A fictionalized dialogue between an Ojibwa philosopher/reenactor and a geology professor, who combine their knowledge during various educational presentations to help the reader (and their fictional audience) learn about the geology and native spirituality of the Great Lakes region. I realize it sounds dreadfully dry and dull, but it isn't--unless you consider a giant Lynx/Panther being responsible for the yearly spring floods, and a battle with a giant beaver causing the creation of Lake Superior, to be boring things. The chapters in this book take a look at native life and beliefs of this region over the past 10,000 years, from prehistoric times through the modern era, teaching about such things as glaciers, land formations, petroglyphs, and the fur trade along the way. Want to learn how the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia was likely responsible for widespread famine in the Great Lakes region of the 1800s? Take a look at this book to find out. --- Chapters include: --- One: The Meeting --- Two: End Of An Ice Age (Part I: Old Man & The Spirit Of Summer; Part II: When The Great Panther Rises) --- Three: People Of The Pays D'En Haut (Part I: Origins; Part II: The Nothing; Part III: Food To Go) --- Four: Earth Roots (Part I: Introduction; Part II: People Of The Rocks; Part III: People Of Gichi Gami; Part IV: The Four Seasons) --- Five: The Wolf's Head (Part I: The Fire Of Manidoo & The Old Man; Part II: People Of The Red Metal; Part III: Minong) --- Six: A Long Winter Night (Part I: Tambora & The Little Ice Age; Part II: Shooting The Wintermaker; Part III: The Fur Trader) --- Seven: Makers Of The Magic Smoke (Part I: The Red Stone; Part II: Coyote & The Gift) --- Eight: The Talking Sky (Part I: Fisher & Friends; Part II: The Immensity Of It All) --- Nine: The Never-Ending Circle

Learning about the native spiritual beliefs surrounding the formation of the Great Lakes area. (Although this book focuses mostly on the Lake Superior and Minnesota region, it can easily apply to the whole territory.) Finding out how giant moving slabs of ice carved out the land, leaving stones from hundreds of miles away in their wake, and forming the very landscape we see around us now is interesting enough in itself. Finding out how prehistoric and contact-era natives viewed these natural formations in a "super"natural light (i. e., as the acts of great spirits and mythical beings) lends it another dimension entirely. Once you start to read enough about this subject, native stories don't seem like such a stretch anymore--and some of them may even have a basis in truth.

The imaginative accounts of prehistoric people and how they viewed the region they lived in. It's amazing to think of the things such people could have witnessed. For example, one fictional native in the story directly witnesses the disappearance of a great lake crucial to his people's survival; another, post-contact-era woman lives to see her family wiped out by smallpox. (Not every story in this book is so tragic, but it has its share of sad ones.) I also liked learning about the ancient formation of the region I live in.

The fictional format which is the "gimmick" of the book is also kind of its drawback. When I first bought this online, I had no idea it was a fictional work. The IDEAS and beliefs discussed are factual, but they are presented as a dialogue between two fictional people, in the form of presentations they make for a fictional audience. (The geologist narrates while the native character roleplays.) So you do not have the two authors merely stating facts, but two FICTIONAL VERSIONS of the authors stating facts in a fictional format. This in itself isn't so bad...but the oftentimes hokey and melodramatic dialogue can get annoying. The authors, a white geologist and an Ojibwa storyteller (just like the fictional protagonists), claim to be presenting a "balanced" view of geological science and native belief, but seem all too often to succumb to the "noble savage" stereotype; in one chapter section alone, the native character, Earth Walks, is described when talking with words like "boomed," "eyes beaming," "his voice rolling like thunder," etc. Not to mention the fact that although these two characters are supposed to be evenly matched, and learning equally from each other, it's the unnamed geologist narrator who usually ends up getting shown up by Earth Walks. The book ends up sounding somewhat preachy, though that's to be expected of an "environmentalist"-themed work such as this.

Find out more about the prehistoric geology of this region, as well as the native beliefs that go along with it. Fortunately, I already have lots of reading!

A bit more educated about this area's geology and history, on the one hand, but a little bit peeved on the other, that the authors were a bit melodramatic about it. I do wonder if they couldn't have pulled the same thing off even better by presenting the subject in a factual rather than fictional way...although I have to admit that, unless you're REALLY into the subject, a book stating facts about geology and glaciers and petroglyphs can be a tough sell.

Is in fact TWO authors--University of Minnesota professor of geology Ron Morton, and retired professor of American Indian studies (College of St. Scholastica) Carl Gawboy. Gawboy (likely the inspiration for the character "Earth Walks") is also the illustrator.

It's a good, basic (easy to read) introduction to the Great Lakes area's geology and native beliefs and customs, particularly those of the Ojibwa (though the book also makes note of Lakota beliefs). If you're new to the subject, its fictionalized format could be a bonus, presenting what could otherwise be a dry tedious subject into something more entertaining. Despite its flaws, some of the "plays" presented in the book ARE rather innovative.

If you're looking for just the facts, you may want to skip this particular book, because it does spend a good amount of time on dialogue and pure opinions stated by the two main characters--including little arguments, offstage prattle, etc.

Published by University of Minnesota Press, this book could just as easily appeal to people from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario--anyplace in the Great Lakes region, in fact. It's not deep reading--it's a rather slender 214 pages, with numerous illustrations and moderately sized print--but I did manage to learn a few things from it, despite the sometimes annoying dialogue. There are a few grammatical/spelling/typographical errors throughout the work, but nothing immense or too distracting; most bothersome is how the authors occasionally change verb tenses while narrating their performances (one moment it's in present tense, then it's in past tense). I feel awkward saying it, but I also wonder about a few of the mythological accounts given in this book, as I have not come across their equivalent anywhere in any of the other many books I've read on this subject--such as the constellation Orion being the equivalent of the Ojibwa mythological figure the "Wintermaker," or of the ritual of shooting at this star figure with arrows in an attempt to end the winter season. Perhaps I've merely not read the right books, though. Yet I would definitely recommend this book to anyone attempting to gain a general idea of the subject.

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Created Apr 21, 2006 at 8:58am • Submit your own review...