A MÉTIS MAN'S DREAM

Gower presents a biography of successful Métis business owner Gordon Gill, whose hardscrabble life encapsulates the rural Canadian experience.

Gill’s story of upbeat perseverance is specific to his experience, but it echoes those of generations of people who’ve determinedly pursued their dreams: “We had it tough, but so did a lot of people.” This biography/memoir/oral history, based on a series of interviews, captures its industrious subject’s indomitable spirit while providing an invaluable glimpse into Métis culture. As Gower relates, Gill was born in 1941 near the trapline at Notikewin River in northern Alberta as a “half-breed” (a term used “in the context of Gordon’s voice and time,” the author writes). He was the son and grandson of trappers. “This story about the life and spirit of one Métis man is also, by necessity, the story of Canada’s northern frontier,” Gower writes; that spirit was one of determination and pride in a job well done. As an adult, Gill went on to found the first modern Indigenous-owned ship-repair business and the first Indigenous-owned crane company in the Northwest Territory. Over the course of this book, Gower proves himself to be an excellent storyteller who provides geographic, historical, and cultural context regarding the Métis community while telling the engaging story of Gill’s life. At the heart of the book are Gill’s own words, which bespeak a rugged, down-to-earth worldview. For example, when Gill was young, he earned money to buy hockey equipment by trapping squirrels; however, he couldn’t use skating rinks in town as they were too far from the farm where he lived, so he built his own 20- by 40-foot rink, melting snow to make ice. As his father used to joke: “Where there’s a Gill, there’s a way.”

An inspiring story of a hardworking man.