In 1996, Peter McFarlane, a former CBC journalist and pilot, and Wayne Haimila, an employee of a B.C. native band, flew a tiny Cessna from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, following aboriginal canoe routes that were later exploited by explorers and fur traders. The flyers touched down in cities and small towns to learn about native life in contemporary Canada, and their account of the trip, Ancient Land, Ancient Sky, interweaves their experiences in these communities with engaging, well-wrought narratives of native history.

The modern-day anecdotes sound sadly familiar. In Newfoundland, the authors find people unwilling to acknowledge that their ancestors hunted the native Beothuk to extinction; a white woman in Sept-Îles, Quebec, portrays “Indians” in a nearby reserve as layabouts who pay no taxes; in Whitedog, an Ontario reserve just north of Kenora, the travellers arrive just after the suicides of four young native men.

Less familiar are the stories in Ancient Land, Ancient Sky that elucidate the first contacts between natives and Europeans. Archeological and historical evidence shows that humans have dwelt on the North American continent for more than 20,000 years, and that highly developed civilizations thrived in the so-called New World by the time the English explorer John Cabot “discovered” it in 1498. Nevertheless, traditional historical writing about Canada tends to downplay the extent and sophistication of aboriginal cultures in the pre-European era. Like Ronald Wright’s Stolen Continents, this book also takes an alternative approach by emphasizing what the indigenous peoples – as opposed to Europeans – experienced before, during, and after the arrival of the colonizers. Many of the events related in the book, such as the Riel Rebellion, the arrival of Jesuit missionaries, and the slaughter of the prairie buffalo, are well known to students of Canadian history. Less widely understood is the contemporary native interpretation of these events, and Haimila’s laconic remarks, sometimes wry, sometimes bitter, are illuminating. These glimpses into Haimila’s mind provide valuable insights into the past, present, and future of Canada’s first inhabitants, and help make Ancient Land, Ancient Sky a worthwhile read.