History of the Ojibway People, Second Edition

Author William W. Warren, Edited by Theresa M. Schenck

Minnesota Historical Society Press (March 15, 2009)

For the first time since its initial publication in 1885, this classic history of the Ojibwe in now available with new annotations and a new intorduction by Theresa Schenck.

Description

William W. Warren’s History of the Ojibway People has long been recognized as a classic source on Ojibwe history and culture. Warren, the son of an Ojibwe woman, wrote his history in the hope of saving traditional stories for posterity even as he presented to the American public a sympathetic view of a people he believed were fast disappearing under the onslaught of a corrupt frontier population. He collected firsthand descriptions and stories from relatives, tribal leaders, and acquaintances and transcribed this oral history in terms that nineteenth-century whites could understand,focusing on warfare, tribal organizations, and political leaders.

First published in 1885 by the Minnesota Historical Society, the book has also been criticized by Native and non-Native scholars, many of whom do not take into account Warren’s perspective, goals, and limitations. Now, for the first time since its initial publication, it is made available with new annotations researched and written by professor Theresa Schenck. A new introduction by Schenck also gives a clear and concise history of the text and of the author, firmly establishing a place for William Warren in the tradition of American Indian intellectual thought.

Author information

Theresa Schenck is an associate professor in the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. An enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, she is also of Ojibwe descent through her grandmother. She is the author of William W. Warren: The Life, Letters, and Times of an Ojibwe and The Voice of the Crane Echoes Afar: The Sociopolitical Organization of the Lake Superior Ojibwa, 1640–1855.

• This title is also available at your favorite e-book vendor.
• 448 pages
• 6 x 9 inches
• ISBN: 9780873516433