- Always a People: Oral Histories of Contemporary Woodland Indians
The title of this book speaks volumes. Always a People: Oral Histories of Contemporary Woodland Indians was written because, as Miami Nation leader and narrator, Raymond O. White, Jr., said, mainstream books either omitted information about “Woodland history, culture, tradition, and commerce” (xi) or did not portray it accurately. During his tenure as Principal Chief, Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Chief White led the movement to re-form a historic confederacy of Woodland Indians. Chief White was “passionate about using the present tense and about detailing accomplishments and future goals, and adamant about correcting the damaging ‘Indian as victim’ image” (xi). He did not live to see the book published, but his vision guided it and it is dedicated to him.
Of others involved, Rita Kohn is an adjunct professor of journalism and advocate for bringing visibility to Indian tribes. William Lynwood Montell is an emeritus professor and author of nineteen books including, with Barbara Allen Bogart, From Memory to History: Using Oral Sources for Historical Research (Nashville: The American Association for State and Local History, 1981). Michelle Mannering is a historian and communications consultant who helped edit the transcripts and wrote the afterword. Evelyn J. Ritter is an artist known for her portraits. R. David Edmunds, professor of history, wrote the introduction, “‘Paint Me as Who I Am’: Woodland Indians at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century.” And Michael and Linda Shinkle, project coordinators, are co-founders of the Minnetrista Council for Great Lakes Native American Studies.
In this book, forty people from eleven Indian nations and seventeen tribes describe their experiences in twentieth and twenty-first century United States and Canada. They represent people who once lived in the hardwood forests of the eastern half of North America in the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin—specifically, they represent the Miami, Potawatomi, Delaware, Shawnee, Peoria, Oneida, Ottawa, Winnebago, Sauk and Fox, Chippewa, and Kickapoo.
Edmunds provides historical context in his Introduction. As he writes, Woodland people shaped history through alliances with the French, Dutch, and British, as well as Jesuit missionaries (1). The major part of the introduction, however, is an overview of each of the nations and tribes in the book. Edmunds summarizes early histories, cession, and removal policies, and twentieth century laws defining governing and then describes the current status of each. Throughout the book, the narrators refer to this helpful reference. [End Page 316]
The preface contains information about oral history methodology. In it, the editors describe the interview process and indigenous interviewing guidelines: “instructions on protocol, explanations of traditional ways, interpretations of ‘historical’ events from alternative perspectives, and lessons in how to listen ‘the Indian way’ and how to know when silence is a significant statement” (xii). They also introduce the narrators and describe how they chose them “[i]n keeping with protocol” (xii).
The interviews are the core of the book. The editors present each narrator as an individual, and most interviews are accompanied by a portrait painted for the project. They cover predetermined topics including tribal background, family history, intergenerational ties, early life and education, transmission and retention of language and culture, and interactions with non-Indians. Although each story is unique, the reader can identify common themes. A century and a half after contact, raised traditionally or not, each narrator clearly lives his or her tribal background. As Michael Pace, assistant chief, Delaware Tribe of Indians, said, “I was away from the tribe for a long time. However, I never really lost that sense of who I was. I was always a Delaware” (161). The narrators do not see themselves as stereotypes of the past, but as Indians for today and the future with continuing ties to culture. Don Greenfeather, tribal chairman, Loyal Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, said, “Not only our blood makes us Indian, but our...