When the Spirit Calls

Drawing on archival records and Indigenous oral traditions, When the Spirit Calls reveals the tragic history of the Hannah Bay Massacre.

Edward J. Hedican is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Guelph. He is the author of Ipperwash: The Tragic Failure of Canada's Aboriginal Policy and Applied Anthropology in Canada: Understanding Aboriginal Issues.

"With up-to-date scholarship, When the Spirit Calls is well-organized in its chronological and thematic progression. Edward J. Hedican problematizes a wide range of sources from different points in time, types of interlocutors, expressive media, and comparative cases with similar structural features to demonstrate why history written by the victors cannot be taken at face value."

Robert Muckle, Professor of Anthropology, Capilano University:

"When the Spirit Calls reveals how a proper understanding of the murders at Hannah Bay is dependent on a combination of factors, including colonial and racist attitudes and behaviours, Indigenous cultures and experiences, and a harsh environment. Effective in terms of both style and organization, this impressive book is highly readable, which is a difficult thing to accomplish considering the depth of scholarship portrayed."