Native Born Son is J. David Ford’s first-hand telling of his suspenseful exploits while growing up in the eastern arctic during the 1920s and 30s. He was born into a multi-generational line of traders, trappers and Hudson’s Bay Company employees who, since the late 1700s, lived alongside and sometimes intermarried with indigenous people. This social history depicts life at the end of an era – before radio communication, snowmobiles or power boats – a nomadic life on the verge of extinction.

The stories, written before David left the arctic to enlist for WWII, languished in an attic north of Port Hope, Ontario. Now, a hundred years after the eight-year-old David Ford first set foot on Coats Island at the top of Hudson Bay, they have been given new life. This is one person’s story of adventure, risk taking, survival and community in a harsh land. The narrative combines a deep respect for the indigenous people’s way of life with their wise stewardship of natural resources.

Marnie Hare Bickle has compiled and edited the accounts, and provides context, explanations and insights in the introduction. Michele E. Collins adds clarity and whimsy with delightful illustrations and maps.

"An extraordinary life story, told with honesty, humour and compassion." —Leslie Boyd, Owner & Director, Inuit Fine Art Gallery

"Vivid characters and hardships feel cinematic, swooping the reader deep into culture and life in the arctic"—Joan E. Athey, Peaceworks Now Productions

" A worthy and wonderful addition to literature of the Canadian north in the early 20th century." —Wade Rowland, author of Canada Lives Here

About the Authors

J. David Ford was a "native born son," born in the arctic, but he straddled distinct ways of life: white man versus Inuit (Eskimo) and Innu (Indian); the hardships of northern arctic life versus the easier existence of "the outside" world - Newfoundland - where his family had relatives, where they went on leave or for medical attention; the Hudson's Bay Company expectations to conduct astute business practices versus caring for members of the community and taking responsibility for the ongoing needs of the local people. He was a native born son but an outsider, part Inuit but living a white man's life in an HBC employee frame house. His parents, whose ancestors had lived in the arctic for generations, knew that his survival in the north depended on what he learned from his Inuit friends but also thought it was important for him to go to Newfoundland for five years to finish high school. This dichotomy honed his abilities as an observer and recorder of a time in history that was about to perish, the end of an era and a way of life that changed drastically after the war.

Marnie Hare Bickle worked most of her career in music academia. Always a writer at heart, she has written poetry, songs, short stories and articles. She combined her interest in music and history to write Opera and the University of Toronto 1972-1996 and other articles to promote and showcase classical musicians. Native Born Son has been her longest project to date and she looks forward to finding new stories that need to be told. She teaches music in Port Hope Ontario where she lives with her husband and two cats.

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