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Social Science Indigenous Studies

When the Spirit Calls

The Killings at Hannah Bay

by (author) Edward J. Hedican

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2023
Category
Indigenous Studies, Native American, Native American Studies
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487546694
    Publish Date
    Mar 2023
    List Price
    $34.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487546663
    Publish Date
    Apr 2023
    List Price
    $80.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781487546687
    Publish Date
    Apr 2023
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

In January 1832, in the most southern part of Ontario’s James Bay, an elderly Cree man by the name of Quapakay was told by the spirits of the shaking tent that in order to survive the winter, he was required to "spoil" the post at Hannah Bay, a Hudson's Bay Company goose hunting station. Following the directions of the spirits, Quapakay and his sons carried out this ill-fated task, resulting in the deaths of sixteen occupants of the Hannah Bay post. Now known as the "Hannah Bay Massacre," the victims included fur trader William Corrigal, the postmaster and his wife, and seven other Indigenous people.

 

When the Spirit Calls explores the social, cultural, and historical context in which the Hannah Bay tragedy took place, as gleaned from the Hudson Bay Company’s archival records and elucidations by Cree oral traditions. The research is the culmination of over forty years of investigation by Edward J. Hedican in Indigenous communities, from the mid-1970s to the present day. In the book, Hedican aims to uncover the circumstances, behaviours, and attitudes that led to the slaughter. When the Spirit Calls sheds light on the racist attitudes held by the white settler population towards Indigenous people – attitudes that were prevalent in our colonial past and that continue to this very day.

About the author

Edward J. Hedican is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Guelph. He has been teaching and researching anthropology for over 30 years and is the author of several books, including Ipperwash: The Tragic Failure of Canada's Aboriginal Policy (2013) and Applied Anthropology in Canada: Understanding Aboriginal Issues (2008).

Edward J. Hedican's profile page