The Algonquins

John Steckley teaches human studies at Hunter College in Toronto.

This collection of nine articles was originally published in French, in
1993, by Recherches amerindiennes au Québec, a journal long overlooked
by English-speaking scholars. The editor is to be commended for having
drawn upon a broad variety of disciplines, including archeology,
folklore, ethnolinguistics, history, and social anthropology.

There are two main weaknesses. First, the Golden Lake Algonquin, who
lived in Ontario rather than Quebec, are almost completely missing from
the book. Second, most of the articles are not accessible to the general
reader. Although readers of Roger Spielmann’s excellent “Makwa
Nibawaanaa: Analysis of an Algonquin Bear-Dream Account” are rewarded
for their hard work with fresh insights into Native-language discourse,
those who attempt “Prehistory of Abitibi temiscamingue” and
“Kitigan zibi Anishinabeg” (both written by consultants) are in for
a dry, dull read.

Flaws notwithstanding, this collection takes a major step in filling a
gap in the ethnological literature.