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When Days Are Long
When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North | Amy V. Wilson
3 posts | 2 read | 1 to read
When Amy Wilson accepted the job of field nurse for the Indigenous Peoples in the Yukon and Northern British Columbia in 1949, she was told that the north was a fine country for men and dogs but that it killed women and horses. Undaunted, Wilson travelled the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse (Mile 916) to Mile Zero. She served Indigenous Peoples in tents, shacks and on the trapline, travelling by dog team, car, plane and boat. She was the first to respond when a half-frozen man came stumbling into a ham radio operator's shack with a story of epidemic and starvation at Halfway River. With five doses of antitoxin pinned inside her sweater to keep them warm, she made her way through forty-below temperatures to the camp where Indigenous Peoples were still living in summer tents. Four people had died of the ''choking sickness'' before Wilson's arrival, but she brought immediate help, and shortly thereafter supplies began to arrive by sleigh and by air. The details of the diphtheria epidemic are both tragic and dramatic and just one of many such incidents in the busy life of the ''Indian Nurse,'' as she was called. Wilson's territory spanned 518,000 square kilometres. She was responsible for the health of 3,000 Indigenous Peoples, but Wilson was more than just a health care provider: over time, she became an advocate, partner and friend for the community with whom she shared mutual respect, music, medicine, tea from tobacco tins and, most of all, with whom she shared her heart. Originally published as NO MAN STANDS ALONE in 1965 by Gray's Publishing LTD., this new edition, WHEN DAYS ARE LONG: NURSE IN THE NORTH, includes an introduction by Wilson's grand niece, Laurel Deedrick-Mayne, which brings crucial insights to this important figure in BC's history.
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Lindy
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Pickpick

A page-turner true adventure. Amy Wilson was hired by the Canadian govt in the 1940s as the only nurse for the entire Yukon. She tackled the work with gusto, travelling by dogsled at -40. The facts that she was a lesbian & fired because of her advocacy for the First Nations people she served aren‘t made explicit. This classic was reissued without changes to the regrettable colonialist attitude that surfaces sometimes. #LGBTQ

Jaimelire Sounds interesting 3y
Lindy @Jaimelire Yes, it‘s surprisingly gripping. It was a huge bestseller when it first came out in the early 60s. 3y
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blurb
Lindy
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In her memoir, Wilson describes a dog breed I had never heard of, the Tahltan bear dog, and how it was used by the Tlingit people to hunt bears. She encountered these dogs in the Teslin area of the Yukon in about 1950, in the course of her nurse duties. According to my online research, the Canadian Kennel Club declared the breed extinct in 1979, after being in existence for 500 years.
(Internet photo)

LeahBergen I‘ve never heard of them either! 3y
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review
rabbitprincess
Pickpick

Wilson captures vividly her experiences working as a nurse for Indigenous communities in the North in the first half of the 20th century. This book was first published in 1965 and has been reprinted because Indigenous communities today continue to face the challenges of insufficient care close to home; we need to learn from our past to repair the present and improve the future. #BookSpinBonanza #DoubleSpin May 2020.

TheAromaofBooks Great review! 4y
rabbitprincess @TheAromaofBooks Thanks! There was a lot to think about with this book. 4y
Nute Excellent review! 4y
rabbitprincess @Nute Thanks! 😊 4y
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