Anton Treuer - Ojibwe in Minnesota

OJIBWE IN MINNESOTA
by Anton Treuer

This compelling, highly anticipated narrative traces the history of the Ojibwe people in Minnesota, exploring cultural practices, challenges presented by more recent settlers, and modern-day discussions of sovereignty and identity.

With insight and candor, noted Ojibwe scholar Anton Treuer traces thousands of years of the complicated history of the Ojibwe people—their economy, culture, and clan system and how these have changed throughout time, perhaps most dramatically with the arrival of Europeans into Minnesota territory.

Ojibwe in Minnesota covers the fur trade, the Iroquois Wars, and Ojibwe-Dakota relations; the treaty process and creation of reservations; and the systematic push for assimilation as seen in missionary activity, government policy, and boarding schools.

Treuer also does not shy away from today’s controversial topics, covering them frankly and with sensitivity—issues of sovereignty as they influence the running of casinos and land management; the need for reform in modern tribal government; poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse; and constitutional and educational reform. He also tackles the complicated issue of identity and details recent efforts and successes in cultural preservation and language revitalization.

A personal account from the state’s first female Indian lawyer, Margaret Treuer, tells her firsthand experience of much change in the community and looks ahead with renewed cultural strength and hope for the first people of Minnesota.

Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories
Edited by Anton Treuer

A language carries a people's memories, whether they are recounted as individual reminiscences, as communal history, or as humorous tales. This collection of stories from Anishinaabe elders offers a history of a people at the same time that it seeks to preserve the language of that people.

Based on interviews Treuer conducted with ten elders this anthology presents the elders' stories transcribed in Ojibwe with English translation on facing pages. These stories contain a wealth of information, including oral histories of the Anishinaabe people and personal reminiscences, educational tales, and humorous anecdotes.

Treuer's translations of these stories preserve the speakers' personalities, allowing their voices to emerge from the page. Treuer introduces each speaker, offering a brief biography and noting important details concerning dialect or themes; he then allows the stories to speak for themselves. This dual-language text will prove instructive for those interested in Ojibwe language and culture, while the stories themselves offer the gift of a living language and the history of a people.

BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University. He has a B.A. from Princeton University, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is Editor of the Oshkaabewis (pronounced o-shkaah-bay-wis) Native Journal, the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language. His published books include Ojibwe in Minnesota (2010), The Assassination of Hole in the Day (forthcoming in 2010), Awesiinyensag: Dibaajimowinan Ji-gikinoo’amaageng (forthcoming in 2010), Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories (2001), Aaniin Ekidong: Ojibwe Vocabulary Project (2009), and Omaa Akiing (2002). Dr. Treuer has sat on many organizational boards, ranging from the White Earth Land Recovery Project to MeritCare Health System. Dr. Treuer has received prestigious awards and fellowships from the American Philosophical Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Humanities Commission, the Experienced Faculty Development Program, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Grotto Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.