From the Tundra to the Trenches

by Eddy Weetaltuk, Thibault Martin (Editor), Isabelle St. Amand (Introduction)

Overview

“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 weren’t 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 life’s story. This compelling memoir traces an Inuk’s 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 Weetaltuk’s memoir includes a foreword and appendix by Thibault Martin and an introduction by Isabelle St-Amand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780887551970
Publisher:	University of Manitoba Press
Publication date:	02/03/2017
Series:	ISSN , #4
Edition description:	Critical ed.
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Eddy Weetaltuk (1932 to 2005), was born on Strutton Island, James Bay.
He enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in Korea. He left the army in 1967 and was stationed in Germany for many years.

Thibault Martin is a professor of Sociology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais and is the author of De la banquise au congélateur: mondialisation et culture au Nunavik.

Isabelle St-Amand is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow affiliated with the
Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Thibault Martin Introduction by Isabelle St-Amand Ch.1 Weetaltuk, or the Times of Innocence Ch. 2 At the Boarding School Ch. 3 How Eddy Weetaltuk (E9-422) became Eddy Vital, Canadian Private (SC-17515) Ch. 4 Training to become a Soldier Ch. 5 From the Island of Pleasure to the Inferno Ch. 6 Clash of Culture Ch. 7 Life Goes On Ch. 8 In Prison and in Love Appendix by Thibault Martin, The Experience of Eddy Weetaltuk in the Context of Aboriginal Participation in Canadian Wars

What People are Saying About This

Keavy Martin

“From the Tundra to the Trenches is a bold tale of adventure and resilience in a time of change. Journeying from James Bay mission school to the Korean War, Weetaltuk was a survivor, a trailblazer, and above all, a master storyteller.”

Editorial Reviews

Endlessly interesting; an account of a traditional way of life now lost, a gripping first-hand account of a front-line soldier during the war, and an honest account of a young man’s adventures and misadventures. It is to all our benefit that it has, at last, found its way into print."

The National Post - Michael Melgaard

"For those interested in Inuit culture it offers the rare and valuable perspective of an Inuk looking out from his culture at the world rather than the world looking in."

P. T. Sherrill

Recounts the adventures of Inuk veteran Eddy Weetaltuk, from his early life in the North to his escape to the south under an assumed identity, to his enlistment in the Canadian Forces, which took him across the Canadian West, to Japan and Germany, and into battle in Korea. Adopting the name Eddy Vital was necessary in 1951 because the federal government restricted the movement of Inuit people. Through his alias, Weetaltuk was able to see the world; in the army, he experienced equality and respect—all the while never forgetting his true identity as an Inuk.

The publication history of From the Tundra to the Trenches is itself a four-decades-long saga of many twists and turns. That it now finds English publication (after first appearing in French and German) owes to the author’s conviction that his life story be read as a work of literature with the makings of a bestseller. Eddy Weetaltuk was right.”

The Globe and Mail - Jade Colbert

"Tender, honest, and often raw, Weetaltuk’s storytelling is masterful, engrossing, and deeply human. He has imbued his writing with a philosophical nuance that is characteristically Inuit: very subtle, yet profound."

The Malahat Review - Siku Allooloo

09/25/2017
This memoir is a revealing account of 20th-century history as viewed through the lens of the life of one man from the Canadian North. Weetaltuk, believed to be the first Inuit man to serve in the Canadian armed forces, assumed a false identity, using the name Eddy Vital, to enlist, because at the time Inuit people were not allowed to leave the North. The book opens during Weetaltuk’s childhood, focusing on his time at a Indian Residential School in Fort George, Quebec. The bulk of the narrative recounts his 15 years in the army: training, serving in the Korean War, and later being stationed in Germany. He reflects on both the benefits (which included travel and being seen as his fellow soldiers’ equal) and disadvantages (feeling disloyal to his people, not being able to marry the woman he loved) of his assumed identity. Weetaltuk writes that he hopes his story will inspire Inuit youth to succeed in the wider world while preserving and celebrating their own culture. Several decades elapsed between the writing of this book and its publication, and the author’s struggle to publish is an interesting story in itself. Readers will wish that Weetaltuk, who died in 2005, had had time to write second volume about his return to the North. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

From the Tundra to the Trenches is Eddy Weetaltuk’s lifetime achievement of publishing his memoirs. As an Inuit and a Canadian veteran of the Korean War, Weetaltuk tells a story of his early years in the Arctic with his family and his military service. Weetaltuk’s identities weave intersections of meaning between Indigenous and white ways of life.”

The Goose - Vivian M. Hansen

Resonates with an honesty and humour that is refreshing.

Prairie Fire - Mary Barnes