First-hand accounts of Indigenous people’s encounters with colonialism are rare. A daily diary that extends over fifty years is unparalleled. Based on a transcription of Arthur Wellington Clah’s diaries, this book offers a riveting account of a Tsimshian man who moved in both colonial and Aboriginal worlds. From his birth in 1831 to his death in 1916, Clah witnessed profound change: the arrival of traders, missionaries, and miners, and the establishment of industrial fisheries, wage labour, and reserves. His many voyages – physical, cultural, and spiritual – provide an unprecedented Aboriginal perspective on colonial relationships on the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Peggy Brock's profile page

• Short-listed, Canadian Aboriginal History Book Prize, Canadian Historical Association

Peggy Brock is an emeritus professor at Edith Cowan University in Perth and a visiting research fellow at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

The Many Voyages of Arthur Wellington Clah is a striking book offering an on-the-ground viewpoint of colonialism as it evolved on the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada.

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, V. 13, No 2, Fall 2012

A fascinating account...Peggy Brock has made a truly significant contribution to our understanding of the history of the northwest coast in the nineteenth century.

International Journal of Maritime History, Vol XXIV No 3