A Passion for the Past: Papers in Honour of James F Pendergast

John Stanley is a senior policy advisor in the Corporate Policy Branch
Management Board Secretariat, Government of Ontario.

The work of retired army officer James F. Pendergast illuminated the
Canadian archaeological world. It is fitting that this Festschrift is
part of the Mercury Series, an important series of books that Pendergast
was instrumental in launching. The list of major figures contributing
articles to this collection shows the impact of the man.

Pendergast’s most important work was with the St. Lawrence
Iroquoians, a field of study in which he can be called the leading
scholar. Not surprisingly, most of the significant articles in this
compilation are on that subject. These include Claude Chapdelaine’s
“A Review of the Latest Developments in St. Lawrence Iroquoian
Archaeology,” James Petersen et al.’s tellingly titled “St.
Lawrence Iroquoians in Northern New England: Pendergast was ‘Right’
and More,” William Engelbrecht’s “Northern New York Revisited,”
and Christian Gates St-Pierre’s “The Middle Woodland Ancestors of
the St. Lawrence Iroquoians.”

It is unfortunate that the book’s 22 articles weren’t confined to
that subject. A Passion for the Past lacks focus and consistency (i.e.,
the articles are too diverse in subject matter to be included in one
collection), and in some cases there is a lack of rigorous copy-editing.
In addition, there is no bibliography of Pendergast’s written works.

The articles on the St. Lawrence Iroquoians make the book worthwhile
for any scholar interested in these often overlooked, but important
people who gave “Canada” its name.