DURING MY TIME
Florence Edenshaw Davidson
A HAIDA WOMAN
Florence Davidson, 1980
DURING MY TIME
Florence Edenshaw Davidson
A HAIDA WOMAN
Revised and Enlarged Edition
Margaret B. Blackman
University of Washington Press
Seattle and London
Douglas & McIntyre
Vancouver/Toronto
This book was published with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 1982 by the University of Washington Press
First paperback edition, 1985
Fourth printing, 1990
Revised edition copyright © 1992 by the
University of Washington Press
Printed in the United States of America
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or, in Canada, a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
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Cataloging-in-Publication Data is found at the end of this book.
The paper used in this publication is acid-free and 90 percent recycled from at least 50 percent post-consumer and at least 50 percent pre-consumer waste. It meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Cover photograph by Ulli Steltzer.
Frontispiece photograph of Florence Davidson by Margaret Blackman.
For her children, their spouses,and all who know her as “Nani”
Chapters 4 through 9 constitute Florence Davidson’s first-person account of her long and rich life. The ornament that introduces her narrative is a dogfish shark by her grandson Robert Davidson.
CONTENTS
Preface to the Revised Edition
Preface to the Original Edition
3. Florence Edenshaw Davidson: A Biographical Sketch
4. Those Before Me (1862–1896)
5. Before I Could Walk (1896–1897)
6. I Am Yet a Girl (1897–1909)
7. I Become a Woman and Marry (1909–1911)
8. I Become a Mother and Have Lots of Children (1912–1938)
9. I Quit Having Babies: My Later Years (1939–1979)
Epilogue 1992: “One More Time”
ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Queen Charlotte Islands
Frontispiece: Florence Davidson, 1980
Button blankets worn by Masset Haida
Margaret Blackman and Florence Davidson, 1979
Masset in 1879
Charles Edenshaw’s house, c. 1900
Genealogy
Albert Edward Edenshaw, 1890
Charles Edenshaw and other Masset lay readers, c. 1910
Masset in 1911
Chief’s seat carved by Charles Edenshaw
Florence Davidson, c. 1919
Florence and sisters, 1940s
Florence and daughter Clara, c. 1940
Florence and Selina Peratrovich
Making a button