Mary's Heart: A First Nations Woman in Dawson

A Klondike Gold Miner's Life, Book 4

By: Joyce Derenas

Narrated by: Nathan Daniel

In 1937, Mary Johnnie, a First Nations woman, considers marriage with Romeo Poulin, a pioneer and Stampeder turned small mill owner in Dawson. They have known each other for three decades and each has lost loved ones to the rugged territory that defines the Yukon.

Mary has felt the sting of loss, burying more loved ones than most. How much grief can one woman endure? She isn’t alone.

Romeo has also felt the bite of grief, but he longs for a family, and more than anything, a son. Will Mary agree to wed and someday give him the boy he hopes for? If they wed, will she have to change who she is – a Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in?

“We already have a child together. Let’s do things right, let’s get married,” Romeo begs.

While First Nations people intermarry and assimilate into the white man’s culture during the 1930s, Mary questions what she might lose if she marries a white man. Would her children be marginalized as half-breeds by a government that doesn’t care?

“What will I have to give up?” Mary asks.

Mary's Heart, book 4 in the series A Klondike Gold Miner's Life, explores life in the wild North and its many challenges. Intertwined in this story, Romeo Poulin has to deal with his brother, Gaudias, whose stubbornness has created a long-lived rift between them.

©2021 Joyce Derenas (P)2021 Joyce Derenas

Fourth in the Poulin Saga Late 1920s-1930s

The fourth entry into the Poulin saga introduces us to Mary Johnnie, a First Nations woman, who has just lost her husband, Riley. After her husband's death, Mary, pregnant and about to give birth, returned to her home village of Moosehide, where Mary's father, Sam Smith had been the first constable of the First Nations People. Full of interesting First Nation information, this book is the last (so far) in the series. The two brothers, Romeo and Gaudias, having long gone their own ways, have even further distanced themselves from one another, as Gaudias continued to try to disgrace the successful Romeo in public. Romeo having left gold mining to develop a thriving logging business is well regarded in town, having build a reputation as an honest businessman. Romeo's connection to Mary Johnnie also angered Gaudias who regarded Indians as less than the white man. The lives of Romeo and Mary are recorded here for us to ponder over, grieve over and ultimately wonder about. I was saddened that we were left guessing at the end . . . not enough closure.