A book by Wa’xaid (Cecil Paul) with Briony Penn

Who better to tell the narrative of our times about the restoration of land and culture than Wa’xaid, (the good river) or Cecil Paul, an Xenaksiala elder, who pursued both in his ancestral home, the Kitlope — now the largest protected unlogged temperate rainforest left on the planet.  Paul’s cultural teachings are more relevant today than ever in the face of environmental threats, climate change and social unrest while his personal stories of loss from residential schools, industrialization and theft of cultural property  put a human face to the survivors of genocide.

The beauty of paradox and forgiveness is Wa’xaid’s traditional offering to the world: the church that removed him from his family, rescued him from the streets; the industry that threatened the Kitlope, fed his family and gave up their logging rights; the man that raised his stolen child, helped save his valley; the nation that took his pole, brought it back.