I was given an ebook freely by NetGalley and the book’s publisher in return for a voluntary and honest review.

Histories, Territories and Laws of the Kitwancool
By Maggie Good, BW McKilvington, Peter Williams, Walter Derrick, Solomon Good, Walter Douse, Ernest Smith and Fred Good

The Kitwancool are a tribe found in British Columbia. One of the tribes that create the famous totem poles but are less friendly to outsiders by their own admission. I really loved this book. It’s rare to find history books written by the senior members of the tribe instead of a scholar. You get a real sense of the Kitwancool you couldn’t get from an outsider. They are very open and even blunt in their depiction of their history.

The book is broken into three sections; Histories of the Kitwancool, Territories of the Kitwancool and Laws and Customs of the Kitwancool.

There are too many interesting facts to share but I’ll mention two. Within the tribe there are three clans, Wolf, Frog, and Fireweeds. Within these clans are Houses and depending on the size and amount of territory the clan owns the more influential they are in the tribe. The Chief never stands up or speaks in meetings. But only a Chief may speak for a Chief so There is a big Chief and Little Chief. They discuss the reason for the meeting ahead of time together and the Big Chief tells the little Chief what to say in the meeting.

I’ve read a lot of books on Native Americans but this is by far the most enlightening and engaging read. If you have even a slight interest in the subject you have to read this book.