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REVIEWS OF BOOKS 83 nadianopinionwasencouraged to cultivate and to admire rather than to deprecate New Canadians. Mrs. Innis's story beginson a socialstagewhere Canadian girls worked in factoriesfor 60 hoursa week(at a daily pay of 80cents),andwherethe Association foundinnumerabletasksof ameliorationandprotection. Her imaginationismoved assheunfoldsthe variety andscope of today'sprogramme,whichfor many growing citizenshelpsto transfusethe wholeof life with kindly fellowshipand the light of high purpose. M. M. KIRKWOOD Trinity College, Toronto. Midwinter Ritesof the CayugaLongHouse. By FRANKG. SPECK in collaboration with ALEXANDER GENERAL. Philadelphia: University of PennsylvaniaPress. 1949. Pp. 192. ($4.00) FRANKLINROOSEVELT oncewrote that we in North America "are amazingly rich in the elementsfrom which to weave a culture. We have the best of man's past on whichto draw, broughtto usby our native folk and folk from all partsof the world. In bindingtheseelementsinto a nationalfabric of beauty and strength, let us keep the originalfibressointact that the fineness of eachwill showin the completedhandiwork." Here, indeed,is the philosophyof ProfessorFrank G. Speck,a scholarwho hasspentthe pastforty yearsputtingonrecordan originalaccountof the meaning of life to the aborigines of easternNorth America. His latestcontributiondescribesthe spiritual beliefsand midwinter rites of the Sour SpringsCayuga of Brant County, Ontario. Here are a peoplewhowishto remain Indians,whowishto believetheir own prophetandwhoasserttheir right to doboth. After centuries of contactthey still remain singularlyaloof from the coarseraspectsof "civilization." Lamentable thoughthismay appearto some,it hasmeantthe survivalof a religionwhicheven today has lost little of its vital force. It is nothingshort of a miraclethat the determined effortsof the missionaryand reformerbent on assimilationof weaker groupsdid not entirelystranglethe Cayugareligion; for thisdelicateplant stood mainly in needof freedom. Thoseof usin the democracies who today fear that our way of life may be destroyed by the threatenedimpositionof a foreignphilosophy ,canwell appreciatethisvictory. Dr. Speckcantruly put wordstogether;thecharmof hisbookismatchedonly by the quietdignityandpoeticimageryof the Cayuga. Immersing himselfin the native scene,the author enteredsympatheticallyinto the spirit of their thought and learnedthe deepermeanings of their esotericlorewhichsoclearlyillustrates what Cassirerhascalled"anawareness ofthe universalityandfundamentalidentity of life." At times one is reminded of the wisdom of the Orient. I confess that I wasmovedon readingthisstudy. And frankly, it cameasa reliefto find at least one modern anthropologistcapableof discoveringmore in his informants than guilt complexes and psychological blocks. Both the prayersand myths are remarkablefor their powerand loveliness. The readerwill not only enjoythem asworksof unusualtalent anddepth,but he will realizethat suchproductscouldonly have originatedamonga peoplewho respond simplyandquietlyto beauty; andwherean abidingserenityof spirit and gentlesympathycontrolhumanrelationships to a largeextent. EDMUND S. CARPENTER The University of Toronto. ...

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