As chief of the Lake Babine Nation in north central B.C., Betty Patrick co-authored the first book about the Lake Babine First Nation entitled Cis Dideen Kat (When the Plumes Rise): The Way of the Lake Babine Nation (UBC Press, 2000) with Jo-Anne Fiske [at right], a teacher of anthropology and women's studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. They recall the outlawed potlatch or 'balhats' ceremonies and trace relations with the Canadian government and legal system, outlining their alternate traditional legal system with materials gleaned from interviews with elders and archival research. Cis dideen kat was shortlisted for the 2001-2002 Harold Adams Innis Prize.

Jo-Anne Fiske received her masters (1981) and doctorate (1989) in Anthropology from UBC, and taught in the Women’s Studies department at the University of Northern British Columbia until 2004, when she joined the Women & Gender Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge. She has worked extensively with women of First Nations in central British Columbia. Her joint work has documented the traditional legal order of the Lake Babine Nation (with Betty Patrick), traditional community governance and membership of the Lake Babine Nation (with Evelyn George) and women’s health and well-being of Saik’uz First Nation women (with Geraldine Thomas Flurer). She lives at Fraser Lake, B.C.

[BCBW 2004]

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Cis Dideen Kat - When Plumes Rise: The Way of the Lake Babine Nation