James Bay Memoirs and Other Stories brings together the poetry, stories, essays, and editorials of Eeyou writer Margaret Sam-Cromarty.

Born in 1936 on Fort George Island in Eeyou Istchee, Sam-Cromarty is the daughter of hunters and trappers, a residential school survivor, a mother and grandmother, and a poet and painter. In 1980, during the first phase of Hydro-Québec’s James Bay project, she and the other residents of Fort George were forced to relocated to the newly created village of Chisasibi. This event informed much of her writing, in which she documented family and community life, and her experiences of the land both before and after the relocation.

Throughout the 1990s, Sam-Cromarty regularly contributed to the Cree magazine The Nation and published three books: James Bay Memoirs: A Cree Woman’s Ode to her Homeland in 1992, Légendes et poèmes indiens / Indian Legends and Poems in 1996, and Contes et poèmes cris / Cree Poems and Stories in 2000. Gathered for the first time in this volume, and accompanied by a new interview with the author, as well as a contextualizing essay by editors Isabella Huberman and Élise Couture-Grondin, these writings are a testament to her role in keeping Eeyou culture and knowledge alive. Truthful, poignant, and playful, Margaret Sam-Cromarty’s life’s work is a remarkable contribution to Indigenous literatures in Québec and Canada.

Truthful, poignant and playful, the collected work of Eeyou writer Margaret Sam-Cromarty is a remarkable contribution to Indigenous literatures in Québec and Canada. 

First Words Meeting Margaret Sam-Cromarty in Her Literary Home "The River Never Stops Flowing": A Conversation with Margaret Sam-Cromarty James Bay Memoirs: A Cree Woman's Ode To Her Homeland (1992) Indian Legends and Poems (1996) Cree Poems and Stories (2000) Essays, Editorials, and Other Poems (1993–1998) Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Contributors Notes Bibliography“An unjustly neglected work of Indigenous literature. James Bay Memoirs is resonant with imagery and wisdom from a life on the land, and a life steeped in Eeyou traditions. This is a wonderful work of cultural resilience and relational understanding.”

A Cree Child
On the east coast of James Bay
both governments didn’t care.
Other matters were more important
than a Cree child who sometimes had little to eat.

There was no dancing,
no feasting,
in this, the height of the depression
The Indians had a passion—
hunting and following
the fur-bearing animals.

But the price of furs
was at its lowest.
The Crees did their best
to feed and clothe themselves.

In the early days Crees’ lives
meant the Hudson Bay Company
traders who sometimes denied
Indians credit.

The church played a part,
an important role,
saw the suicidal conditions,
decided it best to save souls.

I recall small steps
in the cold Northern snow,
a sweet life taken,
a little boy with no shoes.

Deeply moved I weep.
He was my brother.
(1990)

Why?

Why is life not the same way
as centuries ago,
without machinery,
without electricity,

Without disposals.

Why?
(1997)

My Son

Last year was the year
my son’s life was filled
with unexpected events.

His own birth was marked
by an unexpected surprise.

His dentist found out he existed.
(1997)

An intriguing read for both the expert and the general reader.CA