Customer Reviews

The White Dawn: An Eskimo Saga

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James Houston, a noted glass designer (for Steuben) lived among the Eskimos as a civil servant for the Canadian government. He helped them organize coops for the distribution of their art. This book is about the sailors who are taken in by Eskimos after their ship sinks. It vividly contrasts the highly organized and friendly Eskimo society with the unruly and often cruel code of the European seafarer. Great reading from an author who knows! Also recommend his Spiritwrestler.

I read this book many years ago as a child on a recommendation from my father. He gave me his copy of the book before he died. The book's details on Inuit life and how it is affected by the inclusion of the sailors makes for great reading. This should be required reading in school and for any Sociology course.

"White Dawn" is one of the top five books I recommend (along with Goshawk Squadron, The Clearing, Time and Again and The Time Traveler's Wife). Different culture, different time, different people. Well done, easily read, and completely believable.

When 3 whalers are shipwrecked in the Arctic in the mid 1800's they are rescued by Inuit people. The Inuit struggle to understand the very odd behavior of the three who don't know the first thing about how to survive and thrive in the harsh environment of the Arctic. Most culture clash stories are told from the point of view of the Westerners. Westerners usually see themselves as culturally superior to other peoples. The power of this story is that it's told from the point of view of the Inuit. This way, it's easy to see just how toxic Western cultural norms can be to indigenous people living a balanced and healthy life. This gripping story is funny, sexy, insightful, tragic and compelling. A must read. If you've ever wondered how indigenous people might view arrogant, insensitive Westerners, this will open a window.

I found this book in my jail cell in Vancouver BC in 1974. I would say it saved my sister & my sanity. I read it aloud to her and then when we got to the big house awaiting trial I read it to about 10 other hungry inmates.

We were American girls in a Canadian jail and this made us accepted. Very much like what happened to the sailors.

I just re-ordered it to help me refresh myself on what it all meant. (who would have thought the internet would even exist in 1974?)

Maybe I will write a book that tells about the whole tale around this book.

Batgirl

A few European survivors - 19th Century - of a whaling ship (actually the survivors of a harpooning rowboat) are rescued and given shelter in a small Eskimo village. Although both sides mostly mean well, events are set in motion that ultimately bring no one any good.

I greatly enjoyed this story, both for the author's writing style and for his mostly even-handed (iirc, it's been awhile!) treatment of both the Inuits and Europeans. The rescuers are not idealized natives, the survivors not evildoers - but cultural differences and language problems doom good and bad alike. Probably what I enjoyed most was Houston's style: sparse, descriptive and memorable.

The ending is very powerful and I've never forgotten its tragic power. I first read the book more than 20 years ago but it stays with me to this day.