When the Spirit Calls

The Killings at Hannah Bay

Edward J. Hedican

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Hardback

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English

University of Toronto Press
27 October 2023

History of the Americas; Social & cultural history; Indigenous peoples

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.

By: Edward J. Hedican
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 750g
ISBN: 9781487546663
ISBN 10: 1487546661
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 27 October 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Characters Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Cree of James Bay 3. “A Starving and Naked State”: Responses to Deprivation 4. Colonial Resistance and Survival 5. Violent Conflicts Involving Indigenous People 6. Creating History: Narratives of Disentitlement 7. The Shaking Tent: Abiding the “Spirit Above” 8. The Relative Nature of Truth and Reality 9. Conclusions Notes References Index

Edward J. Hedican is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Guelph. He is the author of Ipperwash: The Tragic Failure of Canada's Aboriginal Policy and Applied Anthropology in Canada: Understanding Aboriginal Issues.

Reviews for When the Spirit Calls: The Killings at Hannah Bay

"""When the Spirit Calls reveals how a proper understanding of the murders at Hannah Bay is dependent on a combination of factors, including colonial and racist attitudes and behaviours, Indigenous cultures and experiences, and a harsh environment. Effective in terms of both style and organization, this impressive book is highly readable, which is a difficult thing to accomplish considering the depth of scholarship portrayed."" - Robert Muckle, Professor of Anthropology, Capilano University ""With up-to-date scholarship, When the Spirit Calls is well-organized in its chronological and thematic progression. Edward J. Hedican problematizes a wide range of sources from different points in time, types of interlocutors, expressive media, and comparative cases with similar structural features to demonstrate why history written by the victors cannot be taken at face value."" - Regna Darnell, Professor of Anthropology, Western University"