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My Indian

My Indian

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In 1822, William Epps Cormack sought the expertise of a guide who could lead him across Newfoundland in search of the last remaining Beothuk camps on the island. In his journals, Cormack refers to his guide only as “My Indian.”

Now, almost two hundred years later, Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neill reclaim the story of Sylvester Joe, the Mi’kmaw guide engaged by Cormack. In a remarkable feat of historical fiction, My Indian follows Sylvester Joe from his birth... Read More

In 1822, William Epps Cormack sought the expertise of a guide who could lead him across Newfoundland in search of the last remaining Beothuk camps on the island. In his journals, Cormack refers to his guide only as “My Indian.”

Now, almost two hundred years later, Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neill reclaim the story of Sylvester Joe, the Mi’kmaw guide engaged by Cormack. In a remarkable feat of historical fiction, My Indian follows Sylvester Joe from his birth (in what is now known as Miawpukek First Nation) and early life in his community to his journey across the island with Cormack. But will Sylvester Joe lead Cormack to the Beothuk, or will he protect the Beothuk and lead his colonial explorer away?

In rewriting the narrative of Cormack’s journey from the perspective of his Mi’kmaw guide, My Indian reclaims Sylvester Joe’s identity.

My Indian is a brilliant flip on the usual settler take in historical fiction, whiich has too often used the genocide of the Beothuk as dramatic backdrop to stories of settler in-fighting, thematically focused on the “discovery” of the “New World” and creation of Canada by brave men. Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neill use William Epps Cormack’s diary of 1822, in which he calls his guide “my Indian,” to reclaim Sylvester Joe’s Mi’kmaw take on things. The tension builds within Sylvester as he tries to keep his employer satisfied while keeping his promise to his Elders not to let the whiete man find a camp belonging to a group of Beothuk, who he ominously notes “have been driven back from their normal hunting grounds and river mouths [and] all but disappeared.”

Awards

  • BMO Winterset Award 2021, Long-listed

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Book details

Page length: 176 Publication Date: 2021-04-30 Book themes: JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / Canada / Indigenous Publisher: Breakwater Books Ltd ISBN: 9781550818789 eISBN1: 9781550818802 - Kindle eISBN2: 9781550818796 - EPUB Language: English

Age and reading level details

Interest age, years 12 - 14
Reading age, years 12 - 14

Excerpts & Samples

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$16.95

Description

<p>In 1822, William Epps Cormack sought the expertise of a guide who could lead him across Newfoundland in search of the last remaining Beothuk camps on the island. In his journals, Cormack refers to his guide only as “My Indian.”</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Now, almost two hundred years later, Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neill reclaim the story of Sylvester Joe, the Mi’kmaw guide engaged by Cormack. In a remarkable feat of historical fiction, <em>My Indian</em> follows Sylvester Joe from his birth (in what is now known as Miawpukek First Nation) and early life in his community to his journey across the island with Cormack. But will Sylvester Joe lead Cormack to the Beothuk, or will he protect the Beothuk and lead his colonial explorer away? <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In rewriting the narrative of Cormack’s journey from the perspective of his Mi’kmaw guide, <em>My Indian </em>reclaims Sylvester Joe’s identity.</p>

Additional information

Weight 0.0005 kg
Dimensions 8 × .5 × .60 in