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From the Tundra to the Trenches
From the Tundra to the Trenches | Eddy Weetaltuk
6 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
My name is Weetaltuk; Eddy Weetaltuk. My Eskimo tag name is E9-422. So begins From the "Tundra to the Trenches." Weetaltuk means innocent eyes in Inuktitut, but to the Canadian government, he was known as E9-422: E for Eskimo, 9 for his community, 422 to identify Eddy. In 1951, Eddy decided to leave James Bay. Because Inuit werent allowed to leave the North, he changed his name and used this new identity to enlist in the Canadian Forces: Edward Weetaltuk, E9-422, became Eddy Vital, SC-17515, and headed off to fight in the Korean War. In 1967, after fifteen years in the Canadian Forces, Eddy returned home. He worked with Inuit youth struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, and, in 1974, started writing his lifes story. This compelling memoir traces an Inuks experiences of world travel and military service. Looking back on his life, Weetaltuk wanted to show young Inuit that they can do and be what they choose. From the Tundra to the Trenches is the fourth book in the First Voices, First Texts series, which publishes lost or underappreciated texts by Indigenous writers. This new English edition of Eddy Weetaltuks memoir includes a foreword and appendix by Thibault Martin and an introduction by Isabelle St-Amand.
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queerbookreader
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Alrighty folks! I have lots of posts coming up about all the comics I read yesterday! Which will come as soon as I get the courage to go outside to the frozen tundra and that time has not yet arrived ☃

PurpleyPumpkin On a day like today, going outside is overrated. ❄️ 7y
Dragon It looks cold outside! Staying in with a warm drink and a good book sounds best. ❄️🐉 (edited) 7y
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review
llwheeler
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Pickpick

Recommend this memoir of an Inuk Korean War veteran. I will be checking out more of the First Voices First Texts series. Note this is definitely a critical edition: intro & appendix by scholars is over 30% of the text. Important contextualizing info, but this book is not just Eddy Weetaltuk. The scholarly tone contrasts with Weetaltuk's straightforward prose, which imo risks some readers falling prey to simple=uneducated/unintelligent fallacy ⬇

llwheeler Which is especially wrong to think of a person who spoke 4 languages, was more educated than many for the time, and was obviously very intelligent 7y
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llwheeler
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It was beautifully sunny when I woke up. Of course now that I am actually up and going, it's clouded over again. Oh well, tea and reading it is then 😊

Have to finish From the Tundra as it expires today and there are holds on it at the library so I can't renew it.

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llwheeler
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Just finished the section of this memoir that is the author's first-hand account of the Korean War. Weetaltuk was 19 at the time, in the Princess Pats. My grandfather was also in the Korean War, as far as I know in the Princess Pats, but I don't know which battalion or even how old he would have been (I think 18 or 19). More research to do, but his experience must have been similar.

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llwheeler
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I'm always looking to add more diverse books to my tbr. What I need to get better at is actually reading them once they're there. Here are two memoirs I have on the go now. Over half done Reading Lolita (already read 6 or so chapters this #24in48), still only on the intro of From the Tundra.
#weneeddiversebooks #ownvoices
@24in48

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llwheeler
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This memoir of an Inuk man serving in the Korean War sounds so interesting (and probably heartbreaking). Couldn't resist putting it on hold at the library even though I just resolved to read more books I own and less from the library for a while.