This weekend, we celebrated British Columbia Day. We don’t know about you, but we can’t think of a better way to spend the days following this holiday than by reading up on BC’s history and celebrating all the diversity, culture, and nature it has to offer. Read on for our top list of books on BC’s past, present and future.
Backpacking in Southwestern British Columbia: The Essential Guide to Overnight Hiking Trips by Taryn Eyton (Greystone Books)
Looking to get outside and explore BC’s mountains and parks this summer? Then you’ll need to pick up this fantastic guide by Taryn Eyton— an avid hiker, adventure traveler, and Leave No Trace Master Educator, who spent six years researching and writing about outdoor gear for MEC. The book includes information on over 40 overnight hiking trails, packing tips, information on permit requirements, and much more!
Wagon Road North: The Saga of the Cariboo Gold Rush, Revised and Expanded Edition edited by Ken Mather (Heritage House Publishing)
Originally published in 1960, Wagon Road North has been praised for its groundbreaking account of gold-rush-era BC. This is a newly revised and updated edition of the classic pictorial account of the Cariboo Gold Rush trail, and includes more than one hundred archival photos, maps and contemporary images of historical sites to give readers the full picture of this chapter in history.
Gifts from Raven by Ḵung Jaadee (Medicine Wheel Education)
Fans of King Jadee’s Raven’s Feast will love this adapted version of the story, Re-imagined for younger readers. In this stunning picture book, the Haida storyteller shares with us that Raven has given each person a special gift to share with the world.
Black Bears in the Carrot Field by Linda K. Thompson (Mother Tongue Publishing)
In her debut book of poetry, Linda K. Thompson introduces readers to all the quirky, colourful characters that she’s met by growing up in the isolated Pemberton Valley in BC. This book is sure to resonate with any reader who has spent time in small-town BC, or wishes to.
A Sure Connection by W.M. Herring (Now Or Never Publishing)
A striking collection of stories set in British Columbia that explores themes of faith, family, nature, mortality, and resilience and re-affirms the importance of connection to ourselves and to place.
Little Wolf by Teoni Spathelfer, illustrated by Natassia Davies (Heritage House Publishing)
Little Wolf is a young Indigenous girl who has moved to Vancouver. At first, she doesn’t like the strange new city, and misses feeling close and connected to the land at home. Even more, she misses feeling connected to her culture. Gradually, Little Wolf starts to find beauty in the big city, and starts to find connections to her culture and the land wherever she goes.
Paradise Won: The Struggle to Create Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve by Elizabeth May (RMB | Rocky Mountain Books)
The story of a hard-earned victory by the Haida Nation to create the “Haida Heritage Site.” Originally published in 1990, this revised edition of Paradise Won has been updated and details the epic 12-year struggle to stop logging in the area.
E. J. Hughes Paints British Columbia by Robert Amos (TouchWood Editions)
A retrospective of paintings celebrating BC’s stunning landscape by one of our most beloved and talented painters, E.J. Hughes. This book features stunning full-page prints of Hughes’s work, many of them published in print for the first time. Each painting is accompanied by supporting sketches, drawings, and photographs from Hughes’s personal archive.
A Day With Yayah by Nicola Campbell (Tradewind Books)
On a foraging trip to gather edible plants and mushrooms in the Nicola Valley of British Columbia, Yayah passes down her knowledge of the natural world to her young grandchildren. This book celebrates the importance of preserving Indigenous language, knowledge, and connection to the land.
A Long Way to Paradise by Robert A.J. McDonald (UBC Press)
An accessible and novel exploration of political division in British Columbia from 1871 to 1972. This book is a must-read for anyone looking for a deeper understanding and context of the political landscape in BC, and the province’s complicated socio-political history.
2 replies on “Books for British Columbia Day”
The reading list should include “Claiming the Land: British Columbia and the Making of a New Eldorado”, by historian, adjunct history professor, and consultant to the Cowichan Tribes, Dr. Daniel Patrick Marshall (1962- ), Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2018 – in its second printing – first was done in Quebec, the second printing was done at Island Blue in Victoria. This book has won three major awards. It is a history of the 1858 Fraser River Gold Rush era. One-quarter of the book is excellent End Notes. The major theme is how British Columbia was invaded, against Governor Douglas’s wishes, but him not being backed up my the Colonial Office in London, England, who wished to avoid a third war with the United States of America – by principally California miners, bent on genocide of the Indigenous population, just as they had massacred the Indigenous peoples of California and of other areas of the USA, such as Washington Territory. Only Governor Sir James Douglas and Chief Justice Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, with support from the Royal Navy, British military engineers, and the Colonial Office, prevented British Columbia from being annexed by the aggressively expansionist, genocidal, “Manifest Destiny” USA. Dr. Marshall should retain a much better marketing agent!
Thanks for the suggestion of another BC read, Dawn! There’s an article celebrating one of those award wins for Claiming the Land (the 2019 Stuart-Stubbs Prize) on Read Local BC. You can find that article here: https://www.readlocalbc.ca/2019/03/07/daniel-marshall-wins-basil-stuart-stubbs-prize-for-claiming-the-land/