Follows a killer whale from her birth off the west coast of Canada through her first year of life.

We all know that there have been women in British Columbia since the early days, and they were not just ironing shirts and baking bread. They organized unions, won elections, started schools and hospitals and became judges, scientists, artists and doctors. BC has benefited from a long tradition of energetic women who have had an impact on the province as we know it. The twenty women profiled in this book didn't all succeed in everything they attempted, but they were flexible, saw what needed to be done and just did it.

Standing Up with Ga’axsta’las tells the remarkable story of Jane Constance Cook (1870-1951), a controversial Kwakwaka’wakw leader and activist who lived during a period of enormous colonial upheaval. Working collaboratively, Robertson and Cook’s descendants draw on oral histories and textual records to create a nuanced portrait of a high-ranked woman, a cultural mediator, devout Christian, and aboriginal rights activist who criticized potlatch practices for surprising reasons. This powerful meditation on memory and cultural renewal documents how the Kwagu’l Gixsam have revived their long-dormant clan in the hopes of forging a positive cultural identity for future generations through feasting and potlatching.