Description
On a late summer day, many years ago, a young man set out on a voyage through the mountains. He never reached his destination. When his remains were discovered by three British Columbia hunters, roughly three hundred years after he was caught by a storm or other accident, his story had faded from even the long memory of the region’s people. First Nations elders decided to call the discovery Kwädąy Dän Ts’ìnchį—Long Ago Person Found.
The discovery of the Kwädąy Dän Ts’ìnchį man raised many questions. Who was he and how did he die? Where had he come from? Where was he going, and for what purpose? What did his world look like? But his remains, preserved in glacial ice for centuries, offered answers, too—as did the traditional knowledge and experience of the Indigenous peoples in whose territories he lived and died.
In this comprehensive and collaborative account, scientific analysis and cultural knowledge interweave to describe a life that ended just as Europeans were about to arrive in the northwest. What emerges is not only a portrait of an individual and his world, but also a model for how diverse ways of knowing, in both scholarly and oral traditions, can complement each other to provide a new understanding of our complex histories.
RBCMPub –
“[This] book demonstrates how it is possible for archaeologists to work with First Nations while addressing both cultural and scientific needs.” – BC Bookworld
RBCMPub –
“The Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi discovery is about more than science and history. This individual from long ago times has helped make new connections and build bridges not only between people and organizations, but between the spiritual, secular and scientific worlds.” – Times Colonist
RBCMPub –
“It might be a hefty volume to read, but Kwädąy Dän Ts’ìnchį: Teachings from Long Ago Person Found is a must read for anybody interested in the Yukon’s cultural history, and it also serves as a blueprint for how such projects can succeed in the future.” – Yukon News
RBCMPub –
“The book represents a poignant contribution to the history of British Columbia, a major body of
knowledge that would not exist if a young man had not perished on a glacier so many years ago.” – The Ormsby Review
RBCMPub –
CONGRATULATIONS to Kwädąy Dän Ts’ìnchį: Teachings from Long Ago Person Found
Winner of the Jim Pojar Award
Shortlisted for the Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize
Finalist/Honourable Mention in the BCHF’s Historical Writing Competition