Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales and Oral Histories »

"We're not losing our language," declares elder Joe Auginaush, "our language is losing us." As fluent speakers of Ojibwe grow older, the community questions whether younger speakers know the language well enough to pass it on to the next generation. Young and old alike are making wide-spread efforts to preserve the Ojibwe language, and, as part of this campaign, Anton Treuer has collected stories from Anishinaabe [Chippewa] elders living at Leech Lake, White Earth, Mille Lacs, Red Lake, and St. Croix reservations.

Based on interviews Treuer conducted with ten elders -- Archie Mosay, Jim Clark, Melvin Eagle, Joe Auginaush, Collins Oakgrove, Emma Fisher, Scott Headbird, Susan Jackson, Hartley White, and Porky White -- this anthology presents the elders' stories transcribed in Ojibwe with English translation on facing pages. These stories contain a wealth of information, including oral histories of the Anishinaabe people, personal reminiscences, educational tales, and humorous anecdotes. Treuer's translations of these stories preserve the speakers' personalities, allowing their voices to emerge from the page.

Treuer introduces each speaker, offering a brief biography and noting important details concerning dialect or themes; he then allows the stories to speak for themselves. And from them we learn about the distant past -- speakers' personal pasts, including experiences in state-run boarding schools. We hear humorous anecdotes about legendary figures and the intersection of opposing cultures. We listen to discussions of the Indian's gifts, not least of all that of the Ojibwe language. And we hear a refrain of hope for the future, summarized neatly in the story "This Is a Good Way of Life."

This dual-language text will prove instructive for those interested in Ojibwe language and culture, while the stories themselves offer the gift of a living language and the history of a people.

Library Journal

This substantial volume presents a rich and varied collection of tales from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) tradition while also integrating material from associated Algonquian tribes who migrated westward for centuries before European contact. Ten Indian elders from the northwestern United States and Canada provide narratives in their native language, with English translations appearing on the facing pages. Each participant is profiled, and his contributions (assembled over several years) follow in numbered paragraphs. These contributions present various aspects of Ojibwe daily life, including fishing, maple sugaring, ricing, devilish childhood tricks, religious ceremonies, and more. Drawn from both printed and oral sources, the stories are meticulously and sensitively translated and annotated, giving shape, form, and nuance to a fragile, almost extinct civilization. This preservation project will be a vital addition to Native American lore and is certain to be treasured by comprehensive collections in special and academic libraries. Richard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.