When Eagles Call

Based on extensive research in the Fort Langley archives, this novel offers a rich and colourful portrait of the Hawaiians’ role as "servants" of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1830s and their relations with the Native peoples of the northwest coast. Susan Dobbie takes us inside the world of Kimo Kanui, a young Kanaka man who leaves his native Hawaii in the early nineteenth century at a time when thousands of his people were leaving to find work abroad. For Kimo, the new life proves transformative as he grows to enjoy life "on the edge." He becomes deeply involved with the natives through his growing love for the half-Kwantlen, half-French Canadian woman, Rose Fanon, and when her life is threatened by marauders, he breaks Company rules to rescue her. As his attachment to Rose and the land grows, he foresees a time when the Company will no longer control the territory, when men can freely trade and lay claim to the land.