Comments on: First Contact: The English and the Inuit

By: First Contact: The Apache

First Contact: The Apache — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:03:14 +0000

[...] for letting our First Contact series lapse. It’s been nearly two months since we discussed Martin Frobisher’s encounter with the Inuit, and that’s far too long to do without primary-source accounts of the clashes of [...]

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:44:43 +0000

@Zak: Many thanks for the Vollmann rec. Gotta admit, I’ve never tried any of his books, but I’ve long been sorely tempted. Read a mighty intriguing interview in which he expounded at length ’bout his love for hookers–and his wife’s tremendous sympathy for this habit.

By: Zak

Zak — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:37:45 +0000

If you don’t know them, check out William Vollmann’s Seven Dreams cycle – seven novels (four published so far) about different moments of contact between Europeans and Indians. The first deals with the Vikings in Greenland, second with the Jesuits in Canada, etc. Great stuff.

By: Gramsci

Gramsci — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:40:51 +0000

I’ve never read Matthiessen either, but bear in mind Muir’s prose turned Teddy Roosevelt into an avid admirer (and into more of an environmentalist). For some he did for “Nature” what Timothy Leary did for psilocybin. Worth a sitting or two.

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:51:48 +0000

@Gramsci: Thanks for the rec. How’s Muir as a writer? He’s one of those guys I’ve heard so much about, esp. growing up in California and visiting Yosemite. But can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading any of his work. The Peter Matthiessen of his day, perhaps?

By: Gramsci

Gramsci — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:08:46 +0000

I would also recommend John Muir’s Travels in Alaska. He has some fascinating “first contact” anecdotes, including one where an Inuit hears the story of Jesus and says something like “Yeah we had a chief who let two opposing tribes join in killing him so that they could end their war– so we already know the one about the guy who died to save everybody. Got anymore stories?”

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:30:48 +0000

@Tony Comstock: Title, please. Would like to add to my to-read list. Need plenty more ideas for this First Contact series.

By: Tony Comstock

Tony Comstock — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:28:32 +0000

When we were in St. Augustine on our boat trip the Winter before last, my wife got me a book that was journals from the earliest European explores in N. America. Fantastic stuff, especially the accounts of the abundance of all the wildlife and other wild food stuffs.

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:06:43 +0000

@Pat: Wow, thx a million for the truly up-my-alley rec. Need to grab that book ASAP, along with a few others that are high atop my to-read list (e.g. The Piano Tuner, Drums Along the Congo, and In the Shadow of Swords). Now if I could only carve out enough time to read all of those in quick succession, then move on to the other 200 titles I need to get to before I die…

Glad you’re enjoying Microkhan. Hope you’ll help spread the good word, my man. Cheers to ya!

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:35:10 +0000

Brendan! This reminds me of a book, which given your interests in the clashes between wildly different cultures, you might enjoy a lot. It’s called Bloody Falls of the Coppermine, and it’s about the murder of two French missionaries by two Inuit dudes, and the totally wacked-out manhunt and trial that ensued. My friend McKay Jenkins wrote it a few years ago, and come to think of it, you guys would probably have lots to talk about. Book’s on Amazon (or surely just up the hall from your cubby in the library) and he’s on Facebook. Anyway, keep up the fine job here on the blog!