Moccasin Square Gardens

by Richard Van Camp

Many authors are known for just one type of fiction, but not Richard Van Camp. The award-winning novelist also pens comics, TV scripts (CBC’s ‘North of 60’), and is an internationally renowned storyteller. Steeped in the oral traditions of his people, the Tlicho (Tłı̨chǫ) of the Dene First Nations, Van Camp’s storyteller’s voice is wonderfully evident in his highly recommended short story collection, Moccasin Square Gardens.

Set primarily in the Northwest Territories, or Denedeh, Moccasin Square Gardens vividly evokes the rhythms and characters of small-town life 'north of 60'. While some tales bring to mind Stephen Leacock or Stuart McLean, those comparisons fail to capture the dazzling range of themes and genres in this collection. Family discord and reconciliation, environmental degradation, sexuality, fantasy, mythology, and even a smattering of horror is all found here. Yet, even the darker stories are permeated with the author's optimism and sense of humour.

Moccasin Square Gardens opens with 'Aliens’, a lyrical tale of budding romance and two-spirit identity. In 'Man Babies', a resourceful park ranger confronts the lay-about, videogame-obsessed son of the woman he's considering moving in with. In 'Super Indians', an embezzling band chief is hilariously held to account at a community sports day. In the haunting 'I Am Filled with a Trembling Light', the social ills of addiction and abuse are explored when a dying man tries to reclaim the home his father has lost to gambling debts. 

The outliers in the collection are the two 'Wheetago War' stories. Van Camp, a fan of Star Wars who also writes graphic novels, combines Indigenous myth and popular culture in the form of Zombie-like Wheetago monsters, brought back to life by global warming.

It's a cliché, but this clear-eyed, emotion-filled collection will have you laughing and crying, while at the same time contemplating questions of Indigenous and Canadian history and culture.

Richmond Public is offering a free, online discussion of Moccasin Square Gardens on July 29th, from 10:30 to 11:30am, on Zoom. To register, visit www.yourlibrary.ca/events-calendar/ and search for ‘adult summer reading', or phone 604-231-6413.

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition

by: Paul Watson

In 1845, 129 brave crewmen set out to find the elusive Northwest Passage.  These men were the most prepared, technologically advanced expedition of their time, confident that if the Northwest Passage existed, they were the ones who would find it.  Unfortunately, the Franklin’s Expedition’s legacy was one of the longest searches for missing naval ships. Terror and Erebus proved elusive for over 170 years. 

Watson tells this amazing story of the hunt for Terror and Erebus from the inception of Franklin’s expedition, to the amazing persistence of Franklin’s wife in order to recover his body, to the modern expeditions in the 1960s and beyond in search of the lost ships. Learning of the thought and science that went into creating this expedition was absolutely fascinating. Fresh ideas such as inflatable boats, canning, and the need for entertainment during long periods of extreme suffering were all implemented on this journey making it a cutting edge expedition. When it became clear that something had gone terribly wrong, mission after mission sought to find the ships for decades, making it one of the greatest navel searches in history.

Decades later, people were still trying to find out what had become of the Franklin Expedition.  One such person, an Inuit historian, Louie Kamookak, made amazing strides in plotting the location of the Terror and Erebus wrecks by listening to Inuit oral history and cross examining it against the intended route. With the help of Inuit oral history, modern technology, the invention of scuba, and so much more, great discoveries were made over 170 years after that fateful voyage set sail.

This story lends itself to paper quite well, and Watson does a great job melding the old stories with modern day discoveries. I particularly enjoyed the Inuit perspective considering the land Franklin was exploring has always been theirs. Who better to know what happened than the people who know the land best? 

If you are interested in Franklin’s expedition, Michael Palin from Monte Python has written a book called Erebus, and Amazon Prime just came out with a star-studded miniseries called Terror.

Moon of the Crusted Snow

Moon of the Crusted Snow

By Waubgeshig Rice

Waubgeshig Rice’s novel Moon of the Crusted Snow opens in the crisp autumn chill of a northern Ontario reserve.  Evan Whitesky, a young husband and father, prepares his home for impending winter.  Even in these times of modern conveniences, Evan uses his knowledge of hunting to feed his family and provide a reliable source of healthy food.  Many on the reserve have let their traditional knowledge wane, preferring to rely only on the grocery store.

When cell service disappears, Evan is not surprised – these things happen when you live far north of most of civilization.  When the power goes out and landline service is cut, it’s a little disconcerting but certainly not beyond imagining.  The Band Chief and council simply start up the generators which run on diesel – they’ve been doing this for decades anyway.

But as the days pass with no word from Hydro or anyone else in the south, everyone starts to wonder what’s happening.  Chief Terry, Evan and a few other key players must keep everyone on the reserve calm.

The return of two young men who were attending university in the south throws everything into disarray.  Kevin and Nick put their survival skills to the test, travelling hundreds of kilometres on snowmobiles to flee mounting chaos in the city.  The power outages and service disruptions are everywhere.

Enter Justin Scott, a mysterious snowmobiler who appears suddenly at the edge of town.  Towing a sled full of supplies, Scott has followed Kevin and Nick’s snowmobile tracks all the way to the reserve.  He presents himself as a survivalist who just wants a community to live in away from the city.  But Evan has a bad feeling about Scott.

The presence of an outsider in a small community is just a part of the slowly unfolding crisis that takes place when the sources of heat, energy, food and water that we count on suddenly disappear.  

Moon of the Crusted Snow will fill you with a sense of foreboding as the story builds to a terrifying climax.  Curl up in a blanket and hunker down with this wintry tale of suspense and survival.

Ragged Company

Four homeless people, each with a different story to tell, are brought to life by Richard Wagamese in Ragged Company. These people were drawn into my heart and remained there long after I put this book away. Amelia, Digger, Dick and Timber live on the streets of Toronto, and look out for each other, following the code of the street.

When the weather turns to sub-zero temperatures, the foursome seek out the warmth of a local movie theatre. Being drawn into the world of the movies, they return frequently to warm up and enjoy the entertainment. On many of these occasions, they meet Granite, a journalist who is in the theatre hiding from his own life and through these coincidental meetings they strike up an unlikely friendship.

When the group win the lottery and have trouble cashing in the ticket as they have no ID or a fixed address, they turn to Granite for help. While this relationship has the potential to be portrayed as the heroic white man coming to their rescue, this storyline is written honestly and humbly, showing Granite’s genuine caring for his friends, allowing them to take the lead on what they want and need from him.

The large lottery win sets the group up for life, but it also stirs up their pasts and causes each of them in turn to face some demons that they have been hiding from. Wagamese takes the time to let us get to know each character and brings us into their lives respectfully and genuinely telling their stories with an understanding of what it means to be on the street.

The big win allows them to buy a house for all of them to live in, which begins the exploration of what exactly is home. Is it necessary to have those four walls to have a home or is it something more than that- something that each of us have inside of us, that perhaps money cannot buy.

This thought provoking book is a must read – it is a beautifully written story that invokes many feelings and an understanding of humanity and what home means to each of us.