The Long ExileThe Long Exile
Describes how, in 1953, three dozen Inuit were forcibly relocated from the east coast of Hudson Bay to the high arctic by the Canadian government, focusing on the effects of the relocation on members of the Flaherty family and on the Inuit community of Ellesmere Island.
In 1922 an Irish-American adventurer named Robert Flaherty made a film about Inuit life in the Arctic. Nanook of the North featured a mythical Eskimo hunter who lived in an igloo with his family in a frozen Eden. Nanook's story captured the world's imagination.
Thirty years later, the Canadian government forcibly relocated three dozen Inuit from the east coast of Hudson Bay to a region of the high arctic that was 1,200 miles farther north. Hailing from a land rich in caribou and arctic foxes, whales and seals, pink saxifrage and heather, the Inuit were taken to Ellesmere Island, an arid and desolate landscape of shale and ice virtually devoid of life. The most northerly landmass on the planet, Ellesmere is blanketed in darkness for four months of the year. There the exiles were left to live on their own with little government support and few provisions.
Among this group was Josephie Flaherty, the unrecognized half-Inuit son of Robert Flaherty, who never met his father. In a narrative rich with human drama and heartbreak, Melanie McGrath uses the story of three generations of the Flaherty family - the filmmaker; his illegitimate son, Josephie; and Josephie's daughters, Mary and Martha - to bring this tale of mistreatment and deprivation to life.
Arriving in the Inuit community of Inukjuak, on the east coast of the Hudson Bay, in 1920, Robert Flaherty set about filming his influential film Nanook of the North. After finishing his filming, Flaherty would leave never to return, but the son he fathered, Josephie Flaherty, would remain behind to suffer with his community as they were forcibly moved hundreds of miles north by the Canadian government some 30 years later, not to receive any form of redress until the mid-1990s. This book both describes the making of the movie and the influence it had on perceptions of the Inuit and the fortunes of Robert Flaherty's Inuit descendants as they coped with exile and hardship. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
In 1922 an Irish-American adventurer named Robert Flaherty made a film about Inuit life in the Arctic. Nanook of the North featured a mythical Eskimo hunter who lived in an igloo with his family in a frozen Eden. Nanook’s story captured the world’s imagination.
Thirty years later, the Canadian government forcibly relocated three dozen Inuit from the east coast of Hudson Bay to a region of the high artic that was 1,200 miles farther north. Hailing from a land rich in caribou and arctic foxes, whales and seals, pink saxifrage and heather, the Inuit’s destination was Ellesmere Island, an arid and desolate landscape of shale and ice virtually devoid of life. The most northerly landmass on the planet, Ellesmere is blanketed in darkness for four months of the year. There the exiles were left to live on their own with little government support and few provisions.
Among this group was Josephie Flaherty, the unrecognized, half-Inuit son of Robert Flaherty, who never met his father. In a narrative rich with human drama and heartbreak, Melanie McGrath uses the story of three generations of the Flaherty family—the filmmaker; his illegitimate son, Josephie; and Josephie’s daughters, Mary and Martha—to bring this extraordinary tale of mistreatment and deprivation to life.
Title availability
About
Subject and genre
Details
- New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
From the community