Anishinaabe Ways of Knowing and Being by Lawrence W. Gross (review)

In Anishinaabe Ways of Knowing and Being, Lawrence W. Gross seeks to demonstrate the ways in which a traditional Anishinaabe worldview has continued throughout the colonial period. His thesis is that “the Anishinaabe are using their traditional worldview to help them overcome the effects of postapocalypse stress syndrome” (6). To this end he begins with a description of what postapocalypse stress syndrome (pass) is and then works to articulate what constitutes an Anishinaabe worldview, discussing how it is helping the Anishinaabeg to overcome the effects of pass.

In chapter 2 Gross develops his theory of pass by connecting it to the already established theories of posttraumatic stress disorder. He extends this concept of ptsd to a communal level to more clearly articulate the communal problems associated with trauma that settler-state colonization has imposed on the Anishinaabeg. In this theoretical extension of ptsd to pass he demonstrates that the individuals dealing with the trauma of colonization not only have their own problems to deal with but that with colonization there is also a weakening of the institutional structures that help individuals to heal from trauma in a society. As these institutional structures are weakened or fully collapse, the world-view of the people is then called into question and needs to be modified. While there have been successful efforts in developing programs to help individuals overcome ptsd, Gross suggests that more work needs to be focused on the development of new institutional structures to help communities effectively heal from the communal aspects of pass.

Much of this book is focused on discussing the constitutive elements of the Anishinaabe worldview. He discusses a number of important cultural attributes, beginning with the role of silence in the culture. According to Gross, silence is a practice associated with seeking a vision and provides the space to properly comprehend relationships to the rest of life. Therefore, the importance of relationships, which he calls “heart strings,” is grounded in the practice of silence. From this foundation of silence, Gross builds a picture of Anishinaabe culture that includes Anishinaabemowin, the traditional Anishinaabe language, a comic vision, storytelling, Anishinaabe rhetoric, bimaadiziwin (the good life), and spirituality. The chapters discussing the comic vision demonstrate both the importance of laughter and jokes as a method of overcoming pass, as well as the role of the trickster figure of Wenaboozhoo as a cultural buffoon and hero. This discussion of Wenaboozhoo helps to highlight the essential role of storytelling within Anishinaabe culture and the differences that are associated with Anishinaabe rhetoric and the digressions (side-bar stories) that are often used as a teaching methodology by elders. Rather than the direct question-and-answer format used in non-Indian culture, Anishinaabe rhetorical and teaching methods often rely upon the telling of stories that address the issues at hand. The final section of the book discusses the role of bimaadiziwin as a cultural teaching that is followed throughout the life of the Anishinaabeg and the role of spirituality as grounded in myth. According to Gross, spirituality and the associated Anishinaabe religion help to ground the culture in a system of values that are associated with living the good life of bimaadiziwin. Each of these Anishinaabe concepts demonstrates what constitutes an Anishinaabe worldview and shows how that aspect of the worldview functions to help heal the people from pass.

I would suggest that the most effective articulation of the Anishinaabe worldview comes in chapter 4, on Anishinaabemowin and its association with quantum physics. In this chapter Gross demonstrates how the verb-oriented language of the Anishinaabeg is best thought of as effectively articulating the constant motion of the world they live in. He gives the example of a translation about singing and healing from a related Algonquian language. In this example from the Montagnais, he analyzes a phrase about healing that is translated as “the magician/sorcerer sings a sick man” (105). This translation was given for a healing ceremony where the...