“books _ .WE HAVE two books to look at this week, both biographies of Native Indian leaders. There the similarity ends, for while one is ultimately disappoin- ting the other is a riveting, spellbinding triumph from start to finish. The Song and the Silence, by _ Peter Jonkers, purports to be “the life of Stoney Indian Chief . Frank Kaquitts’’ or Sitting Wind. While the first half of this paper- back from Lone Pine Publishing (218 pp.; $9.95) is a fascinating and sensitive introduction to this Albertan Indian chief, the second half fails to maintain this standard. In the first half, the chief's near-death as an infant, the chang- ing lifestyle of the Stoney Indians and his experience in the residen- tial school system are informative, evocative threads of a well-told book, but The Song and the Silence falls off dramatically there- after. Jonkers’ technique consists of ‘visiting’ this remarkable Indian chief at various points, arranged in chronological order, from Sitting Wind's birth in 1925 to the mod- en day. The time periods selected become increasingly further apart MOTHER’S DA Special Mother’s Day © Brunch Menu $4395 as this true story develops until the reader cannot help querying why later glimpses Were selected. Too, there are some glaring er- rors that should have been rec-- tified in the editing process. Chief among these are a reference to the death of Sitting Wind's grandfather when the boy was only nine — despite a reported conversation between the two when the chief was described as being 13 years old — and an encounter between Sitting Wind and two hippies which is said to have occurred in 1962, more than a few years too early as this reformed ‘hippy’ can attest. The Song and the Silence is worthwhile reading en the strength of its first half alone but! cannot help feeling a deep sense of regret that Jonkers was unable to sustain this momentum throughout. ae And then there is Roy MacGregor’s Chief — The Fearless Vision of Chief Billy Diamond, one of the brightest lights so far in the 1989 publishing season. I cannot remember having employed the adjective ‘great’ in describing any book during the past year or so but Chief un- OM WN OL OMS ve non Ristorante Italiano 1428 Marine Drive, West Vancouver 922-4719 ¥ AT TH DUNDARAVE CAFE Lunch, Dinner or Saturday/Sunday - Brunch Harpist Sunday Brunch Guitarist Saturday Brunch Open 7 Days & Nights a Week 9427 MARINE DRIVE, W. VANCOUVER 926-8838 doubtedly deserves lavish ac- colades. it is great; great human drama, great humor, great insight into the culture and life of a largely forgot- ten peopl ple. Chief is the superbly written story of one of the most intriguing and colorful Canadians alive to- MIKE STEELE book reviewer day; Chief Billy Diamond of the James Bay Cree of northern Quebec. It is also the story of how a 21- year-old, newly-elected band chief with a grade 12 education and an abundance of guts took on the - Quebec government over the massive James Bay hydroelectric project, teaching an army of indif- ferent, callous politicians and bu- reaucrats a lesson in humility and compassion they sorely needed. MacGregor displays a deft hand at developing the background of his subject, from Diamond’s birth in 1949 to a poor, trapping family eking out a borderline existence little changed from that of hun- dreds of generations to Swamp Cree, through the forces that forg- ed a skilled orator and political warrior unequalled in Canadian Native history. When Premier Robert Bourassa announced his plans for the con- struction of the largest hydroelec- tric project in North America in 1971, he did so with no thought for the 7,000 Cree indians whose lands would be permanently flooded in the process. For the most part illiterate trap- pers‘and hunters, the majority of the Crees spoke no English or French and lived in virtual isola- tion from mainstream Quebec and Canada. Despite the fact that their culture, and indeed their very ex- istence, depended on a finely- honed relationship with their harsh, northern environment, they were nat informed beforehand of Quebec’s plans for their lands, tet alone consulted. Bourassa’s Liberal government, never much of a proponent of mi- nority rights (then or now), had, however, fatally underestimated just how quickly a previously quiescent people could be galvanized into a potent political force. By the time Billy Diamond and his people were through with Bourassa, the Quebec Liberals would be forced to pay the largest financial compensation package awarded to any Native group in the country and the James Bay Cree would be assured of a self- sustaining economy based not on welfare but innovative, Native- controlled enterprise. Chief is the classic tale of the underdog who emerges trium- phant. Virtually every page is packed with anecdotes illustrating the disparity between the two op- ponents, stories of pathos, humor and endurance: * Diamond, at nine years of age, was dragged kicking and scream- ing into his first shower at an In- 25 — Wetinesday, May 10,.1989 - North Shore News - ‘Native biographies run from fair to great | dian residential school, convinced that “they were going to boil ™m e”” ; _ * at Christmas, 1971, newly elected Rupert House Chief Dia- mond and his wife are invited for - dinner at the local priest’s home — but required to eat at a separate table in a room adjacent to that used by the white fellow guests; . * a delay in the departure of an airplane slated for Cree delegates enrsute to Quebec City for the first time is caused by the men balking at boarding the jet — they were certain that the propellers must have fallen off; and * during the Quebec Superior Court hearing to determine whether the Cree had the right te plead their case, band chiefs were housed at a downtown hotel where, unable to eat ‘southern’ food, they took to hanging caribou meat in a box from a bedroom window — but only after the outraged hotel manager had taken strong exception to keeping a seal carcass in the bathtub... But the James Bay Cree and their dynamic leader learned fast — much to the chagrin of the - Quebec government. The story of that battle is told with incompara- ble skill by veteran journalist and author, Rey MacGregor in Chief — The Fearless Vision of Chief Billy Diamond (Viking; 297 pp.; $24.95 in hardcover). Buy it, borrow it, mark it on your list of prospective birthday gifts or whatever else you have to do to read this remarkable story; it's worth every crocodile tear and penny.