This Place Is Who We Are Wins Jeanne Clarke Local History Award
BC-Bestselling author Katherine Palmer Gordon has won the Jeanne Clarke Award for her book, This Place Is Who We Are: Stories of Indigenous Leadership, Resilience, and Connection to Homelands.The award, meant to recognize a book that makes outstanding contributions to the understanding and awareness of local history, was presented at the Bob Harkins Branch of the Prince George Public Library on February 25, 2024.
This Place Is Who We Are profiles Indigenous communities in central and northern coastal BC that are reconnecting to their lands and waters—and growing and thriving through this reconnection: X̱aayda voices explain how their Rediscovery camps are healing and empowering their youth; Dzawada̱’enuxw Hereditary Chief Maxwiyalidizi K’odi Nelson shares the story of building a healing centre and ecolodge; Wei Wai Kum Chief Christopher Roberts describes the challenges and opportunities for an urban First Nation looking to prosper while protecting the environment and ancient Ligʷiłdaxʷ history and living cultural values; and many more Indigenous leaders share their own experiences of growth, strength and reconnection. Thoughtful and inspiring, This Place Is Who We Are illustrates what can be accomplished when conservation and stewardship are inextricably intertwined with the prosperity and well-being of communities.
Katherine Palmer Gordon is the author of five books of non-fiction, including several BC Bestsellers: We Are Born with the Songs Inside Us: Lives and Stories of First Nations People in British Columbia, The Slocan: Portrait of a Valley, The Garden That You Are, and Made to Measure: A History of Land Surveying in British Columbia, for which she was awarded the 2007 BC Haig-Brown prize. She is also an award-winning freelance journalist and lives on Gabriola Island, BC.
The Jeanne Clarke Award is presented annually by the Prince George Public Library to individuals or groups for outstanding contributions in the preservation and promotion of local history in the categories of Publication and Service. The award is presented at the Prince George Public Library Board's annual local history reception held each February. The nominees for the 2024 award were: Artist’s sketches: A history of the forest industry in Prince George and Area by Larry Merritt; Berries, Baseball & Baskets: Collection of Memories by Shirley May Gratton; Kechika Chronicler: William Freer’s Northern BC and Yukon diaries, 1942-1978 edited by Jay Sherwood; Prince George History: An Artist’s View by Larry Merritt; Talking to the Story Keepers: Tales from the Chilcotin Plateau by Sage Birchwater; The Notorious Georges: Crime and Community in British Columbia’s Northern Interior, 1905–25 by Jonathan Swainger; and The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki and illustrated by Carrielynn Victor.