Evolving Ojibwe lifestyle documented in new book

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A new book accompanying a six-hour PBS television series about the Ojibwe people should be in the library of anyone interested in Aboriginal cultures.

The non-fiction narrative, Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa-We Look In All Directions, was penned by a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. It was released with the WDSE-TV program of the same name in Duluth, Minn.

Thomas Peacock's book is an excellent primer to the beliefs, customs and way of life of the Ojibwe people of the northeastern United States.

While he has written a summary of the tribe's North American mythology, migration, and post-European-contact era adaptations, his book primarily depicts Ojibwe life around the Great Lakes south of the Canadian border.

The book is based on recent historical research and interviews with more than 60 Ojibwe people from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Ojibwe north of the 49th parallel are lightly mentioned.

Peacock and photographer Marlene Wisuri have done a masterful job of bringing the saga to life with the black-and-white, as well as color photographs and maps. The text illuminates Ojibwe life past the post-Second World War economic development thrust and recent social and political changes.

This is the third book for Peacock, who has a doctoral degree from Harvard University, and who teaches educational leadership at the University of Minnesota at Duluth.

It is diary-like, because it is the author's personal history and experience, as well as that of people he knows intimately. Peacock departs from the academic arms-length writing style, while maintaining a consistent form and consecutive order through his anecdotal telling.

"Readers will notice that I have chosen a personal story to introduce and close each chapter," he said. "I refuse to distance myself from my research."

He is impassioned and opinionated without smothering the reader with his biases.

For instance, "The linguistic origins of the Ojibwe language . . . are linked to a larger language and cultural group often misnamed the 'Algonquian' or 'Algonkin,'" he writes. The author does not explain what he means by "misnamed."

Yet on the Canadian side, you'll find that Algonquin people who maintain their Algonquian language and culture are sometimes misnamed Ojibwe.

Peacock doesn't avoid difficult topics such as nepotism and the downside of casino gambling. At the same time, he highlights enduring tribal wisdom and environmental consciousness in a changing world.

"I also have a great sense of hope," he writes.

He should. Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa will go a long way to foster understanding and respect for the unique contributions of Ojibwe history, language, knowledge and art.