
This is the reward in actively looking for titles that are flying under the radar. A title from a teeny little publishing house out of Sudbury that specialises in the stories of Northern Ontario. Indeed, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) has only 4 hard copies and 1 e-copy for the entire system. Thank goodness I have access to a TPL library card because my local library system - halfway between Toronto and Sudbury - doesn’t have any hard copies of this, and the OLS Download Centre doesn’t even have a copy - though I have recommended they get one!
Put your hold on this title now! Better yet, buy multiple copies of this title and start gifting it far and wide. This is a book that needs to be read and championed far and wide. Truly a little gem of a book. This is the fictional companion to one of my favourite titles of the past year: Valley of the Birdtail.
Centred on two men - and their families, one white and one Indigenous - who lived their entire lives only 3 miles away from each other - one in town, one on the reserve - but knew nothing of each other or their communities until they served together as soldiers during WW2.
This is a powerful story about so many things: the power of friendship, the strength of women, the bonds of family and community, the real price of systemic racism, and most importantly, the possibilities of and for true reconciliation.
I love the metaphor of the pine bugs - they are a perfect fit… sadly there are so many characters in this title - in real life - who can aptly be described as pine bugs. It’s going to become my new code phrase for such people in my own life. But there are equally as many - indeed more - characters who are so much more - so much better - than pine bugs… characters who live their lives with truth and integrity in the face of so much stacked up against them.
It is the relationships that drive this novel - Elmer and Gil, and Mary and Frances, in particular - but equally the rest of the cast as well: Walter, Kurt, Lucy, Elias, Helen of special note. It is because the characters are so well crafted - their stories so compelling - that the reader is driven to keep reading. When, approx ⅓ of the way in, both Gil and Elmer are dead, the story was really only just beginning… I had to keep reading because I wanted - needed! - to know when and how justice was going to prevail and be served. It took a long time coming, but it was - and with a bit of a twist right near the end that I didn’t see coming - my own bias in under-estimating a character, but also a shout out to the craft of the author in setting me up and distracting me. And speaking of the ending… oh the irony, it had me laughing out loud as I read the final two paragraphs.
This book is not perfect, but any complaints - besides some annoying copy edit issues - are minor. The author is a retired, Indigenous, police officer and soldier who has previously written non-fiction titles about his life and work (which I am inclined to find and read by the way). This is his debut fiction title… a book I fully expect he has been crafting in his head for many, many years.
Read this book. Now.
December 29, 2022
The debut novel by Ernie Louttit takes readers back to the end of World War Two, and the lives of two soldiers returning home to northern Ontario. Pine Bugs and .303s follows Elmer Wabason and Gilbert Bertrand, a Cree man and white man respectively, exploring the gulf between them. With the physical and cultural barriers that had stood between these men all their lives, though they lived only three miles apart, threaten to separate them again. However, the brotherhood they had forged in the war proves to be an unbreakable bond. The novel, the first by the former police officer known for writing books about his time on the force and blowing the whistle on the Saskatoon police’s ‘starlight tors’ practice, is a story of resilience in a tough world.
Louttit’s debut shows promise, and he takes us back to a past we’ve seen many times, but rarely through both a Cree and white perspective. The book covers some dark material, showing the ugliness of a hard life, but offers a glimpse of a Canadian history not glamorized by quaint, CBC period programs.
Louttit’s debut shows promise, and he takes us back to a past we’ve seen many times, but rarely through both a Cree and white perspective. The book covers some dark material, showing the ugliness of a hard life, but offers a glimpse of a Canadian history not glamorized by quaint, CBC period programs.
November 13, 2022
CNF. Only 10% in and there has been a rape (and not the first), an attempted rape of a "best friend's" wife, a lusting after a sister-in-law, self-mutilation, domestic violence and red flags of more to come. Too much testosterone in the drinking water, I presume. No trigger warnings. Recycle bin material.
My apologies to Latitude 46 who provided this review copy.
My apologies to Latitude 46 who provided this review copy.
June 17, 2025
Crisp writing style. Details of court case showcase relationship of First Nations and Canadian institutions. Complex characters show deep insight into motivation and relationships. Plot is intriguing. A uniquely useful window into northern communities and the events and economies that shape them. LOVED IT!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews