Andrews , L y n n V.: Medic ine Woman. T o r o n t o : F i t z h e n r y and Whiteside, 1981,

204 pp.

With t he pub l i c a t i on of Medic ine Woman by L y n n V. Andrews , Harper and

R o w has d o n e a ser ious disservice to the credib i l i ty of i ts na t ive f ic t ion series.

While th is novel is no t a par t of t h a t series, the a u t h o r uses H y e m e y o h s t s S t o r m

as a cha rac t e r in he r f i c t ion a n d invokes his book , Seven A r r o w s - which is the

first h o o k in the Harper and R o w series - to add verac i ty to her incred ib le tale.

Whe the r the a u t h o r had permiss ion for her use of S t o r m a n d his b o o k or no t ,

t he falsified desc r ip t ions of Man i toba Cree and the i r my tho log ie s in Medic ine

Woman and S t o r m ' s supposed approva l o f these doct r ines , c a n n o t he lp b u t

cast d o u b t s u p o n t he verac i ty of Seven Ar rows as well.

Using herse l f as p ro t agon i s t a n d the a r che typa l ques t as s t ruc ture , Andrews

has wr i t t en a novel is t ic a c c o u n t of her spir i tual d e v e l o p m e n t u n d e r the tu te lage

of a Man i toba Cree medic ine w o m a n n a m e d Agnes R u n n i n g Elk. The fac t t h a t

the a u t h o r lives in Beverly Hills m a y he respons ib le for the fac t t h a t the w i sdom

of Agnes R u n n i n g Elk bears a closer r e la t ionsh ip to the ideas a b o u t Ind ians

f o r m u l a t e d by the movie i ndus t ry t h a n it does to t he real i t ies of Cree life or

rel igion in Mani toba . While this novel p re t ends to d o c u m e n t an ac tua l experi-

ence, the gross geographical a n d cu l tura l er rors in this b o o k t u r n i t i n t o an

u n i n t e n t i o n a l l y h u m o u r o u s p a r o d y of the Cal i fornia view of na t ive l ife and

cul ture . To be sc rupulous ly fair, A nd r ew s does have a min ima l a c q u a i n t a n c e

wi th na t ive studies. I t is obv ious f rom the bor rowings in her novel t h a t she has

read n o t on ly Seven Ar rows hu t Carlos Cas taneda ' s Conversa t ions With Don

Juan a n d J o h n Ne iha rd t ' s Black Elk Speaks as well. Take these th ree books , mix

t h e m wi th a l i t t le Cal i fornia f emin i sm a n d you have Medic ine Woman.

The ques t begins w h e n A ndr ew s sees a p h o t o g r a p h of a na t ive marr iage

baske t a t an art gallery in Beverly Hills. Obsessed wi th the basket , t he a u t h o r

r e tu rns t he n e x t day to purchase the pic ture , which has, however , mys te r ious ly

disappeared. The quest is p icked up a t a pa r ty the fo l lowing evening w h e n the

na r r a to r e n c o u n t e r s H y e m e y o h s t s S t o r m w h o i n fo rms her t h a t t he real marr iage

baske t can he f o u n d in the h a n d s of i ts keeper on a Cree Reserve n o r t h of

Crowley, Mani toba . The keeper is Agnes R u n n i n g Elk, w h o m S t o r m descr ibes

as a " h e y o k a , as t h e y call some medic ine w o m e n - a w o m a n w h o shows h o w "

(p. 17). The fac t t h a t the re is n o Crowley in Mani toba , a n d t h a t Andrews is as

un l ike ly to f ind a Cree Reserve in the s o u t h as she is a C h e y e n n e " h e y o k a " does

no t de te r her. Af te r all, she has a m a p f r o m S t o r m himself .

BOOK REVIEWS

186

The absurd posturing of S to rm and the o ther guests as they discuss the

latest California inquiries in to archaic religions is absurd enough, but the novel

reaches its mis informed heights when the narrator arrives in Canada. True to a

Californian's percept ion of Manitoba, the narrator steps o f f a plane in Winnipeg

and sets off across " the Canadian tundra ." The t ime of year is supposedly spring,

yet Andrews describes the "grand rolling f ields" where "green grasses twisted

and curled in the wind" (p. 21). Prairie grass does no t get long enough to b low

in the breeze unti l July, which means that the narrator ei ther does no t k n o w

what season it is, or believes that i t is cold enough on the " t u n d r a " at all seasons to just i fy her "sweaters, wool socks, and flannel pajamas."

Andrews ' first encounte r with the Cree in Crowley typifies her misguided

and of ten insulting percept ion of native people. Throughout the book, the

natives treat her with indifference, insult, or degradation, and the narrator is

ei ther t oo slow-witted, or t oo taken with the esoteric nature of her experiences

to realize it. Al though supposedly a reserve town, Crowley is just l ike all the

Western towns in Ho l lywood movies. It consists of some houses and a "Trading

Pos t" full of " b r o w n round-faced children eating Hostess cupcakes ." All the

adults are dressed in cowboy clothes because they are roping cat t le at a R o d e o

down the road. The Manitoba Cree undoub ted ly practice cat t le roping during

the summer when their trap lines are inactive, a l though Andrews has no t

suggested what they would use for cat t le in the black spruce and muskeg marsh lands in which most o f them live.

The direct ions which Andrews obtains f rom the Indians at the Trading

Post are sufficiently vague so that she does no t k n o w whether to fo l low the road

or to search for Agnes Running Elk up on the "Black Mesa." It is no t surprising,

therefore, that Andrews is unable to f ind ei ther Agnes or a geographical feature

which does no t exist in Manitoba. Andrews does, however, find the cabin of

Ruby Plenty Chiefs, who is happy to insult her and order her about in exchange

for direct ions to Agnes ' dwelling. In an a t t i tude of blatant con tempt , Ruby

commands Andrews to help bu tcher a newly-ki l led deer while she sings a "Cree

l ightening song '" Moreover, she insists that Andrews share a piece o f raw deer

heart with her. This combina t ion of rudeness and barbarism is precisely what

Andrews has been seeking, for now, covered with dried b lood and with only

raw deer heart for dinner, she does no t leave when Ruby refuses her a place to wash and a place to sleep. Indeed, she does no t even leave when R u b y slams the

door in her face with the directive: " G o sleep in your car, Washichu." (Washichu

is a Dakota term, which Andrews has gleaned f rom her readings. Black Elk uses

this negative te rm to refer to Custer and o ther white men of that ilk.) In the

morning, af ter giving Ruby a " t rade blanket and t o b a c c o " ( they still do this in Hol lywood, apparent ly) Andrews persuades Ruby to cont inue her insult

therapy. Finally, she is directed to Agnes Running Elk and eagerly sets out on a

trail which is as curious as her direct ions f rom Crowley had been, for this trail

takes her " u p over a mesa" and then " t oward a wide c a n y o n " ringed in by " rock cliffs to the nor th . "

In spite of the curious terrain, Agnes Running Elk is located, and the " rea l "

lessons can begin. The instruct ions Andrews receives fo l low the same pat tern

187

Cas taneda has used - the ignoran t n a r r a t o r receives lessons in non-Weste rn

t h o u g h t t h r o u g h a c o m b i n a t i o n of physical d i s comfor t a n d ph i losoph ic riddles.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the i n s t ruc t i ons A ndr ew s receives are n o t on ly non-Wes te rn bu t

n o n - l n d i a n as well. Her in i t i a t ion takes place in a nude e n c o u n t e r in a sweat

lodge wi th several old w o m e n w h o call he r " c a n n i b a l " a n d " i d i o t " w h e n t h e y

are n o t p inch ing her or tel l ing her to be quiet . Eventual ly , t hough , she learns

one i m p o r t a n t t r u t h a b o u t the marr iage baske t : " T h e baske t is the anc i en t way

of w o m e n " (p. 38). This fac t is so mean ingfu l to Andrews t h a t she begins to cry

in t hank fu lnes s and to b a b b l e a b o u t the cruel t ies which she suf fered u n d e r

R u b y P len ty Chiefs. To c o m f o r t her, Agnes tells her a roar ing y a r n a b o u t R u b y

P len ty Chiefs ' cou r t sh ip to S tua r t Runs Backward (No F le t t s or Beardys on th is

" C r e e " reserve). This is a great H o l l y w o o d ya rn involving i ron wagons ( t rans la te

rai l roads) and m e n wi th pis tols w ho rape Ruby . The i ron wagon has n o t reached

m a n y Cree reserves in Mani toba , no r are pis tols a l lowed in Canada, bu t th is is as

i r re levant to Andr ew s as geographica l a u t h e n t i c i t y .

Af te r f u r t h e r yarns, inc lud ing one a b o u t a S a u t o u x (sic) ch ie f w h o lives on

a m o u n t a i n t o p where he can l ook d o w n on his people, Andrews ' e d u c a t i o n in

the way of a w o m a n con t inues . These lessons are n o t h i n g b u t f emin i s t t rac ts

disguised as Cree m y t h o l o g y . They are a lways del ivered in the same s t e n t o r i a n

t one fo l lowing an ordeal of some sort . Here are some examples o f the c rude

f emin i sm of th is " C r e e " med ic ine : " A w o m a n is b o r n p r e g n a n t . . . A m a n has

to be i m p r e g n a t e d by w o m a n . S o m e m e n achieve th is t h r o u g h p lan t s or o t h e r

disciplines. There are secrets I c a n ' t yet tell y o u " (p. 43). Nor does Agnes ever

reveal t he secrets of male i m p r e g n a t i o n by plants . As well, And rews learns t h a t :

" T h e r e are n o med ic ine men , w i t h o u t med ic ine w o m e n . A medic ine m a n is given

power by a w o m a n , a n d it has a lways been t h a t way. A med ic ine m a n s tands in

the place of the dog. He is mere ly an i n s t r u m e n t of w o m e n " (p. 45). A t this

poin t , And rews seems to have i n t u i t e d t he reader ' s desire t h a t she tell i t to

Beverly Hills, because she r e tu rns there , for a t ime, in o rder to reconsider the

dangers of he r quest . A l t h o u g h the " C a n a d i a n s t eppes" are r e m o t e f rom Beverly

Hills, the impera t ives of the ques t and f u r t he r messages f rom H y e m e y o h s t s

S t o r m br ing Andr ew s back to M a n i t o b a a n d Agnes ' i n s t ruc t ion .

U l t ima te ly A ndr ew s learns the deeper s y m b o l i s m of the marr iage baske t ;

even t h o u g h Agnes ' i n s t r uc t i on a t this p o i n t seems more l ike N o r m a n Mailer 's

ideas a b o u t w o m e n t h a n it does l ike Cree medic ine . The basket , And rews learns,

represen ts an " u n s p e a k a b l e void - the w o m b in w o m a n . " Agnes adds t h a t " I t

is law t h a t all th ings mus t be b o r n in woman , even th ings i nven t ed by m e n "

(p. 57). Andrews ' task is to steal the med ic ine baske t f r o m the med ic ine man,

Red Dog ( this is qui te all r ight because he is on ly a renegade whi t e pr iest) in

o rder to res tore t he ba lance to the world. Andrews ' adven tu res in ob t a in ing the marr iage baske t involve raids o n

Red Dog's c a m p and vice versa. These read like the raids which Black Elk has

descr ibed and involve " c o u n t i n g c o u p " by s teal ing each o t h e r ' s c lo th ing and

various o t h e r such activities. The con fus ion of my tho log ie s con t inues w h e n

Agnes a t t e m p t s to expla in Red Dog, for in c o m b a t he b e c o m e s the image of a

Pueb lo Ka tch ina spirit , " t h e fierce Kokope l l i . " Morever Agnes descr ibes the

spir i tual s t ruc tu re of t he wor ld in t e rms o f the seven Ka tch ina w h o con t ro l the

188

seven sacred rounds (p. 71). The rest of the novel revolves act ion sequences

interspersed with ins t ruct ion f rom Agnes which becomes more confused as the

novel progresses. For example, while examining a pile o f rocks, Agnes explicates

the structure of the psyche in terms of the rock pile. Even wi thou t the mixed

metaphors and mixed mytho logy , this " lesson" makes l i t t le sense.

There is one egg you would do well to hatch - one that is in

ha rmony with the Great Spirit. It is the sacred rock at the center

of the hoop. Hatch the sacred rock and you will ha tch the queen

bird that rips her talons through all the barriers to percept ion.

Whether you believe me or not, ha tch the idea that the hoop of the

self is also the hoop of the universe. For you are the queen bird

that soars on forever, limitless, and have no boundaries. Only the

queen bird builds a t rue nest wi thou t separations (p. 84).

Here Castaneda's c row is changed into a female eagle and combined with the

hoops o f the world which Black Elk described in his dream vision. This meaning-

less " m y t h o l o g y " sorely tries the reader 's pat ience and interpret ive ingenuity.

For example, when Agnes says: " Y o u have smoked the male and female wi thin

your lodgeself and you have come to a place where the roads fo rk , " the reader

is left with an image of verbal and physical con tor t ions and noth ing more.

At the end of the novel, when the Beverly Hills col lec tor has obta ined the

marriage basket, she receives a final directive f rom Agnes Running Elk, which is

her just i f icat ion for writ ing this book. Andrews is n o w " t h e keeper o f the

basket ;" i t is her responsibil i ty to pass on its message to all women. " L e t the

eagle f ly ," Agnes tells her, " G o write a book and give away what you have

learned" (p. 204). One suspects that some of Agnes ' earlier advice has provided

an addi t ional mot iva t ion for the writ ing of this book. Suggesting that Andrews write a book about Red Dog to rob h im of his power, Agnes added: " In your

world all the big thieving is done on paper. Yes, write it all d o w n " (p. 104).

Lorelei Cederstrom,

Depar tment of Native Studies,

Brandon University,

Brandon, Manitoba,

Canada, R 7 A 6A9.

Berger, Thomas R.: Fragile Freedoms: Human Rights and Dissent in Canada.

Toronto , Vancouver: Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, 1981, xx + 298

pp. ISBN 0-7720-1358-6. Append ix Index.

The Honourable Mr. Just ice Berger is perhaps best known for his role in

what now is referred to as the "Berger Commiss ion" over the proposed

Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline. The present vo lume is an under taking by Just ice

189

Berger which reconfirms his interest in the human rights of minor i ty groups in

Canada. It is a series o f chapters that are diverse in focus yet fo rm a thread that

weaves part o f the Canadian fabr ique that most Canadians don ' t k n o w about and

if they do, would like to forget. The origin of the book stems f rom a series o f

lectures he prepared at the Universi ty of British Columbia on the issue of civil

l iberties in which he addressed the issue of " h u m a n r ights" under the present

system of "legal safeguards". One quickly finds out that the "safe guards" have

no t been very effect ive when it comes to minor i ty group protect ion.

Eight different "subject ma t t e r s " are the basis for each of the chapters.

Beginning with the "Acadians: Expuls ion and Re tu rn" , Berger demonst ra tes how a na t ion that has prided itself on maintaining civil l iberties and championing

the rights of minori t ies has on several occasions succumbed to the tempta t ions

of intolerance. The first three chapters ("Acadian Expuls ion" , "Rie l and the New Nat ion"

and "Laur ier and the 'School ' Ques t ion" ) provide the reader with an historical

con tex t in which one can expec t things in the future. And, sure enough, while

we would like to th ink that we have learned by our mistakes, similar violat ions

o f human rights and civil l iberties surface again. The remaining chapters (more

recent in his tory) focus upon the banishment of Japanese-Canadians, the Com-

munist Party, the Jehovah ' s Witnesses, the F L Q episode and finally a chapter on

Native People and their claims. Space l imita t ions do no t a l low for an ex tended

s ta tement with regard to each chapter so three specific chapters will be dis-

cussed. Berger's work on the " s c h o o l " ques t ion takes us back to preconfedera t ion

and informs the reader just what the terms of Union were for Manitoba, New

Brunswick and Ontar io wi th regard to the " s c h o o l " issue. He is also able to

cut direct ly through the " legalese" that has always sur rounded the issue and in

a clear, precise manner, documen t h o w it came to pass that the Privy Council

of England would make a decision that would forever change the fate of the

franco-diaspora. However, even as a lawyer, the au thor is unable to explain why

the Privy Council made one decision and then reversed that decision short ly

thereafter . The au thor is also adroi t in informing the reader h o w Ontar io came

to take its stance with regard to the " s c h o o l " issue and its implicat ions with

regard to minor i ty language rights. In the section on Japanese-Canadians, the a u t h o r provides the reader with

an excel lent his tory of "Whi te-Orienta l" relat ions in British Columbia prior to

the ou tbreak of World War II. He clearly demonst ra tes that the eventual deport-

at ion and mass expuls ion o f the Japanese f rom British Columbia was a logical

extension of the prior a t t i tudes and behaviour o f whites in Canada. He also

demonst ra tes that when the issue of the p ro tec t ion of minor i ty rights was taken to the Privy Council , they con t inued their unbroken record of denying them in

Canada. The third chapter to be discussed centres on the issue dealing with the

claims put for th by Natives in Canada. Here Berger steps forward with well over

two decades o f exper ience behind him. While he focuses on the Nishga Indians

in British Columbia, the material is representat ive of most Native issues in

190

Canada. He provides a clear h i s to ry of the i r claims, the issues involved and a

clear e x p l a n a t i o n of w h y the S u p r e m e Cour t made its " u n i q u e " rul ing on

Indian Claims. The reader will be able to o b t a i n a good i n t r o d u c t i o n as well as unders t and-

ing of the issues involved. He or she will f ind the mater ia l very intr iguing, b u t

wi th just enough gaps to spur one to seek o u t the suggested readings l is ted in

the b ib l iography . The legal perspect ive one receives in th is vo lume is a lone well

w o r t h the e f for t s necessary to read the book .

Each t ime the a u t h o r addresses one of the "case s tudies" , he a t t e m p t s to

d e m o n s t r a t e h o w t he new Canad ian Char te r of Rights and Freedoms would or

cou ld have gua ran teed m i n o r i t y r ights and p r o t e c t e d t h e m f rom an abuse of

power used b y t he d o m i n a n t forces of Canadian society.

Berger conc ludes the b o o k by stat ing, wi th e l o q u e n t conv ic t ion , t h a t

l imits mus t be es tab l i shed as to the a m o u n t of power the " m a j o r i t y " has and

exercises. He goes on to argue t h a t there mus t be guaran tees of the r ights o f

minor i t i es a n d dissenters, and p r o t e c t i o n of the powerless. In the end he en jo ins

Canadians to suppor t the Canad ian Char te r of Rights a n d Freedoms outlined in

the C o n s t i t u t i o n Act, 1981, wh ich he provides in the a p p e n d i x of the book .

James S. Frideres,

D e p a r t m e n t of Sociology,

Univers i ty o f Calgary,

Calgary, Alber ta ,

Canada, T2N iN4 .

Black, Mered i th Jean: A lgonqu in E t h n o b o t a n y : An I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f Abor ig ina l

A d a p t a t i o n in S o u t h w e s t e r n Quebec. O t t awa : Nat iona l Museums of Canada,

Na t iona l Museum of Man Mercury Series (Canadian E t h n o l o g y Service

Paper No. 65), 1980, x + 266 pp. Appendices . Bibliog. Maps. Tabs.

This b o o k deals wi th the p lan t species used by four Algonqu in a n d two

Cree bands in t he area of s o u t h w e s t e r n Quebec, a n d compare s these data w i th

his tor ical d o c u m e n t s ind ica t ing p lan t species used b y o the r Algonkian-speaking

groups in n o r t h e a s t e r n N o r t h America . A br ief ske tch of t he geography and

f lora of the uppe r St. Maurice River dra inage area, is fo l lowed by an his tor ica l

ske tch of the area. These pre l iminar ies are b a c k g r o u n d for a chap t e r t h a t sum-

marizes t he inven tor ies of p lan t species used by t he six bands and by the nor th -

eas tern Algonk ian peoples generally.

Briefly, he r f indings are t h a t 40 p lan t species were used for f o o d by her

s tudy group (162 species by the his tor ical Algonk ian sample) of which blue-

berr ies and sugar maple are t he mos t c o m m o n . She gives a br ie f discussion of

the use of these two foods. Only 5 p lan t species were used for beverages (44

species for N.E. Algonkians general ly) and p rov ided some i m p o r t a n t vi tamins,

especial ly dur ing win te r w h e n o t h e r p lan ts were n o t a par t o f the diet . S o m e 74

191

plant species were used for medicine (541 species for the N.E. Algonkians

generally) but these are not discussed. Finally, 33 species were used for various

technical purposes (e.g. birch bark) but no comparative figure for the N.E.

Algonkians was given.

Black hypothesizes that the Algonquin bands are probably subarctic in

origin, perhaps coming from the northwest area (of what is now Quebec?)

in the late 1500's and not moving much or far during the fur trade. This chal-

lenges Hickerson's extravagant claim that the area was populated by more

southerly peoples in response to the fur trade. Black also suggests that ethno-

botanical evidence might well be used to challenge Hickerson's interpretation of

Chippewa population movements. More than two thirds of this volume is given

to appendices that list each species and a brief indication of the use made of it.

A few critical comments are in order. For what Black intended, this is a

useful work. For the larger interests of the documentation of culture history,

we miss the detail of use, and even more of knowledge and belief (which she

mentions in the introduction but on which she does not deliver much). We have

several important researches published or in thesis form during the 1970's,

Black could have used and referenced, especially Rogers' (1973) The Quest for

Food and Furs and Feit 's ethno-ecologal studies of the Mistassini (1969) and

Waswanipi (1978).

Richard J. Preston,

Department of Anthropology,

McMaster University,

Hamilton, Ontario,

Canada, L8S 4L9.

REFERENCES

Feit, Harvey A. 1969 Mistassini Hunters of the Boreal Forest. M.A. thesis, Department of Anthro-

pology, McGill University.

1978 Waswanipi Realities and Adaptations. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, McGill University.

Rogers, Edward S. 1975 The Quest for Food and Furs: the Mistassini Cree, 1953-1954. National

Museum of Man, Publications in Ethnology, No. 5.

Briggs, Jean: Aspects of Inuit Value Socialization. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, National Museum of Man Mercury Series (Canadian Ethnology

Service Paper No. 56), 1979, vi + 65 pp. Bibliog.

A great deal of Jean Briggs' work to date has focused on the dynamics of

Inuit social relations. Her book Never In Anger (1970) is a detailed examination

192

of the means by which a small c o m m u n i t y of Inuit, the Utkuhikhal ingmiut at

Chantrey Inlet in the central arctic, pat tern emot ional expression and behaviour

in order to control interpersonal conflict . The monograph under review deals

with one aspect of this socially adaptive process of patterning, the value social-

ization of children. Briggs' analysis draws on data col lected in the Chant rey

Inlet area as well as in a small summer camp at Qipisa on Cumber land Sound in

the eastern arctic. The s tudy actual ly const i tu tes a field repor t of research done

mainly among the Qipisamiut in 1975. The au thor caut ions that her conclusions

are provisional. Still, the s tudy cont r ibutes a great deal to our unders tanding of

the mechanics of value socialization and the emot ional d imension o f Inuit social

adaptat ion.

Briggs has found that Inuit children learn the central values of adu l thood in

playful encounters or games ini t iated by parents or o ther adults in the com-

muni ty . The themes o f these games are buil t around value confl icts to which

children respond in what prove to be ei ther socially appropr ia te or inapprop-

riate ways. Through this means they come to recognize, on their own (for the

a u t o n o m y of the young in all mat ters is highly valued), what behaviours and

feelings are expec ted of them. At the same time, though, youngsters f ind that

negative (anti-social) behaviours and feelings may appropr ia te ly find expression

within play, but only insofar as these responses are managed, kept fully under

control . In Briggs' words, games " show the child that undesirable feelings -

whether o f anger or fear - can be control led, tha t it is, in o ther words, safe to

have these feel ings" (p. 19) as long as they are well managed. Value socialization

entails, in great part, the skills of control l ing anti-social feelings as a means of maintaining social harmony.

Games thus provide secure con tex t s wi thin which the social effects o f

otherwise 'dangerous ' feelings are mit igated and positive values reinforced. Play,

then, const i tu tes a well suited med ium for this crucial socialization process since,

to the child (as well as the adult) , the challenges and emot ions it invokes seem

real enough, and his responses to them may well be those he would make outside

of the ' safe ty ' of play. Indeed, Briggs argues that apart f rom its apparent ut i l i ty

in socialization, play actual ly is " the preferred fo rm of interact ion, in which a

great deal of [adult] social business is c o n d u c t e d " (p. 14). Though seemingly

paradoxical, play is, in Inuit terms, serious business. In considering the success of t radi t ional Inui t adaptat ions to the harsh

nor thern habitat , one only scratches the surface in admiring the genius of

aboriginal t echnology and the f lexibi l i ty o f social forms. Perhaps of greater

sophist icat ion and, u l t imately , survival value are the t radi t ional psycho-cul tural

dimensions o f social life. Though technical in nature, this monograph provides

enlightening insight in to the way pat terns of interpersonal relat ions are fo rmed

in two different communi t ies . Briggs' con t r ibu t ion here goes beyond analysis

of play and the mechanics of the social izat ion process itself; in addit ion, she

i l luminates many of the fundamenta l ideological concepts which underl ie

patterns o f social interact ion, and shows h o w these concepts are t ransformed

into real, observable emot ions and behaviours in the sphere of everyday

relationships.

193

Barnet t Richling,

Depar tment of Anthropology ,

The College of New Caledonia,

Prince George, British Columbia,

Canada, V2N iP8.

Cruikshank, Julie: Athapaskan Women: Lives and Legends. Ottawa: Nat ional

Museums of Canada, Nat ional Museum of Man Mercury Series (Canadian

Ethnology Service Paper No. 57), 1979, viii + 202 pp. Bibliog.

Athapaskan Women: Lives and Legends by Julie Cruikshank is divided in to

two parts; each is l ikely to be of interest to di f ferent audiences. Part One is an

analysis of some Athapaskan w o m e n ' s descriptions o f their own lives. Part Two

is a collect ion, wi thou t analysis, of Athapaskan legends told by these women.

Cruikshank documents the role o f w o m e n in t radi t ional and post -contact

Athapaskan society in the Yukon. Before the growth of women ' s studies as a

legit imate academic discipline in the 1 9 7 0 ' s women ' s activities were men t ioned

only in passing by the great major i ty of ethnographers. There were certainly

exceptions, pr imari ly for Afr ican societies, but also wi th reference to Nor th

America. For example, Ruth Underhi l l ' s Papago Woman was wri t ten in 19S6

and Heluiz C. Washburne's Land of the Good Shadows, in 1940. However,

s tudents of an th ropo logy before 1970 could easily have conc luded that what

women did was just no t impor tan t to the funct ioning of tribal societies. Part

One of this vo lume is a step in the long process of redressing the balance.

The Canadian E thnology Service papers are primari ly in tended to provide

documenta t ion . Cruikshank's purpose is to record some of the aspects of tradi-

t ional life which are impor tan t to these con tempora ry women. She does no t

spend too much t ime considering how these lives are different f rom the lives o f

Athapaskan men.

We do find that w o m e n had substantial economic funct ions to fill in tradi-

t ional society. Chi ldhood training for self-reliance and responsibil i ty is described

in several anecdotes. The impor tance of these economic activities seems to have

been recognized. Two w o m e n describe parties given for them on the occasion

of their first kill o f game - a celebrat ion usually only men t ioned by ethno-

graphers in connec t ion with boys.

Girls were taught that certain economic tasks were no t suitable for women,

but at the same t ime the in fo rmant no ted that her father taught girls to use

boy ' s weapons anyway. The pa t te rn of an ideology of sex roles being relieved in

practise by f lexibi l i ty is c o m m o n in hunt ing and gathering societies. Given the

format of this study, however, we do no t k n o w whether what the in formant

described was c o m m o n or merely her own family 's individual deviat ion f rom

usually enforced rules.

Many anecdotes i l lustrate that girls and w o m e n were constra ined by taboos

connec ted with mens t rua t ion and childbirth. The in terpre ta t ion of such taboos

194

- w h e t h e r t h e y ind ica te an infer ior s ta tus of w o m e n or are a sign of w o m e n ' s

po t en t i a l power - is a h o t l y c o n t e s t e d ques t ion in a n t h r o p o l o g y (see, for

example , Fa i tho rn , 1975) . A t h a p a s k a n w o m e n cou ld be powerful , we are to ld

here; t h e y had access to cur ing power and second sight. But the one i n f o r m a n t

w h o c o m m e n t s o n the s ignif icance of the m e n s t r u a l t a b o o does n o t e :

" I t br ings shame to a girl ." (p. 19)

Since she is a c o n t e m p o r a r y i n f o r m a n t , we do no t k n o w if she ref lects t rad i t ion-

al views or has been in f luenced b y Judeo-Chr i s t i an a t t i t udes to m e n s t r u a t i o n .

The i n f o r m a n t s have m a d e an a t t e m p t to preserve some o f the t r ad i t iona l

fo rms of knowledge in this d o c u m e n t . Techn iques for f ood preservat ion , too l

making, and medic ines are i nc luded - mak ing i t clear t h a t A t h a p a s k a n w o m e n

were t h e keepers of va luable knowledge for the t r ad i t iona l society.

A n e c d o t e s a b o u t cu l tu re c o n t a c t are also recorded. The Klond ike Go ld rush

o p e n e d up n e w o p p o r t u n i t i e s for w o m e n . Marriage to whi tes b e c a m e an op t ion .

Some Ind ian w o m e n a n d m e n did prospec t . W o m e n d id l aund ry and h o u s e w o r k

or t r apped furs. Later , t h e Alaska Highway f u r t h e r increased o p p o r t u n i t i e s for

wage work.

The a u t h o r inc ludes l i t t le mater ia l discussing the re la t ionsh ips b e t w e e n m e n

and w o m e n or the i n f o r m a n t s pe rcep t ions of sex roles. These th ings are men t ion -

ed on ly in passing. What Cru ikshank herse l f conc ludes a b o u t w o m e n ' s s ta tus

vis-a-vis m e n is n o t deduced f rom the anecdo te s r eco rded here b u t is d r awn f r o m

an earl ier m o n o g r a p h b y Ca tha r ine McClel lan (1975) . Given the theore t i ca l

issues c o n c e r n i n g w o m e n ' s s ta tus in t r ad i t i ona l socie ty in w o m e n ' s s tudies, more

sys temat ic co l l ec t ion o f mater ia l s c o n c e r n e d wi th these ques t ions would have

m a d e the vo lume more useful.

Part Two is a co l l ec t ion o f m y t h s and legends to ld by w o m e n and i t takes

up two- th i rds o f t he text . These tales are r eco rded w i t h o u t analysis and were

inc luded because the ac t iv i ty of tel l ing t h e m was so h ighly va lued by m a n y o f

Cru ikshank ' s i n fo rman t s . She divided t h e m in to four categor ies : 1) e x t e n d e d

cycles fea tur ing t r ad i t iona l heroes, such as Beaverman , 2) shor t e r d r ama t i c

inc idents ; 3) tales wi th t hemes of social change; a n d 4) ' sho r t s tories ' . They

would provide useful mater ia l for compar i sons for a scholar o f m y t h o l o g y or

folklore , and it is ce r t a in ly valuable to have t h e m reco rded here before they are

lost. We do no t really f ind out , however , why tale- tel l ing was cons idered so

i m p o r t a n t by these A t h a p a s k a n s or w h e t h e r this was an ac t iv i ty in t r ad i t iona l

socie ty pr imar i ly assigned to women .

In sum, Par t One provides some useful descr ipt ions , in the f o r m of sho r t

anecdotes , of act ivi t ies in t r ad i t iona l a n d c o n t a c t A t h a p a s k a n society. Par t Two

provides de ta i led vers ions of fo lk lore be ing to ld by c o n t e m p o r a r y A t h a p a s k a n

women . What we do n o t get in e i t he r sec t ion is m u c h analysis - an ind ica t ion of the s ignif icance of wha t is be ing said.

Paula Chegwidden ,

D e p a r t m e n t of Sociology,

Acad ian Univers i ty ,

195

Dobbin, Murray: The One-And-A-Half Men: The Story o f Jim Brady and Mal-

colm Norris, Metis Patriots o f the 20th Century. Vancouver : New Star

Books, 1981, 270 pp. Illus. $7.95 paper.

The native polit ical movements of the 1970's have placed a great deal o f

emphasis on native his tory and cultures. While the his tory f rom one to two

hundred years ago has received a t tent ion , the more immedia te past has remained

obscure. This is unders tandable in view of the desire to preserve some knowledge

of cultural t radi t ions which are fast slipping away, and it also fits in wi th the

need to have posit ive symbols of native ident i ty which can sustain and solidify

the present generat ion of native people. However, one is of ten lef t wi th a sense

of unreal i ty as one reads or hears of the struggles of the n ine teenth cen tury

ending in an apparent ly featureless cen tury of colonial suppression o f Indian

reserves and rural Metis communi t ies . What of the struggles, the resistance, and

the enforced social change o f this period?

It is t rue that some articles and port ions of books have dealt wi th the

period, as in the col lect ion, One Century Later (U.B.C. Press), and the three

vo lume set, The Other Natives - The Metis (Manitoba Metis Federa t ion Press).

E. Palmer Pat terson has wri t ten on Andrew Paull and native organizing in

British Columbia, a number of works concern early Indian Affairs administra-

t ion, and Indian educat ion has received relatively full t r ea tment through such

works as John Snow's These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places. Nevertheless,

there remains a large gap concerning native political, social and economic

developments during the middle o f the twen t i e th century, a gap which Murray

Dobbin has taken a first stab at filling with his book, The One-And-A-Half Men.

What makes Dobbin 's book especially interest ing is that in tracing the

political lives o f two Metis leaders, he raises issues which cut to the heart of

current native politics. Malcolm Norris and J im Brady, the subjects o f this book,

came of age during the 1920's and 30's in Alberta, at a t ime when polit ical

act ivi ty on the prairies was intense. Both came f rom relatively well-off families

and had been instil led with a pride in their native heri tage which contras ted

REFERENCES

Faithorn, Elizabeth 1975 "The concept of pollution among the Kage of the Papua New Quinea high-

lands" in Reiter, Rayna (editor), Toward An Anthropology o f Women. New York: Monthly Review Press.

McClellan, Catharine 1975 My Old People Say: An Ethnographic Survey o f Southern Yukon Territory.

Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, National Museum of Man, Publications in Ethnology, No. 6.

Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0P 1X0.

196

sharply with the prevailing a t t i tudes outside their homes. As a result they

became radical socialists as well as Metis patriots, creating a tension in their

political activities that lasted th roughout their lives.

Brady and Norris were no t the only native polit ical leaders of the period -

Joe Dion, J o h n n y Callihoo, Pete Tomkins, and John Tootoos is are also

p rominen t in the book - but Dobbin considers t hem to have been ins t rumental

in the deve lopment of several native organizations. They were among the

originators of the Metis Associat ion of Alberta, the Metis Association of Sas-

katchewan, the Indian Associat ion o f Alberta, and helped organize many local

branches and native co-operat ives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Norris ' skills as

an orator who could inspire act ion and uni ty were complemen ted by Brady's

abilities as a political strategist, and when they jo ined forces as they of ten did

over a 30 year period, they were a formidable team.

What can be seen f rom this his tory is the evolu t ion of a state apparatus for

dealing with native people. During their early years in Alberta they had encoun-

tered blatant disregard of Metis issues and racist a t t i tudes on the part of the

U.F.A. government and the Ewing Commission, but this had changed by the

1960's when Saskatchewan's C.C.F. and Liberal governments had developed the

more sophisticated, if o f ten paternalistic, approach of co-opt ing native organiza-

tions by funding them.

Al though both Norris and Brady worked for the C.C.F. government at

various times, they opposed the acceptance o f government funds by native

polit ical organizations. While apparent ly feeling that the state was of ten the

only ally native people had, they saw that native organizat ions had to maintain

an independent stance in order to be effective.

On the o ther hand, they opposed the narrow native nat ional ism advocated

by such leaders as John Tootoosis , feeling that the demand for a native state

within Canada was unrealistic, and that such an approach was vulnerable to

ant i -democrat ic manipulat ion. Their approach instead was to build democra t ic

organizations which would al low native people to act col lect ively to achieve greater cont ro l over economic resources.

The issues Brady and Norris raised remain relevant to native polit ical organi-

zations today. There seem to be two poles of thought within these organizations.

On the one hand, they are heavily dependent on government funding for their

every activity, f rom the social services which they provide (often in order to

compensa te for inadequate government services), to their political conferences and communica t ions systems. On the o ther hand, the call for sovereignty and

cultural pur i ty has been developed and ar t iculated and the native cultural

m o v e m e n t has been popular ized through such events as the annual conference at Morley, Alberta. It is l ikely that Brady and Norris would have advocated a

third course if they were alive today.

Dobbin 's book, then, is valuable for its role in recapturing this political

debate so that we might benefi t f rom it today. His book is based on interviews

with many who knew Brady and Norris or who part icipated in their struggles,

as well as the letters and papers of the men, organizat ional records, and o ther

pr imary sources. However there are, inevitably, gaps in the story, which are

197

perhaps t oo of ten filled in by Dobbin 's own speculat ions on what probably happened.

A second aspect of the book which may be considered a weakness by some,

is the way it a t tempts to combine polit ical analysis with biography. Dobbin is

clearly more concerned with the polit ical meaning of the two men ' s lives than

with their more personal characteristics. Those looking for an enter taining popular biography will be disappointed on this account .

However, Dobbin has done a good job o f bringing together the available

in format ion and explaining its meaning. In fact, one o f the great strengths of

the book is that the two men, while por t rayed in heroic proport ions, are assessed

as leaders with weaknesses as well as strengths. One also gains a real feel for the

political cl imate of the times, and Dobbin provides convincing and i l luminating

explanat ions of Norris and Brady's polit ical posi t ions which might otherwise strike the present day reader as obscure or unenl ightened.

All in all, Dobbin is to be credi ted with having re turned an impor tan t part

of our immedia te his tory to us, one which reveals much about the roots and present deve lopment o f native politics.

J e remy Hull,

Inst i tute of Urban Studies,

Universi ty o f Winnipeg,

Winnipeg, Manitoba,

Canada, R3B 2E9.

Drew, Leslie and Douglas Wilson: Argillite Ar t o f the Haida. Nor th Vancouver:

Hancock House Publishers Ltd., 1980, 316 pp. ISBN 0-88839-037-8. Appendices Bibliog. Illus. Figs. Maps Index.

Argillite Ar t o f the Haida is a handsome book that is a we lcome addi t ion to

the sparse l i terature on an impor tan t art style in Canada.

Argillite is a peculiar stone, fine grained yet relatively soft and easy to work.

It has a unique provenance in the Queen Char lo t te Islands and it is no t unex-

pected that the Haida would develop techniques to use it. It is for tunate that

they have proven to be skillful and adept at providing the world with beautiful,

strong, and somet imes moving images. Yet the authors of this book fail to

adequate ly resolve the basic point that art is only a universal language in the

most l imited of senses. If the images have any meaning to the non-nat ive eye

they must reflect e lements in the viewer 's cul ture while expressing the shaper 's v iewpoint as well. Haida argillite art is part icularly prone to the dynamic con-

tained in this p roblem since much of the available evidence suggests that the

carving of argillite f lourished after con tac t with Europeans. Drew and Wilson a t t empt to show that it has def ini te and clear roots in native cul ture and is in

fact pre-contact , as some modern Haida claim. Yet the authors ' insistence is almost perverse, one suspects, part icularly when they ignore Wilson Duff ' s

198

Images:Stone:B.C. Judging f rom the evidence in his book, Duff bel ieved that

the carving of argillite as a major artistic id iom was pos t - con tac t

There is some evidence for example, tha t the intr icate argillite panel pipes,

a l though potent ia l ly funct ional with a t rue p ipes tem and bowl, were never

anything but elaborate t rade items. Why, then, mys t i fy the issue by including

material on Haida tobacco in the book, or why allude to the alleged shamanistic

role o f the pipes if they were so easily obta ined in t rade? The fact that argillite

carving is enjoying true commerc ia l success for the first t ime is perhaps a contri-

but ing factor that explains the direct ion and strength o f the authors ' assertions.

The mode rn expression of Haida argillite carvers is stylistically different f rom

the past. Perhaps this new growth is a source of worry as well as pride, for a

native artist (or an artist working in a "na t ive" id iom) to lose his t radi t ional

background and inspirat ion is to risk the loss o f his largely upper-middle class

cl ientele as well.

These biases clearly inf luence the writ ing style, as there are too many

instances o f unsuppor ted assertions that are merely added at the end of a

chapter. Ending the chapters on these glib notes can whe t the appeti te , but

repeated t o o of ten can leave the reader unfulfil led. Even more disturbing is the

loose organizat ion of the chapters. Themes are somet imes in t roduced and

d ropped apparent ly at r a n d o m wi thou t regard to chapter divisions or headings.

The authors hold that argillite carving is strongly l inked to the rich and

expressive body of Haida legends. But it is no t clear in the b o o k why certain

legends would arise as a response to the sudden and violent changes in the

weather to which the Haida are subject and which, it is implied, cont ro l their

lives. Nor is i t made clear what inf luence matri l ineal mo ie ty social organizat ion

had on the Haida complex of myths and plastic arts. No one can take seriously

the argument that matr i l ineal i ty exists because it is a "wise child that knows its

own fa ther" . Al though nei ther au thor claims to have anthropological training,

it should be clear to t hem that the relat ionship be tween social organization,

physical env i ronment and artistic id iom is more complex than the poor ly

in formed views held in this book. The analysis of the relat ionship be tween social

and artistic form is again an a t t emp t to mys t i fy the growth of the modern id iom

expressed in con tempora ry argillite carving.

The final cr i ter ion o f an art book is, however, the qual i ty o f the reproduc- tions themselves. Here is the book ' s s trong point. When finished, argillite usually

takes on a deep, shiny and black lustre, much like ground and polished cast iron.

This qual i ty lends i tself well to black and white i l lustration, which is profusely

used th roughout the text . The authors wisely depend on the professional qual i ty

photographs provided by the museums which house the pieces. All in all, the book is appealing f rom this viewpoint , a l though the layout leaves something to

be desired at times. One i l lustrat ion actual ly bleeds o f f the page, with several

o ther i l lustrations of f centre and some unbalanced pages. The black argillite

appears dense and massive; the authors should have taken more care in design

and layout in order to achieve a sense o f balance which pleases the eye. Of

course, many pages simply conta in single i l lustrations which are at t ract ive by

themselves.

199

A further strong poin t is the inclusion of a list in an appendix which gives

museum locat ions for much of the i l lustrated art. A list of sculptors is appended,

probably in tended as a guide for the would-be col lec tor rather than the student.

There is no separate list, however, of the pieces that are i l lustrated in the body

of the work. This would be we lcomed because no t all i l lustrations are referred

to in the text .

The work does no t claim to be exhaust ive - several famous pieces included

in the 1975 British Columbia Provincial Museum exhibi t are no t men t ioned

here. Despite the occasionally dis jointed narrative, biased views on native art

and a few objec t ionable and un in tended racist remarks on Haida social and

cultural organization, the book succeeds on the strength of its illustrations.

As the authors themselves note, argillite carving is still an id iom that cont inues

to develop and if by their own admission they wish to advance this deve lopment

by popularizing the ou tcome, then who am I to quibble over a few imperfec-

tions? This book has drawbacks for the serious s tudent bu t serves adequate ly as

a learned and wide-ranging in t roduc t ion to what is a fascinating subject.

Guy Lanoue,

Depar tment of Anthropology ,

Universi ty o f Toron to ,

Toronto , Ontario,

Canada, M5S 1A1.

R E F E R E N C E S

Duff, Wilson 1975 Irnages: Stone: B.C. Saanichton, British Columbia: Hancock House Publishers,

Ltd.

Hara, Hiroko Sue: The Hare Indians and Their World. Ottawa: Nat ional Muse-

ums of Canada, Nat ional Museum of Man Mercury Series (Canadian Ethno-

logy Service Paper No. 63), 1980, xvi + 301 pp. Illus. Bibliog. Figs. Maps.

Tabs. Gratis paper.

In the summer of 1962, a Japanese s tudent of an th ropo logy made her way

nor thward down the Mackenzie River. I t was no t her first trip. Hiroko Sue,

accompanied by Janice Hurlburt , had spent the previous summer at For t Good

Hope, N.W.T., a se t t lement on the lower Mackenzie, becoming acquain ted with the Hare Indians. This t ime she was on her way alone to the smaller, more

remote , and a lmost exclusively Indian village at Colville Lake, 110 miles north-

east of Good Hope. Hiroko was a doctora l candidate at Bryn Mawr under the

redoubtable Frederica de Laguna. Af ter eight months in the field, she went

south to comple te work on her dissertation, and in 1964 re turned to Japan,

200

where, as Dr. Hiroko Sue Hara, she has been teaching ever since.

Long before Hiroko Sue's trips, the Hare Indians had been visited briefly

by the missionary-ethnographers Frs. Emile Petitot and Adrien Morice, O.M.I.,

and by Cornelius Osgood. However, no extended fieldwork had been done;

under " H a r e " in his well-known 1936 paper on Northern Athapaskan distribu-

tion, Osgood notes: "Reference: None recommended."

In the late 1960's and the '70s, Joel Savishinsky sojourned several times

among the Hare and produced interesting psychocultural studies which have

been published under the title, The Trail of the Hare (1974). He and others

have used as an ethnographic Base the material in Hara's unpublished disserta-

tion. With its publication, sixteen years after completion, in the excellent

Mercury Series of the National Museum of Man, the ethnography of this people

has become a matter of public record. Much additional work may be done, but

like Savishinsky's, it must use Hara's as a base. Her work represents an accom-

plishment unusual at this late date: the depiction of a North American Indian

society and culture which had not been previously delineated.

The Hare are an Athapaskan-speaking people who have ranged from the

north shore of Great Bear Lake to the middle reaches of the Anderson and

Horton Rivers, and westward across the Mackenzie to the foothills of the

Cordilleras. The marches of this territory are also exploited by Inuit and by

other Athapaskan-speaking Indian peoples. The Hare are hunters and fishermen,

and during the past 150 years have been trappers for the fur trade. Population

at contact is estimated at seven or eight hundred. At the time of Hara's study,

it was probably not very different from this in total, although by then the

centripetal tendency found throughout the North had begun to take effect, so

that most Hare based themselves at Good Hope and Colville Lake.

It appears that the author has published her dissertation unchanged. As the

Abstract states, "it should be read as one of the historical documents depicting

the people in the early 1960's."

There are chapters on post-contact history, on "Christianity and native

beliefs," on aspects of social structure, pastimes, and life cycle. However, the

longest, most detailed, and in many ways the best part of the study deals with

technology, subsistence-trapping activities, and associated ethnobiology. The

two chapters on this subject total 128 out of 292 pages of text. These lucid and richly detailed pages represent a significant addition to our knowledge of indi-

genous North American cultures, and a reminder, along with evidence collected

by others, that such terms as "simpler societies" and "simple technologies"

are oversimplifications in themselves. The lucid drawings illustrating these

chapters add considerably to the reader's understanding. It is cause for regret

that the artist, who does not appear to have been the author, remains unacknow-

ledged.

The other chapters of the monograph are very good, but do not constitute

quite as valuable a contribution as do the technology-subsistence chapters;

first, because they are briefer and less detailed; second, because Savishinsky,

Helm, and others have published similar or analogous material in what would

now be regarded as more sophisticated form.

201

Hara does no t claim to present a recons t ruc t ion of the pre-contact culture.

Nor, understandably, is the monograph informed with the theoret ica l issues

which have become m o o t in Subarc t i c e thnology during the past dozen years.

These concern social organization, and also e thnohis tory and demography,

extending into mode rn changes and adaptat ions. Hara 's s tudy represents source

material for discussants o f these current ly-fashionable issues. It happens, how-

ever, that the Hare, a l though long involved in the fur trade, were in some

respects unti l very recent ly among the most slowly accul turat ing of Nor thern

Athapaskans. In 1962 their society was still to a considerable degree in what

Subarct ic ethnologists term the Contact-Tradi t ional per iod of social history.

It is part icularly for tunate that the cul ture as exis tent then, just prior to the

f lood of change which Hara at her conclusion sees conf ron t ing the people,

should have been recorded by a highly c o m p e t e n t and sympathet ic scholar.

As James G. Frazer wrote to Baldwin Spencer, the great investigator of central

Austral ian tribes, "Books like mine, merely speculative, will be superseded

sooner or later; . . . books like yours, containing records of observations, will

never be superseded." The qual i ty of the writ ing could well pu t Nor th Amer ican e thnographers

to shame. There are a very few quaint turns o f phrase that remind the reader

that English was at one t ime an exot ic language for the author. On the o ther

hand, I was taken aback to run across a casual, " t h row-away" reference to

Rilke. I wonder h o w many of us Occidential s tudents could manage a reference

to Rainer Maria Rilke; no t to ment ion , say, an impor tan t Japanese poet .

Richard Slobodin,

Depar tment of Anthropology ,

McMaster University,

Hamil ton, Ontario,

Canada, L85 4L9.

Helm, June (Editor) : Handbook o f North American Indians, Vo lume 6, Sub-

arctic. Washington, D.C.: Uni ted States Governmen t Printing Office, 1981,

xvi + 837 pp. Bibliog. Illus. Figs. Maps. Tabs. Index. USA$ 27.50 cloth

outside USA. (Available f rom Super in tendent o f Documents , U.S. Govern-

ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C., s tock number 047-000-00374-1).

Seventy-one years af ter publ icat ion of the famous two vo lume Bureau of

Amer ican Ethnology Handbook, we are t reated to a new edit ion, this one of

some twen ty volumes. And large and handsome volumes they are indeed. This

tome on the Subarctic, as an example, measures some 223 cm x 288 cm in

size, with well over 800 pages o f packed, though very readable, type; it

includes fully 64 pages of bibl iography and 33 pages of index, a great many maps, and literally hundreds of photographs and drawings. All this, and it is

well bound too, pr in ted in clear type on good paper, and remarkably easy

202

to handle. This is the f i f th vo lume to be published since 1978, but if i t is any

indicat ion of the overall qual i ty o f the edit ion, then vir tually everyone who can

read should be strongly urged to purchase this incredibly useful set for genera-

t ions o f pleasure and value. So much for the book and the series. What of the contents? Any col lect ion

of papers on one e thnographic region runs the risk o f revealing more of the

edi tor ' s personal interests than the cultures o f the area. Even when that risk

is minimized by a large and varied selection, it still exists and of ten means that

many readers will be disappointed with the absence o f some informat ion.

Al though there are certainly some inevitable gaps here, the 61 articles and the

in t roduc t ion are so full and varied as to impress even the narrowest, most

peripheral specialist. The only adjectival cliches which really seem to fit this

vo lume are " t o u r de fo rce" and "encyc lopaed ic" . In general i t covers everything

one would normal ly want to k n o w about the peoples o f the subarctic, and a great deal more, and provides an incredible list of references for fur ther informa-

tion. Indeed the scope and depth of this material is a lmost overwhelming.

The first o f seven sections of the book is a general in t roduc t ion o f thi r teen

chapters. James Gardner and Beryl Gillespie each write on the environment ,

Garnder in general, Gillespie on fauna in tradit ional economies. Four papers

out l ine the his tory of research in the subarctic, two deal wi th the Algonkian and

Athabaskan languages and three wi th prehistory. There is also a brief introduc-

t ion by June Helm and an interest ing no te on Alaskan archival and museum

resources by James Van Stone.

The second section offers twenty-one chapters on the Subarct ic Shield and

Mackenzie Borderlands. S ix teen of these are concerned with specific named

clusters, including four Cree groups (East Main, West Main, At t ikamek, and

Western Woods). Two groups for w h o m there is a very sparse l i terature (the

Mountain and the Bearlake Indians) are out l ined by Gillespie who worked

among the fo rmer f rom 1968 to 1971. Richard Slobodin describes the subarctic

Metis, adapting and broadening his earlier impor tan t work, and giving us an

excel lent overview of another people who have been largely over looked in the

ethnological l i terature. Separate chapters are concerned with the Montagnais-

Naskapi, Chipewyan, Yellowknive, Dogrib, Hare, Slavey, and Beaver, again

groups for which there is an increasing but still sadly sparse l i terature. Five chapters look at terr i torial i ty prior to 1821, env i ronment and culture, inter-

cultural relat ions and change, and Montagnais social relat ions and values. This

last is a fascinating exercise by Eleanor Leacock, a precis, as she describes it,

drawn in large part f rom a missionary repor t o f 1633-34. Leacock demonst ra tes

clearly the impor tance to a percept ive researcher of of ten difficult-to-use signi-

f icant early resources, in this case the Jesuit Relations.

Sect ion three again presents papers on env i ronment and culture, and inter-

cultural relat ions and change, this t ime for the Subarct ic Cordillera. Twelve

chapters then describe individual groups o f this most neglected o f subarctic

regions. Once more we have names which appear all too rarely in the ethno-

graphic l i terature, including the a lmost mythical Nahani. (This is actual ly a paper

by Gillespie out l ining the large variety o f uses of the name.) The fact that such

203

a chapter is necessary is indicative of the need for much more rigorous research,

both field and archival, and o f the great strides made in l ibrary and archival

analysis in the past two decades. The o ther groups described are the Chilcotin,

Carrier, Sekani, Kaska, Tsetsaut (based upon Boas' 1894 visit to the last 12

Tsetsaut), Tahltan, In land Tlingit, Tagish, Tutchone, Han and Kutchin. Clearly

this is a new front ier for anthropologis ts of all stripes. Just as clearly we are

for tunate in the calibre o f field research and ethnohis tor ical investigation of

those relatively few ethnologists who have " o p e n e d " this area in the thir ty-

five years preceding this volume. The four th section has eight papers on the Alaska Plateau, and the fif th

two papers on Alaska South o f the Alaska Range (Tanaina and Ahtna) . Again

there are papers on environment , intercul tural relat ions and change, and terri-

toriali ty, and once more outl ines o f groups who are t oo l i t t le k n o w n to students

and professionals alike (the Tanana, Koyukon, Ingalik, and Kolchan).

Sect ion six presents six papers on native se t t lements o f the subarctic. There

is an in t roduc t ion by June Helm and interest ing descript ions of five communi t i es

with significant nat ive-white contac t patterns, Davis Inlet, Labrador; Great

Whale River, Quebec; For t Resolut ion, N.W.T.; Old Crow, Yukon; and Minto,

Alaska. Each of these papers outl ines the his tory o f the se t t lement and describes

the process o f cul ture con tac t as well as the s i tuat ion of the 1960's and 1970's.

The final section of this vo lume has two papers, both by the late John

Honigmann. Al though brief, and drawing upon the work of many others, they

are excel lent summat ions of his own dynamic interests and percept ive research

spanning four decades o f subarctic an thropology. One paper is concerned with

native people o f the region today; it concent ra tes upon con tempora ry pat terns

o f life, no tab ly social, polit ical and economic roles, and educat ion and recrea-

tion. The second paper is a beaut i ful out l ine of, and ref lect ion on, the expressive

aspects of subarctic cultures. Here Honigmann refers to values in many contexts ,

recreation, socio-linguistic patterns, religions and ritual, personali ty and social

development . Al though very brief of necessity, it is an excel lent s ta tement

likely to direct many students into fur ther studies in topics which are all t oo

of ten int imidat ing to researchers. In spite of the size of the volume, it is only the briefest in t roduc t ion to this

vast and complex region. It is not in tended as anything else, of course, but it does serve admirably as a basic resource, with its combina t ion of excel lent bibliography, and of ten excit ing reviews of library and archival resources for

specific groups and topics. No person, whether anthropologist , c o m m u n i t y

researcher, historian - or the numerous teachers, businessmen, human service

workers and proselytizers ( including bureaucrats!) - who work in the area or

have some interest in the people of the region, can afford to pass over this book

as a guide to the people and a sourcebook for fur ther knowledge.

Certainly one can crit icize e lements of part icular papers. There is, however,

a very high standard o f work here, given the l imita t ions of space and the neces-

sary brevity o f each article. If there is one major c o m m e n t which can be made,

it is an expression of frustrat ion at the tantal izing nature of so many of these

very concise papers: with the absence o f generally available detai led material

204

on so m a n y peop le and topics, par t s of the vo lume serve on ly to w h e t ou r

appe t i t e s w i t h o u t p e r m i t t i n g us to satisfy our in te res t s a d e q u a t e l y in libraries.

Such a cr i t ic ism m u s t be t e m p e r e d w i th the rea l iza t ion t ha t the volume, even

encyc lopaed ic as i t is, m u s t be seen b o t h as a br ie f s u m m a t i o n of exis t ing

knowledge a n d a s t imulus for an e n o r m o u s a m o u n t o f n e e d e d and exc i t ing

research. Viewed f rom this perspect ive, it is an e n o r m o u s success, bu t i t does

i n t r o d u c e a c a u t i o n a r y n o t e : given t ha t t he social and pol i t ical changes of the

1960 ' s and 1970 ' s are accelera t ing in to the 1980's , these research needs are

l ikely to lead to an u p d a t e - or an en t i re ly new vo lume - wi th in a n o t h e r th ree

decades. If t he qua l i ty o f any such u p d a t e m a t c h e s this work, it will he very

good indeed.

One can u n d e r s t a n d w h y 50 c o n t r i b u t o r s were necessary for this book.

It is an incred ib le ach ievemen t , a ce r ta in l a n d m a r k in publ ishing, and a t the same

t ime p r o b a b l y has the rare d i s t i nc t ion for a co l l ec t ion of be ing a seminal m a r k e r

in subarc t ic a n t h r o p o l o g y .

Samue l W. Corrigan,

D e p a r t m e n t o f Sociology

and A n t h r o p o l o g y ,

B r andon Univers i ty ,

Brandon , Mani toba ,

Canada, R 7 A 6A9.

Nia tum, Duane (Ed i to r ) : Carriers o f the Dream Wheel: C o n t e m p o r a r y Nat ive

Amer i can Poet ry . T o r o n t o : F i t z h e n r y and Whiteside, 1981, 300 pp.

This p a p e r b a c k reissue of Harper & Row's 1975 a n t h o l o g y of c o n t e m p o r a r y

p o e t r y b y nat ive au t ho r s is a we lcome a d d i t i o n to the growing list o f reasonably-

pr iced ed i t ions o f na t ive l i te ra ture . N i a t u m ' s co l l ec t ion is especial ly we lcome as

the mos t popu l a r an tho log ie s of nat ive l i t e ra tu re con t a in on ly small sec t ions o f

c o n t e m p o r a r y poe t ry . N i a t u m ' s se lect ions are, on the whole , excel lent . He has

inc luded we l l -known and u n k n o w n a u t h o r s f r o m a fair ly represen ta t ive cross-

sec t ion of na t ive cul tures .

While it is n o t possible to deal cr i t ical ly wi th each of the a u t h o r s inc luded

in this an tho logy , there are some t h e m a t i c conce rns a n d styl is t ic di f f icul t ies

which m a n y of these au t ho r s share. The cen t ra l d i f f icul t ies wi th which t hey

mus t c o m e to t e rms are those which arise f r o m ut i l iz ing a c o n t e m p o r a r y fo rm

for t r ad i t iona l c o n t e n t : each poe t is fo rced to c o n f r o n t the conf l ic t b e t w e e n the nat ive c o n t e n t o f his p o e t r y and the c o n t e m p o r a r y voice wi th which he sings

the o ld songs for the m o d e r n world. The t i t le o f the a n t h o l o g y is t aken f rom a

p o e m b y N. Sco t t M o m a d a y wh ich emphas izes the c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n con-

t e m p o r a r y nat ive p o e t r y and the wor ld of the ancestors . M o m a d a y di rec ts the

young nat ive wri ters to " te l l t he old s to r ies" and "s ing the sacred songs." How-

ever, m u c h o f t he p o e t r y in th is an tho logy , inc lud ing Momaday ' s , has been

205

shaped by the modern world as much as by the direct ive to pass on the tradit ion-

al songs and stories. Most of these authors have been educated in the white

world; several hold, or have held, university posts or artistic grants f rom cultural

agencies in the Uni ted States. The formal pat terns o f their poetry, as a result,

tend to reflect the academic t radi t ion as much as the native one. The tensions

be tween fo rm and con ten t and the oral and academic t radi t ion generate the

vital force of this poetry .

The academic tradit ion, thus, inheres in bo th form and theme. Without

except ion, these poems are wri t ten in free verse and uti l ize ei ther the verbal

art of the Imagists or the metaphor ica l s tructures of the Symbolists. While native

images and concepts such as bears, coyotes , native dancers, wild birds, turquoise,

sacred pollen, dream visions, and old people - Grandmothers and Grandfathers

- domina te these pages, the poet ic voice which speaks of these tradit ional

e lements is of ten a loof and bit ter . One is struck with the abstract quali ty, the

deadened emotions, the intel lectual acceptance of the ennui, pain, or isolat ion

of modern life that appears in many of these poems. This imposi t ion o f an

abstract intel l igence upon natural images is, u l t imately , what aligns these poets

with the con tempora ry academic t radi t ion rather than the oral t radi t ion of

sacred songs.

The poe t ry o f N. Scot t Momaday, the most p rominen t of the poets included

in this anthology, is a case in point . His most famous poem, or at least, most

f requent ly anthologized poem, "Angle o f Geese" has abstracted the wild,

inst inctual au tumn flight of geese to a pat tern, an angle: " S o much symmetry! -

Like the pale angle of t ime/and e te rn i ty . " Befit t ing a " m a n made of words ,"

Momaday ' s poems are about language, what Wallace Stevens called " the mind

in the act of f inding." Momaday asks: " H o w shall we adorn recogni t ion with our

speech?" The answer which we find in his poe t ry is that there is a gap be tween

the wild presence and the civilized response, for "cau t ion intervenes ." Several

of the native writers in this an thology have escaped the prison o f form; others,

like Momaday, remain trapped, and natural native images become angles in the

intel lectual visions of abstract form.

The poe t ry of James Welch is similar to that of Momaday in its use o f non-

t radi t ional structures. Welch is no t only a poet but the au thor of two novels

about native life in the con tempora ry world. In both his prose and his poetry,

Welch turns to European tradi t ions rather than to native ones. Winter in the

Blood, his first novel, imposes the fo rm of T.S. Eliot 's The Wasteland upon life

on a native reservation in Montana. The poems, too, bear the mark o f Eliot and

the academic tradit ion. Welch's finest poem, "Chris tmas Comes to Mocassin

F la t , " is a native version of Eliot 's " J o u r n e y of the Magi". Like Eliot, Welch

sketches the reali ty of Christmas Eve in a series of clear, con tempora ry images. These images pile up unti l the reader makes an intui t ive leap and grasps the

bi t ter and beaut i ful t ruth o f the nearly-obscured Christmas message. In

Mocassin Flat, the Christmas message comes mingled with the tradit ional tales of

an old Medicine woman who relates:

Someth ing about honor and passion,

206

warriors back with meat and song,

a peculiar evening star, quick vision of birth.

Blackbird feeds his fire. Outside a quick 30 ° below (p. 247).

Here, as in o ther of Welch's poems, the old ways, the warmth of the old culture,

forms a backdrop to the cold, embi t t e red life o f the con tempora ry Indian.

In opposi t ion to Momaday and Welch, the poe t ry o f Leslie Silko favours

the native conten t at the expense o f form. The logical s t ructure o f her poems

of ten disintegrates as the native vision takes hold. Silko's poems reflect the

somet imes awkward, of ten halting pat terns of the oral tradit ion. Her poems

are filled with the colloquialisms and local references of a good storyteller. As

a result, her poems are more tale than poetry, for the native con ten t dominates

the poet ic form. Frequent ly , her poems cannot be read wi thou t a knowledge

of the old story which she is retelling. The poet ry of Duane Niatum, the edi tor of this anthology, speaks to the

dual i ty o f form and con ten t by maintaining a hold in both traditions. Some of

his poems, like those o f Welch and Momaday, have been inf luenced by the

academic tradit ion, others recreate native visions. "Homage to Chagall ," for

example, seems to have been inf luenced by a similar p o e m by William Carlos

Williams. While Williams' poem is an imagistic descript ion of a painting by

Brueghel, Nia tum's describes a Chagall. The best of his poems, however, l ike

"Ascending Red Cedar M o o n " create a " t o t e m i c d r e a m " in which the native

world comes alive and infuses the present with the t ranscendent realities of the

shamanic ancestors.

For many of the poets in this anthology, nei ther the one-sided solutions of

Momaday, Welch, and Silko, nor the schizophrenic solut ion of Nia tum is able to

resolve the confl ic t be tween the ancient song and the modern voice. Instead,

the poe t ry i tself focuses thematical ly on the problem. No poet has expressed

this confl ic t more clearly than S imon Ortiz in " A San Diego Poem: January-

February 1973." Fearing a crash while travelling on board an airliner, the poet

cannot find the voice with which to pray:

I feel the beginnings of apprehension.

Where am I? I recall the inst i tut ional prayers of my Catholic you th but don ' t dare recite them.

The prayers o f my native sel fhood

have been strangled in m y throat (p. 147).

Caught be tween two cultures, every word Ortiz ut ters becomes a v ic tory o f

healing.

The poe t ry o f Ray Young Bear and Rober ta Hill carries the confl ic t in

another direct ion. Their poems express the tensions be tween the native voice and a world in which the sacred dreams have turned to nightmares. Here the

form is broken by the terrors of the numen which surrounds sacred stories n o w

buried in the subconscious. Young Bear's poem "In Dream: The Privacy of

Sequence" records the images o f sacred nightmare:

207

feeling strange, he s tood up

and saw for the first t ime

children running in the open

with kites in their hands.

the old man was familiar

with the faces in the sky

and once in his dream

these were actual ly disguised gods,

infected birds who lowered

their guts to the mouths o f children.

everyone died because o f the kites (p. 265).

The images of Young Bear's incantat ions no longer express the unifying vision

of native t radi t ion bu t reveal, instead, the f ractured reali ty of the modern world

in which the gods are "disguised" and " in fec t ed . " The poems of Rober ta Hill

express less fear in the face of the i r rupt ion o f the old gods into the m o d e m

world. Instead, her poems are full o f images of wait ing and gentle haunting, o f

seeds ready to burst in to growth, as the spirit world presses in upon the dreamer

hoping to break through into con tempora ry real i ty . Fear and terror are present,

but both are t ranscended in gentle pat ience and hope. "Dream of Reb i r th"

is the most comple te expression o f the fear and hope which characterize Hill 's

poet ry :

Groping within us are cries yet unheard.

We are born with cobwebs in our mouths

bleeding with prophecies.

Yet within this interior, a spirit kindles

moonl igh t glittering deep into the sea.

These seeds take root in the hush

of dusk. Songs, a thin echo, heal the salted marsh,

and yield visions untrembl ing in our grip (p. 77).

Hill 's poe t ry is rich, replete with beautiful images: " I keep hearing a singing in

the sun." she writes, " I t rustles through the turnips on those hills" (p. 73).

The balance which she strikes be tween pain over the loss of the old cul ture

which has tu rned her people in to a "na t ion wrapped in s tone" and her percep-

tions o f an imminen t rebirth creates the dramatic interest of the poems. Hill,

perhaps more than any o ther poe t in this col lect ion, deserves to be called a "carr ier o f the dream wheel . "

Compared with the lush richness o f a poe t l ike Hill, or the intel lectual vigor of Momaday or Welch, several of the o ther voices in this an thology seem a

bit thin. Lance Henson, though well-respected, seems unable to ex tend a poem

for more than fifteen, three-or-four word lines. As well, Wendy Rose, who has

provided the i l lustrations for this anthology, is be t ter represented by her

drawings than her awkward verse. Though excel lent poetry, the work o f W.M.

Ranson bears few traces o f native con ten t beyond an epigram by Crowfoo t or

208

Sitt ing Bull, and need no t have been included here. Since his work has already

been recognized by the Puli tzer commit tee , it cannot be considered a negative

evaluat ion to note that his t radi t ions really lie elsewhere. For the most part,

however, the poets represented in this col lect ion are truly shamanic singers,

recreating the ancestral world in songs which a new generat ion can sing.

Lorelei Cederstrom,

Depar tment of Native Studies,

Brandon University,

Brandon, Manitoba,

Canada, R 7 A 6A9.

Price, John A.: Native Studies: American and Canadian Indians. Toron to :

McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 1978, x + 309 pp. Illus. Bibliog. Maps

Tabs. Index. ISBN: 0-07-082695-1. $11.95 paper.

Native Studies, according to the author, represents a prel iminary survey

of some of the material f rom the relatively new, mult i-disciplinary field of

Native Studies, focusing on the natives o f the Uni ted States and Canada.

Al though interdisciplinary, the emphasis in Native Studies is heavily anthro-

pological as Price a t t empts to demonst ra te that the "original ly disinterested

science [o f an thropology] can be used for socially relevant ends" (p. viii).

Price claims to be part icularly inf luenced in his thinking by cultural evolut ion-

ary theory in an thropology and, in fact, devotes part of Chapter 3 to the deve-

lopment o f a mode l for the evolut ion of culture, fo l lowed by a discussion of

the implicat ions of the various evolut ionary levels o f native groups for their

in teract ions with Europeans. One might expect f rom this that cultural evo lu t ion

would be the unifying theme for the remainder o f the book, but subsequent

references to evolut ionary levels are few and far between.

Native Studies contains some interest ing and provocat ive material, but

this material is scat tered among a hodgepodge of chapters and topics which

seem to lack a sense of logical organizat ion or purpose. For example, one can unders tand the significance o f including in a book of this nature chapters on

natives in an urban environment , on native mili tance, on native polit ics and

economics, and certainly on land problems. But devot ing an entire chapter

(Chapter 4) to a chronological sequence of events in native prehis tory with no

accompanying expl ica t ion can only boggle the minds of all readers excep t those with a very thorough knowledge of Native Amer ican e thnohis tory . Similarly,

Chapter 5, " T h e Heritage of Heroes ," contains material be t ter suited to an

appendix. On a more specific level, examples of native groups ci ted to illus-

trate various points seem to be chosen almost at r andom; why have the Guaicura

people of Mexico been used to il lustrate a genocide campaign when there are so

many more meaningful instances o f this closer to home? (p. 40). In places,

the sheer overburden of detail w i thou t proper con tex t or discussion tends to

209

obscure whatever poin t the au thor is trying to make, e.g., the considerat ion o f

con tempora ry native art (pp. 125ff).

Fur thermore , chapters in the book are uneven in conten t : how is Chapter

13, "Nat ive Periodicals ," comparable to Chapter 9, "Living in an Urban World?"

Where is Chapter 8, "The A r t s , " supposed to tie in to the o ther material in the

book? Chapter 2, "Physical An th ropo logy and Linguist ics," includes such

a detai led breakdown of North and Central Amer ican languages with no accom-

panying explanat ion tha t one can only wonder at what level reader the book is

aimed, or h o w this language classification is supposed to assist the reader in

assimilating o ther material in the book or in unders tanding Native Studies.

The book also contains some errors of fact . on page 2, it is implied that

Deganawida-Quetzlcoat l Universi ty is part of the Native Studies program at

Universi ty of California, Davis, when in fact it is a comple te ly separate univer-

sity. Addit ional ly , grammatical errors and awkward sentences occur so com-

mon ly th roughou t the book that the reader is t empted to conc lude that once

the first draft of the book was comple ted , the au thor never gave the manuscr ipt a second glance.

Acknowledging these no t insignificant shortcomings, the book does present

some provocat ive re- interpretat ions of old topics, e.g., the discussion in Chapter

3 on h o w the cultural evolut ionary level of native groups may have been a factor

in how susceptible the groups were to European dominat ion, or the discussion

in Chapter 7 on possible connec t ions of evolut ionary levels and acceptance

of European religions. The review in Chapter 15 of s te reo typed portrayals of

natives in m o t i o n pictures and how these s tereotypes have changed through t ime

is novel and enlightening. In the final two chapters, Price discusses some of the

complex issues conf ron t ing con tempora ry native people, such as the si tuation

of native educat ion and that of social science research carried ou t among natives.

He suggests ways to improve these si tuations; more o f this type of applied

discussion is needed in order to make all the chapters in the book more meaning-

ful for the reader.

On the whole, Native Studies emerges no t as any sort of well thought ou t

survey of the field of Native Studies, but as a series of essays on various dis-

jo in ted topics wi th no a t t emp t at an overall integrat ion or assessment. The best

that the persistent reader can hope for f rom the b o o k is exposure to a variety

of topics. As the au thor h imself admits (page x), at the t ime the book was com-

piled, knowledge in the field o f Native Studies was "weak, uneven, and open to

improvements , " and that given this situation, " i t is useful to ques t ion every-

thing, including . . . this t ex t . " Such quest ioning reveals that Native Studies

should be considered only an exp lora to ry book in a relatively new field, no t one

which will be r emembered as a seminal work.

Virginia P. Miller,

Depar tment o f Anthropology ,

Dalhousie University,

Halifax, Nova Scotia,

Canada, B3H 1T2.

210

Taylor, J. Garth: Canoe Construction in a Cree Cultural Tradition: National

Museums of Canada, National Museum o f Man Mercury Series (Canadian

E thnology Service Paper No. 63), 1980, ix + l l 2 pp. Appendix Illus. Figs.

Maps. Gratis paper.

In Canoe Construction in a Cree Cultural Tradition, Garth Taylor a t tempts ,

in an e thnographic context , to record the functional , social and ideological

aspects of an aboriginal technology in an isolated c o m m u n i t y before they are

lost forever in the face o f compe t i t ion f rom a mass p roduced facsimile. The

canoe cons t ruc ted by native craf tsmen for this s tudy represents a transi t ional

stage be tween aboriginal vessels and the modern commerc ia l models. While the

vessel is a lineal descendent o f the contac t per iod birch bark canoe, its form, and

the a t t endan t manufactur ing processes, have been strongly inf luenced by Euro-

Canadian industrial technology. The in t roduc t ion of canvas to replace birch

bark has significantly changed the profi le (rocker) o f modern canoes, and use

o f iron nails has done away with the need for spruce root lashing to hold the covering in place.

The monograph opens with a succinct cri t icism and evaluation o f existing

l i terature related to canoe building among nor thern Woodland Indians. Regional

differences in style are no t ed and the recent t rend towards a straight b o t t o m

line th roughout the Woodlands area is a t t r ibu ted primari ly to the acceptance

of s tandard width canvas as a replacement for the t radi t ional birch bark cover- ing.

The principle source of in format ion for this account was a sensitive and

careful observat ion o f two native canoe builders practicing their craft. Al though

they had learned their skills in the t radi t ional manner, nei ther of these men had

built canoes covered with birch bark. To place their craf tsmanship in a cultural

context , the au thor col lected songs and oral t radi t ions f rom these men and o t h e r

elders living in the c o m m u n i t y of Great Whale River. Ethnohis tor ic sources are

used to assist in interpret ing these accounts and to develop antecedents for

modern practices, designs, and folk ideology surrounding the building of the

con tempora ry s tudy model. It becomes apparent as the au thor develops his

theme that canoe making represents a rare example o f craft specialization among

people with a hunt ing and gathering economy. The building of a canoe requires more than the skilled use o f tools. It requires that the canoe maker have an

int imate knowledge of the materials with which he works and o f the structural

relationships be tween the elements which together ar t iculate the vessel. " I

am creating the thing that makes the sounds in the water; it develops like a

growing chi ld" (Song of Miitaaskoonaanicaa). It is no t surprising that the builders o f canoes a t t r ibute zoomorph ic or an th ropomorph ic qualit ies to their creations.

The ideat ional aspects o f canoe building and the impor tance o f the canoe are recounted in myths and songs o f the canoe builders. Taylor includes one

m y t h and 20 builders songs which convey the spiritual d imension o f the canoe

and the builders pursuit o f excel lence as the work progresses. Usually, the

builders ' choice of me taphor is revealed to h im in a dream.

211

While the step by step technical aspects o f the building of the canoe are well

described and profusely i l lustrated with photographs, and the tools which were

used are listed, there is no a t t emp t to relate these operat ions to precontac t

technology. The canoe described in this monograph was buil t wi th steel tools,

held together with steel nails and covered in canvas sewn with impor ted cordage.

For the e thnohis tor ian looking for some useful analogies in his studies o f cul ture

process, a b reakdown of the many operations, in relat ion to funct ional cate-

gories o f tools, would be a useful addit ion. To be sure, many of these opera t ions

can be deduced f rom the account which has been given. However , some a t t empt

to inquire o f the informants as to a l ternate me thods o f forming the more intri-

cate e lements o f the canoe, such as s tem bat tens and keelson splints, w i thou t

the aid o f saws or steel hatchets might have elici ted fur ther useful informat ion .

I f in format ion o f this nature were available it could be used to develop an

hypothes ized funct ional tool assemblage which was essential to the building o f a canoe.

This omission does no t detract f rom the high standard of observat ion and

recording which characterizes the monograph as a whole. The inclusion o f the

songs and m y t h serve to place a superlative technical innovat ion in the ideational

con tex t o f a part icular culture. The photographs are clear and convey the

in fo rmat ion which their capt ions indicate. This publ icat ion is a fine addi t ion

to the library o f anyone interes ted in t echnology in the con t ex t of culture.

B.A. Nicholson,

Depar tment o f Sociology

and Anthropology ,

Brandon University,

Brandon, Manitoba,

Canada, R 7 A 6A9.