Merging poetry and historical records, Zits masterfully (re)creates a poetic view of the Frog Lake Massacre of April 2, 1885. His collage and cut-up techniques challenge the histories penned by the event’s recorders and reflect upon the difficult and painful complexities of past and present. He weaves together voices of Métis and First Nations participants, settlers, and military officials, using tape transcripts, historical accounts, memoirs, and footnotes to create a unique, non-narrative historiography of fragmented poetic language. This innovative work of literary montage digs deep into a historic period that continues to garner scholarly and public interest. Readers interested in poetry and Canadian history will find this an intriguing new collection.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 105)
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- C811/.6
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn-ab
- ISBN
- 9780888646750 9780888648198
- LCCN
- PR9199.4.Z58
- LCCN Item number
- M38 2013eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (107 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00233071 (OCoLC)828767091 (CaOOCEL)446383
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Front Cover 1
- Title Page 4
- Dedication 8
- Contents 12
- List of Illustrations 16
- I Prologue 18
- Tape A 19
- II The Mound-Builders 24
- The work is a plain one 25
- In the Long Knives' country 26
- A Maundy Thursday 27
- Blood-red the sun 28
- Sun-red, the blood or, The sun pushed a huge crimson shoulder above the skyline 31
- Red the sun blood or, She has but half a smoke to live 33
- The red-blood sun or, The sun had scorched its green roofing leaves was sinking 35
- The ordinary red man 37
- Among the valuable things 39
- Entering the lodge of a Wood Cree 40
- Oh, Sun 41
- All that remained of the H.B. Co's business at Frog Lake 42
- Bullets 43
- The curtain drop on the last scene in this grim, emotional drama 44
- Tape B 45
- III That Little Hamlet by the Creek 50
- Solomon says 51
- Eyes 52
- I peeked over the bank of his horrible-looking head and my scalp felt very loose 53
- not the desire of the author of this work to publish 55
- A most unmelodious 56
- Write a cold, matter-of-fact statement of the event 57
- Gathered up a few that were scattered around in the dirt and saved them when no one was looking 58
- without giving expression to sentiments of sorrow 59
- Had I only the language at my command 60
- That little hamlet by the creek 61
- When one has nothing to write about it is hard to fill up pages 62
- Tape C 63
- IV The Inadvertent Poetry of Major-General Thomas Bland Strange 70
- The Queen is the supreme power in the Realm The message thus being transmitted:- 72
- Our Jingo found himself on the deck of a steamer 73
- Our jingo and B Battery reach the ice cone at Montmorency 74
- Rough Work: Rumour to-night Indians being tampered with 75
- The fibre of the iron had crystallised 76
- Rough Work: Endeavouring to secure additional mountain guns 77
- Not a blade of grass for a hundred miles 78
- Rough Work: The safety and peace in this country will be jeopardized 79
- Jingo's house 81
- Rough Work: If wheat and seed come by boat they will be in time 82
- Jingo's speech at Frog Lake on The Queen's birthday 83
- Rough Work: Some justifiable measure should be made to prevent escape of Riel and following 84
- I fear I should have lost my small army in this very big country 86
- Rough Work: Three french half breeds blundered south 87
- With field-glasses could be detected 88
- I have seen miles of territory just south of the line 89
- Tape D 90
- V The Trial 92
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua 93
- And I could not refuse them, I dare not refuse them, because they would have just a likely as not blown my brains out 94
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear 95
- According to W.J. Maclean, sworn 96
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear, the prisoner 97
- According to Henry R. Halpin, sworn 98
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear, the prisoner 100
- And unofficially 101
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear, the prisoner, the prisoner in the dock 102
- And the official twenty-three words of Big Bear leftover from his trial (translated from Cree) 103
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear, the prisoner, the prisoner in the dock 104
- Mis-ta-hah-mis-qua, Big Bear, the prisoner, the prisoner in the dock, a sort of chief 105
- Tape E 106
- VI Epilogue 110
- A remarkable new jail 111
- Every one will be satisfied 112
- Tape F 114
- Rough Work: From frenchman who defended prison to Riel 117
- Rough Work: Although holding foolish and peculiar views concerning visions as to prophecy 118
- The rebellion is now a thing of the past, it is now a page 119
- Crowfoot chief of the Blackfoot, like a dark Duke of Wellington, in the house of the 'white chief with one eye open,' as they called Jingo (from his watchfulness and his eyeglass) 120
- Endnotes 121
- Literary Sources 122
- Acknowledgements 124
- About the Author 125
- Other Titles from The University of Alberta Press 126
