At Home with the Bella Coola Indians: T.F. McIlwraith's Field Letters, 1922-4

Between 1922 and 1924, the young Canadian anthropologist T.F.McIlwraith spent eleven months in the isolated community of BellaCoola, British Columbia, living among the people of the Nuxalk FirstNation. During his time there, McIlwraith gained intimate knowledge ofthe Nuxalk culture and of their struggle to survive in the face ofmassive depopulation, loss of traditional lands, and the efforts of theCanadian government to ban the potlatch. McIlwraith’s resultingethnography, The Bella Coola Indians (1948), is widelyconsidered the finest published study of a Northwest Coast FirstNation.

This volume is a rich complement to McIlwraith’s classic work,incorporating his letters from the field as well as previouslyunpublished essays on the Nuxalk. Vivid and lively, the letters showthe human side of the anthropologist, and provide a fascinating insightinto the famous Northwest winter ceremonials and potlatch -- events inwhich McIlwraith was one of the few white men privileged to participateas a dancer and partner.

Extensive editorial annotations and striking photographs make thisbook a pleasurable read that will appeal to anthropologists andhistorians, as well as those with interests in Northwest cultures andthe history of anthropology in Canada.