Wealth Woman

It was extra special to find this biography, and have an opportunity to read it. Netgalley generously gifted me a copy for review. Thank you, Netgalley and Deb Vanasse, for sharing your work with me.

It is only within the last few years that indigenous woman were portrayed in true light - for so many generations they were given no credit for intelligence, morals, or ambition. Rather they were judged against the norm for European women with no insight into their way of life. Thank you, Ms. Vanasse, for bringing us Kate 'Shaaw Tlaa' Carmack of the Klondike in all of her varied richness. She was a remarkable woman who carried her heritage firmly into the twentieth century despite all the setbacks weighed against her. Because of her - and your research to bring her story to the light, we have a much more complete picture of life and times in Alaska before, during and after Klondike gold.

This is a book I will acquire in hardback and keep, and read again, in company with with Steve Wall's Wisdom's Daughters and Paula Underwood's The Walking People. Thank you.

A well written and well researched account of a very interesting, though somewhat mysterious, woman. Vanasse shows a huge amount of respect for the Tagish and other First Nations encountered in the story, painting Kate as a capable woman who stayed true to her cultural and familial roots.

The story of this Native American woman's life is both complex and interesting. I wish that I'd been taught about this sort of history -- the individual stories make the larger picture clearer.

The story of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 begins with George Carmack’s discovery of gold, and in this thorough and painstakingly researched account we see events from the perspective of Carmack’s native wife Shaaw Tlaa, or Kate as she came to be known. The book is a vivid and fascinating account of life on the gold fields, of the winners and losers, and of the interaction between those seeking gold and the First Nation inhabitants of the Yukon who often served as a bridge between the two groups, and were often indeed key to the exploration of the area. Kate herself is a really interesting character, a strong and independent woman who had somehow to juggle her life between her native traditions and the modern world into which she was so precipitately thrust. We never get to hear her voice, as that is unfortunately missing from the record but Vanasse does an incredibly good job at providing some insight into her personality, and into her culture and traditional ways of thinking. The book is well-documented, with many useful notes, and contains some wonderful photos. Vanasse is to be congratulated in bringing this forgotten figure to the fore and in giving voice to a remarkably courageous woman, and to First Nation women in general. A must read for anyone interested in the history of the Yukon.

I found this book quite well-written as well as captivating. This is a well researched account of a very interesting and mysterious woman. Vanasse demonstrates a huge amount of respect for the Tagish and other First Nations encountered in the story, writing Kate as a capable woman who stayed true to her cultural and familial roots.