404 Years
An Auto/biography
by Cella Anne

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In the early seventeenth century, the sounds of the Atlantic whispering in her ears, Elizabeth Haney rides a ship bearing her from England to the burgeoning colony of Virginia, where she will join her husband, John. It is there that the two will begin a life free from the turmoil of the upheaval of the churches under the rule of King James. Although they don’t know it yet, it is there that they will begin a family story of 404 years—and counting. Historical records brought to life through engaging narrative prose, 404 Years follows the Haney, LeFevre, Beaman, and Stuteville ancestors of Cella Anne, from that first voyage in 1621. In this gripping, informative text, Cella especially gives voice to the women of her family, using research to inform imagined conversations between them as they live through historical moments such as the American Revolution and the abolition of slavery. Interspersed with these stories is Cella’s own journey as she grows up in a U.S. Air Force family, leaves an abusive marriage, earns her Ph.D., and works for social justice. Looking at what was built by those who came before us while recognizing privilege, 404 Years honours where we’ve come from and shows us that it’s never too late to make decisions that will shape the future.

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"Cella Anne artfully combines the best attributes of memoir with the fruits of painstaking historical research to create a gripping, eye-opening, genre-busting read. [This book] is, indeed, not (only) about the fascinating and frequently unexpected life lived by the author but also about those “stories from before memory,” as she so perfectly describes them, that in ways unpredictable yet inevitable did in fact shape, foreshadow, and inspire her own." —Dr. David Weiss, Dean, University College, Univ. of New Mexico. "Cella Anne, in her quest to know herself, discovers that she must first examine the lives of her ancestors. Her story spans slave ownership, land grants, and covered wagons, along with the paradoxical combination of taking advantage of wars against American Indians, while learning from them how to survive in their new home - and the curiosity of her great-uncle receiving an American Indian name the day he was born. Purchasing Cella’s book doesn’t guarantee you will learn to live without imperfections...but everyone will benefit from learning a process that helped her to find her own faults to begin to work for social justice." —Dr. Swelchalot Hardman, AVP, Xwexwílmexwawt, Univ. of the Fraser Valley, British Columbia.

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Cella Anne lives in Golden, British Columbia, at the doorstep of five Canadian national parks. Cella has worked as a professor, educator, and researcher at universities such as the University of the Fraser Valley, where she also worked to advance Indigenization in post-secondary education and was awarded Professor Emeritus in 2024. While she has previously published academic articles and book chapters, 404 Years is her first book. In addition to writing, Cella enjoys printmaking, cross-country skiing, and road travel, and she is also a member of the Bahá'í Faith.

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Contributors

Author

Cella Anne

Foreword

Deborah K. van den Hoonaard