Nuu-chah-nulth history books can be hard to find and will command a steep price if they are rare and in good condition. That is the nature of the rare books business – the harder it is to find, the more value it has.
An internet search for the most valuable Nuu-chah-nulth history book doesn’t produce a title. Instead, the searcher will get a description of what collectors are looking for in terms of rare and valuable books.
“...value in rare books depends heavily on factors such as edition, condition, and provenance. However, one of the most historically significant and sought-after works related to the Nuu-chah-nulth people is an early 19th-century account of captivity,” states one appraiser.
‘The Adventures of John Jewitt: Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston, During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island’ is a foundational text for anyone researching the early contact period of the Nuu-chah-nulth people (then referred to as Nootka Sound Indians).
Written by John Rodgers Jewitt, who was held captive with his shipmate John Thompson by the Mowachaht for 28 months starting in 1803, the original journal served as the framework for subsequent books about the incident published over the decades.
Hailed as one of the earliest firsthand accounts of the Nuu-chah-nulth by a European, the book detailed the day-to-day struggle of learning about and fitting into Mowachaht culture in their struggle for survival.
While there are several versions of the story, it is the early first editions of this work that are most valuable. The earliest journal was brief and maybe even mundane as Jewitt described daily life with the Mowachaht.
In the years following Jewitt’s rescue, books based on the journal were published and a play was written. There is a belief that Jewitt and/or the publishers embellished some portions of the story to make it more dramatic, more interesting to the paying public.
For example, an attack on another tribe in which Jewitt and Thompson killed or took prisoners was described in a book but was not mentioned in the original journal. Other examples were Jewitt’s later accounts of his preferential treatment by the “king” Maquinna like his “forced marriage” to an Ehattesaht princess.
Published in 1807, ‘A journal kept at Nootka Sound,’ is described as Jewett’s own version without editorial embellishments. One copy is available online for more than $1500 CAD.
According to book appraisers, those in excellent condition with original plates and binding are highly valuable on the rare book market. Even more valuable if signed by the author.
David Ellis is a Vancouver Island-based book collector who buys and sells Nuu-chah-nulth history books, among others. But after decades of travelling book sales, Ellis, now 74, is putting his entire book collection up for sale so that he can enjoy a quiet retirement.
A former commercial fisherman and community fisheries planner, Ellis took over his father’s rare book collection. He even co-wrote a book.
“With Nuu-chah-nulth I wrote Teachings of the Tides with Luke Swan when I was very young, and had to know what had been written over the last 100 years on Nuu-chah-nulth,” he told Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Published in 1981, Teaching of the Tides: Uses of Marine Invertebrates by the Manosaht People was co-written with Luke Swan, who was born in 1893. Even this book has joined the rare book list. Used, paperback copies can still be found online for about $100.
“It was 10 years later (after publishing the book) when my dad passed when I took over all of his book collections and dropped my career in community fisheries planning to become a bookseller,” Ellis said, adding that he got into the habit of knocking on band office doors, telling them, “I have expensive but good books for you!"
“Yes, I have had a lot of wonderful adventures visiting First Nations,” he shared.
The Nuu-chah-nulth collection started by Ellis’s father has been expanded, with Ellis buying multiple copies of some books.
It was a rare book, likely purchased from Ellis’ collection, which helped five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations win the Ahousaht et al. fisheries court case, which recognized their right to commercially harvest and sell fish from the nation’s respective territories. He said First Nations often hire legal firms and sometimes one good history book is all that is needed to prove the case.
He said it was a rare book that won the case. Ellis is referring to ‘Scenes and Studies of Savage Life’, written by Gilbert Malcolm Sproat in 1868. The book, said Ellis, carefully described how Nuu-chah-nulth fishermen loaded their canoes with halibut to sell in Victoria, BC.
“It was the knowledge contained in this book that makes it valuable,” he said.
James Swan Uukwaqum is the grandson of Luke Swan and is buying transcripts of the voice recordings his grandfather made in preparation for the book. According to Ellis, Swan makes a point that gaining traditional knowledge through books is not the best way to learn.
“And I agree this is not the best function of books. Their function is ‘back up’ (other forms of knowledge acquisition),” said Ellis.
He has had some success in selling entire collections of historic Indigenous history books to interested First Nations. Ellis says his major buyers are “knowledge holders” that use the books for reference or to keep in resource centres.
“Now it's time to let my book collections go for all of British Columbia and the Northwest Territories,” he said.
Ellis says he’s noticed that some of his usual big buyers, like knowledge holders and school boards, are not buying as many books as they used to. He wondered if there was less money available for books. It could be that some books are now available online in digital format at a lower price. But there’s something special about having a rare, hard copy of that hard-to-find book.
There are dozens of Nuu-chah-nulth history books available for purchase. Some are written by anthropologists, historians and even Nuu-chah-nulth elders. Noteable Nuu-chah-nulth authors include Ha’wiih like Ahousaht’s Earl Maquinna George, Umeek (Dr. Richard Atleo of Ahousaht) and Pacheedaht’s Charlie Queesto Jones.
Other notable Nuu-chah-nulth authors are Dr. George Clutesi (Tseshaht), Dr. Charlotte Cote (Tseshaht), Peter Webster (Ahousaht), and Luke Swan Sr. (Manosaht/Ahousaht).
While more books from contemporary authors and historians continue to be published, those older, rare books are getting harder to find.
Anyone interested in a book from David Ellis’ collection can reach him at daviddellis222.de@gmail.com.