By Lee Maracle
2002, Theytus Books (Canada) Ltd.
Price: $16.95
Binding: Trade paperback
ISBN: 1-89477802-2
Pages: 224
Coming of Age in Sto:loh
Will’s Garden takes place in the traditional seaside territory of the Sto:loh (also called Sto:lo) Nation of British Columbia. Will is about to turn sixteen, and with the help of his family members and his community, is preparing for his Becoming Man ceremony.
The family home is a beehive of activity as his parents, cousins, siblings, aunts, uncle and grandparents work to create hand-made jewelry, clothing and blankets for the Giveaway. His mother and his aunts, with babies on their backs, gather in the kitchen to prepare food for the workers. Visitors drop in to help out.
The book’s title comes from Will’s beadwork on ceremonial shawls, complicated, colorful garden scenes, inspired by his mother’s flowerbed. He and his cousin Sarah are the family beading artists. Sarah creates designs and Will fills them in. Except now, he is beading original designs that rival Sarah’s best.
Will feels the sting of first love when a young female guest arrives. He has to vacate his room for the girl and her mother, sleeping instead in a tent in the back yard with his brothers and male cousins. The fifteen-year-old visitor, beautiful and poised, strikes in spark in young Will. He plots how he can convince her to wait until he turns nineteen, the age when Sto-loh men are allowed to marry.
Amid preparations for the ceremony, life goes on normally. Will and his cousins, Thomas and Sarah, catch the bus to the off-reserve high school, where the football jocks bully the Indian students. Will says he has been hurt by his teammates in practice more often than by opposing players in real games.
Will and his sidekick Thomas make friends with a group of unpopular kids, forming a united front against the jock bullies. Homosexuality, friendship, dealing with bullies and making plans for their futures are issues that the little group has to sort out. They note sadly that the kids from the Sto:loh community rarely finish high school.
The construction of a daycare, school and senior centre on the reservation has been put on hold by the government. The tribe sets out to build the centre by themselves, the men and children taking up hammers, saws and shovels, while women bring food to the site.
To complicate things, Will becomes ill unexpectedly and ends up in the hospital battling for his life. In his sick room, he assesses his life, his relationships and his responsibilities. Visiting family members, a kind West Indian nurse and his blind grandfather help him clarify his future.
The history of the coastal people is told in the voices of the people who suffered poverty, disease and cultural and spiritual oppression at the hands of the white intruders. The Sto:loh spirituality and strong family values helped them survive.
Will’s Garden is Lee Maracle’s first novel to cross over into young adult fiction. She is considered an authority on Canadian Aboriginal cultural. A strong storyteller, Maracle portrays the issues with empathy and tenderness.
An informative, entertaining read, filled with lively characters, humor and sympathy.
