Paddling to Where I Stand

Carolyn Redl, Integrated Studies Program, Athabasca University:
Reid carefully conveys gestures, moods, and inflections evident in storytelling, enhancing authenticity. Paddling to Where I Stand deserves a spot in every Canadian library’s shelf.

Wendy Wickwire, Department of History, University of Victoria, author of Nature Power: In the Spirit of an Okanagan Storyteller:
Paddling to Where I Stand is a delight in every sense of the word. It will quickly become a classic work of Canadian ethnography. Besides filling a noticeable gap in women’s history, it demonstrates the rich potential for collaborative ethnography in Aboriginal communities today. In addition to the standard traditional narratives, the book features lesser-known historical narratives -- stories of steamship and paddlewheel travel, of early missionaries and government agents, of the first washing machines, automobiles, and radios in Alert Bay, and of the impact of two world wars.