The life story of Barney Lacendre, as related through narrative and interpretation by Owen Salaway. The book traces Lacendre’s years living as a bushman, supporting himself through trapping and hunting and maintaining a close, practical relationship with the northern landscape. Interwoven with this account is his description of working as a traditional medicine man, including his beliefs about and encounters with spiritual forces that he understood to be malevolent, which he claimed to harness in acts of healing and other supernatural practices.
The central arc of the narrative follows Lacendre’s eventual conversion to Christianity, an experience he portrays as a decisive break with his former spiritual practices. The latter portion of the book focuses on his rejection of traditional medicine and spirit work, framing his earlier life and beliefs in contrast with his adopted Christian faith.
