People of the Deer (Death of a People, 1)

When published in 1951 this book was a cry for help - not just to help the Ihalmiut but to help ourselves. A well crafted book of one man's understanding, in a limited way, of the hard, harsh life of the Eskimos who live along side the deer, the lakes, and the spirits of the Barrens. The book is full of his memories, some sad, some wonderful. We get images of summer, with its life, the birds, eggs, and kids going out with toy slings to help gather food. We learn about the way the People lived, worked, and loved inside their families and society. We hear their tales of where they came from, how the animals were brought into the world by a woman, and how dangerous it is for men, both to their body and their soul, when they are all alone. Once there were thousands of them - sharing their tools, enjoying the raw meat of the kill, enjoying the happiness of never needing anything.Wonderful. Depressing. Sad. Lovely. Is there anything we can still do about this? Is there anything we can do for ourselves?

This book was written about the time I was born (66 years ago). The People of the Deer were all but gone when this was written and I presume few, if any still exist today. I found it fascinating how much Farley learned from them about 'their' world, even as it was changing (not for the better) around them. My introduction to Mowat was as required college reading (only half a century ago) with "Never Cry Wolf", I should have continued reading his work then, when it was easier to locate, these days it can take some searching but the effort is worth it!

I was asked to read this book for a class and while I didn't enjoy it, I found this book to be charming and an altogether good read. It reads like a work of fiction, and definitely conveys stunning and other-worldly environments that seemed to be taken out of a Tolkien novel. I read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy when this book was assigned and I found similarities between the environmental descriptions in those books (especially those in Red Mars) remarkably similar to those found in Mowat's volume. But what makes this book so impressive is that it isn't fiction, but an expression of a reality that, sadly, no longer exists and offers intriguing questions about the state's involvement in the lives of indigenous people. Very good, read it if you get the chance.

This book is by an author whom I think was never famous, but all his books are well written and interesting. Never Cry Wolf, my first book, may still be my favorite, but not my last Mowat book. (The Dog Who Wouldn't Be will keep you laughing, right up until the time you cry.)

Guns didn't win the west (or north) but rather destroyed a heritage. This is a thought-provoking and deeply moving book about a way of life that no longer exists. I mourn for the list wisdom of those who lived and in their time thrived in the barrens. Farley Mowat's expansive curiosity, honesty, open mindedness and skill in making connections between this foreign way of life and the often not so obvious intelligent design solutions necessary for survival are eloquently described in this wonderful book.

Awesome

People of the Deer tells the story of the meeting between white man and an innocent people, the Ilhamuit, of the Barrenlands of northern Canada. White man and the bureaucracy of the Canadian government destroyed a people, an entire ecosystem and countless wild animals by a fatal combination of greed, ineptitude and arrogance. As an Australian, I recognize similar causes of the dessimation of the Australian Aboriginal way of life. Beautifully written, this book was hard to put down, while being both depressing and inspiring.

This first person account was written in the late 40s and published in 1952. The style is closer to Victorian than modern. Each sentence paints an item, and each paragraph completes a landscape. Don't expect Hemingway. But since I grew up reading everything I could find in bookcases inherited from my grandparents, I enjoy Farley Mowat's style.This was his first book about the People. The story is sad - so sad that the reader must put down the book every now and then to get back to the present. Mowat wrote a follow-up to the story of the People, "The Desperate People", published in 1959. The style fits our modern age better, but the story of the People gets worse.Be sure to buy and read both.

Farley mowat is a Canadian icon for a reason. A talented writer, this is his first book and he spins it well. Based on a true story, it sheds a lot of light on the unfortunate demise of the inland Inuit in the 20th century. Heart wrenching at times ...but dutifully eye opening. A must read if you want to have a honest understanding of some of the detrimental impacts of colonization on the indigenous people of Canada.

Absolutely brilliant; pity about the poor quality of the printing and the numerous typo errors ( very amused by a caribou with a fine head of 'anglers')

Farley Mowat is a Canadian treasure. This book is one of his gems.Essentially it's the true story of him setting off on an adventure of discovery looking for the Ihalmiut, a people which few white men had ever met and were only mentioned in the obscurest of records. Farley finds them in the Barrens of the Canadian North and spends several seasons learning something of their language and culture. A culture which by the time Farley gets there has been decimated by illness and a drastic population decline.Told in Mowats unique Canadian humble voice this should be mandatory reading for all Canadian studentsl

A 'right there' experience of the live of these people. Such a pity that there world and lives were taken apart by our 'modern nation'. A very good read.

To start with, this book is a tragic story of the Inland Inuit of Northern Canada in the mid/late-1940s. Mowat ventures North to escape the horrors of WW2, and ends up meeting the fascinating people known as the Ilhamiut, or People of the Deer. Mowat then proceeds to tell a hauntingly beautiful story of how these people were set up to become dependent on white men (trading their spears and deer for guns and fox pelts) only to be screwed when the money went (literally) south and they were left with neither the tools (ammunition) or knowledge (traditional deer hunting techniques) that they needed to fight off hunger and its attendant companion, disease. He returns a second year, and learns their language before going off on a long canoe trip to help a biologist peer find the caribou herds that are no longer around the Ilhamiut. At the end of the book, as well as throughout it, Mowat is scathing in his reproach of the white men who took callous, or deliberate, advantage of the Inuit, as well as the government that failed to do anything of significance to help them. This book did tremendous service in bringing the plight of the Inuit, and of Northern Aboriginals in general, to light for the general Canadian public.In this light, it's a fantastic book. The stories are fascinating, the people are compelling, and the scenery is awesome. I quite enjoyed reading it. There's just one problem keeping it from getting a full five stars: it might not be 100% accurate.Yes, much has been raised about a 1996 criticism of the book by John Goddard. But I place less stock in that report than from an actual peer-reviewed anthropological journal, Man (1955, pg. 108-109) that published a formal review of the book that questioned a few key facts in the book. First, Mowat didn't go up by himself, nor did he go on a whim, he was part of a large, organized expedition to study the Canadian North. Second, the reviewer rightly questions Mowat's ability to learn the complex Inuit language in a single month. Learn it well enough to be able to understand and relate the haunting, complex stories presented in the book. Maybe Mowat is a linguistic savant, but this certainly doesn't seem like a lot of time to learn a completely foreign language. Third, Mowat didn't really spent that much time with the Inuit (two summers), so some of his sweeping claims about their history should be taken with a grain of salt. I should note that much of what he says about the Inuit's moral and social behavior does fit very well with what has been published by respected anthropologists (e.g., Jean Briggs).Mowat has reportedly responded to these claims (and those about Never Cry Wolf) saying, in general, that he holds big truths as more important than little truths. In that regard, there's no doubting that his book captures the essence of the beauty of the Canadian arctic and (some of) its native people, and that it captured the general apathy and/or incompetence of the Canadian government in helping a group of people clearly in need and under their responsibility.So as long as you read this book with the general caveat in mind that this book is more about themes than details, that it's not a serious anthropological body of work, it's a fabulous read. The fact that such a caveat is not placed in the book, particularly at this late publishing date, is why it gets four stars instead of five from me.