Sunday January 31st, 2010 Ojibway Culture and History

Me, I’m interested in learning about Ojibway, Chippewa and First Nation history of the Great Lakes, Northwestern Ontario and Canada. Recently, I began reading The Chippewas of Lake Superior by Edmund Danziger, Jr., and I think it’s great.

Published in 1978, it may seem a bit academic compared to the contemporary narrative-style of historical non-fiction, but Danziger’s writing is strong and the story he tells is compelling. Although it was not written as a narrative, the book does show a break from the old social-science-style of writing about Native people that depicted us as dead and gone. Instead of reconstituting the old formula of savage, civilization, colonization, Danziger weaves an intricate tapestry of cultures, economics and human endeavour.

Danziger contrasts the Chippewa of what is now mostly Minnesota and Wisconsin with other native nations like the Dakota and Santee Sioux, the Iroquois, peoples from the south like the Miami and Kickapoo, as well as French and British settlers, merchants, agents, soldiers and priests. This book is definitely worth a read if you’re interested in history and inter-cultural exchange.

Another worthwhile book to have a look at, History of the Ojibway Nation, was originally published in 1885 by William W. Warren, an Ojibway interpreter, legislator and historian. It’s an excellent source of history from someone who was there and experienced life in the mid-1800’s, a time of incredible change and adaptation.

If you were to combine the above two books with The Ojibwa of Western Canada, 1780-1870 by Laura Peers, then you would basically have about two hundred years of Anishnaabeg history in just three books. A good start. Plus, most non-fiction books have a recommended reading list appendix.

The Thunder Bay Public Library has other titles available that focus on Ojibway history. Killing the Shamen by Chief Thomas Fiddler is the story of a medicine man arrested and jailed for killing a windigo – a person turned to cannibalism – and really shows the demarcation between old traditions and new laws.

Legends of My People, the Great Ojibway by Norval Morrisseau contains great art and storytelling by Morrisseau himself.

The Orders of the Dreamed, George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth, 1823, is a first-person documentation of experiences and observations of George Nelson, a man who worked for the XY Company, the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1802 to 1823. While in the lands of Ojbway and Cree people, Nelson witnessed preparatory hunting medicine and other such conjuring. The Orders of the Dreamed, edited by Jennifer Brown and Robert Brightman is an excellent resource for historical firsthand accounts of Ojibway and Cree magical practices.

While writing this column, I received a book through inter-library loan, a service where books from other cities can be brought to the TBPL. The book is called Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look in All Directions by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri. Though I’ve only had a chance to flip through it, it looks like it picks up where many of the above-mentioned books leave off. That is, Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa not only has history from the 1800’s, but also follows the culture of Ojibway people up until modern times, the turn of the 21st century.

If you are interested in Ojibway culture and history, then I highly recommend these books.

Happy reading!

Chris Waite, Public Services Assistant