Behind the White Picket Fence
Life In the North with the HBC
by Ron Gosbee

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Born in the early 1950s, Ron Gosbee grew up in unusual circumstances: living in remote Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) trading posts with his father, mother, and his two sisters. As the family sustained their distinctive way of life amidst the isolated wilderness, perilous as it was beautiful, their home stood surrounded by a white picket fence, a reminder of the expected colonial division between them and the Indigenous peoples who lived on those lands since time immemorial. Behind the White Picket Fence: Life in the North with the HBC is more than a personal memoir. In addition to the joys, dangers, and difficulties of life at Fort Albany, Ontario and other HBC trading posts, Gosbee addresses the enforcement of colonial policies and ideology. He includes the invaluable perspective of his mother, who offers an account of the isolation and labour expected of women at this time. Through the informative personal account of a childhood witness, Behind the White Picket Fence offers a necessary look at the history of Northern Canada.

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Ron Gosbee (he/him) lives in Southern Ontario. Growing up in Northern Ontario and witnessing colonialism and the abuses in St. Anne’s Indian Residential School led him to write No Escape: Witness to a Canadian Genocide (2024) and now Behind the White Picket Fence: Life in the North with the HBC, which is a prequel to his earlier book. In addition to writing, Ron enjoys a wide range of studies and interests, and also engages in playing music and speaking respectfully with others to get to the heart of important issues. You can connect with Ron through the website for his previous book, www.noescape.ca, or by email at mail@noescape.ca.

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Ron Gosbee