The Mohawk by Codman Hislop, and: The Mackenzie by Leslie Roberts (review)

The REVIEWS OF BOOKS 77 Mohawk. By Co•)•aAN H•SLOP. Illustratedby LF. TTF. mOCALAPAL.(Rivers of America, edited by HERVF. Y ALLENand CARLCAR•aER;as plannedand startedby CO•STA•CEL•)sAY SK•F.R; associate editor, JF.A•CRAWFORd); art editor, FA•THBALL.) New York, Toronto: Rinehart and Co. [Toronto: Clarke, Irwin and Co.]. 1948. Pp. xv, 367. ($3.75) The Mackenzie. By LF. SL•EROBF. RTS. Illustrated by THOREAU (Riversof America,editedby HF. RVEY ALLE• and CARLCAR•aF.R; asplanned and started by CO•STA•CEL•r)sAY SKiNnER; associate editor, JF.A•CRAWFOR •; art editor, FAITH BALL.) New York, Toronto: Rinehart and Co. [Toronto: Clarke, Irwin and Co.]. 1949. Pp. xii, 276. ($3.50) O•E might expectthat thesetwo bookswould have as little in commonas New York State and the Arctic Circle, and, of course,they havevery differentstoriesto relate. Yet thereare similaritiesin pattern, in style,and in generaloutlookwhich makeit possible to treat themtogether. Theseaspects in common may bedueto judicious supervision by theeditors ofthisnowlargeseries orto theunifyingeffect of the underlyingconcept: the rivers of America as paths set by geographyfor historyto traversein buildingourpresent societyonthiscontinent. At any rate, TheMohawkandTheMackenzie bothbeginat thebeginning with the raw environment,take up the primitive peoples, the white explorers, and the fur trade, turn to the struggles for economic empire,whetherFrenchversus British or "the Bay" versus Nor'Westers,and then dealwith the impactof the industrial revolutionin its variousstagesand techniqueson the two river systems. In this respectthe aeroplaneand uraniumore have meant to the Mackenziewhat the railway and GeneralElectrichavemeant to the Mohawk valley. In both cases, aeroplane or railway, an era hasended,that of the Mackenziesteamboatand the Mohawk canalbarge. And thesein turn had overthrownthe primevalrule of the canoe. This isoversimplification, but bothbooksstress transportationtechniques. There isin both the goodold noteof man conquering naturethroughthe machine. On the newerpopularnote,however,Mr. Hislop endsby wonderingwhetherman will join the formeroccupantof the Mohawk valley, the mastodon, in extinction, whileMr. Robertsseems to sense that the changein his "River to Nowhere" may make it not "the Highway to the Top of the World" but the pathway to some Arctic Armageddon. By way of furthercomparison, it canbe observed that both volumesevince the graphicdown-to-earth styleof writingfoundin manyimprovingradioscripts and popularperiodicals today. Lotsof colour,touches of slang,brief paragraphs, sentences without verbs,and the "Hell, said the General" approachto historical characters, in a somewhatdiscourteous attempt to makethem "live." Mr. Hislop isperhaps furtherdownto earththan Mr. Roberts. It remainstrue,however,that thereis mucheffectivewriting in eachbook. Both authorshave clearlyfelt the powerof their subjects,and they haveinterpretedfor the popularreaderin vivid and stimulatingfashionthe high significance of the Mohawk gatewayand the vastnessof the Mackenzie region. Asworksin thepopularfield,thetwobooksmakenopretence at completeness, and both are episodicand sketchy. Mr. Roberts'svolume, however,is also discursive . Perhapsthe story of his river was not full enough,comparedto the Mohawk,but onemightthinkthat hewasinstructed to cleanuptheentirehistory of the CanadianNorthwestandArctic,with rivers' drainingthereunto,seeing that he discusses polar explorationand the careerof Sir John Franklin, whichfit not 78 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW too well; and, which fits worse, the whole story of the Selkirk settlement. Even the first Riel risingcomes in. The Red River is a longway from the Mackenzie, and even from northern waters, but perhapsthere is not to be a book on this particular river of America. J. M. S. CARELESS The University of Toronto. LawandGovernment oftheGrandRiverIroquois. By JOI{N A. NOON. (Viking Fund Publicationsin Anthropology,no. 12.) New York: Viking Fund. 1949. Pp. 186. ($2.00) Titus is a brilliant study of acculturationin the governmentand law of the Grand River Iroquois,remnantof a groupconspicuous in historyfor their elaboratedevelopmentof thesepatterns. It records a notablechapterin judicialhistorythat hitherto hasbarely reachedbeyondthe inner circleof tribal life. In describing their varioussocial,political,economic, and religious meansof co-ordinatingsocietalbehaviour,the author givesa soundsummaryof Iroquois ethnologyand history,stressing in particular problemsof readjustmentto reservationlife anda rapidlychanging society. Behindthe phenomena of modification and adaptation,however,we seea backgroundof culturalstability. Thus, with onlyslightmodification in procedure, thechiefs adopted thetraditionalcounselling procedures of the Confederacy to servejudicial purposes. Decisions renderedby them in troubled situations arising while patterns of reservationlife were still largely unformulated,clearly illustrated the function of law in patterning behaviour . Professor Noon,therefore, utilizedthe Minutesof theCouncilasa guide in compiling data, supplementing and interpretingthisdocumentary evidence by discussions with living informants. A few of his...