Dismissed by early American and European historians, Native American women have long taken a backseat to chiefs, warriors, and huntsmen. In this broad historical account, Child (Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families: 1900–1940) sheds light on the role of women as linchpins of the Ojibwe world: forging kinship ties and strategic alliances; maintaining medicinal knowledge; organizing the seasonal harvests; participating in civil rights groups like the American Indian Movement; and bolstering community values as social activist leaders. From the strategic alliances of the fur-trading days to the forced “civilization” of the reservation era, Child follows the ups and downs of white relations with the tribes and shows how women held communities together as removal policies and land theft disrupted the harmonious seasonal round of berry picking, wild rice harvesting, and maple sugar collecting in the Great Lakes region. Instead of despairing at the racism and deprivation they faced, these resourceful women adapted to a new tourist and service economy while preserving the traditions and family bonds that enrich Ojibwe life. Though some documented anecdotes and myths could have used more room to breathe, the book offers a sensitive portrait of a resilient group and the struggles it has overcome. (Feb.) --Staff (Reviewed December 12, 2011) (Publishers Weekly, vol 258, issue 50, p)
In a follow-up to her prize-winning study, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families: 1900-1940 (2000), Child (American Studies/Univ. of Minnesota) chronicles the "history of Ojibwe community life in the Great Lakes," with special emphasis on the role of women. As a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation, the author has an intimate connection to her subject. Beginning in the 1830s, with the U.S. government's policy of forced relocation of Native Americans to reservations, Child chronicles the destruction of their way of life, which had been based on the cultivation of wild rice, traditionally woman's work, and hunting, which was done by men and boys. When the Ojibwe were forcibly removed from their homes and land in Michigan and Wisconsin to a reservation in the territory of Minnesota, their standard of living was reduced to bare subsistence. Forced to depend on food shipments and a meager annuity from the government, their population was decimated by starvation and disease. Remarkably, they preserved the core of their cultural beliefs, and traditional spiritual values survived despite the pressures and hardships of their new circumstances. The author writes of the unsuccessful but relentless drive of the institutions of the dominant American population to impose its core values, such as the inferior position of women in society and the replacement of traditional religious practices with Christianity. In some ways, the situation of the Ojibwe improved during the New Deal when the policy of forced assimilation ended. Poverty-relief programs run by New Deal agencies offered new employment opportunities, and the Ojibwe received funding to farm wild rice using modern methods. During World War II, Indian men were subject to the draft while women worked in defense plants. Today the vast majority live in cities while maintaining ties to the reservation and their traditional way of life. A fascinating account of a resilient culture that has survived despite oppression.(Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2011)

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI: 10027336

Cataloging source: DLC

http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate: 1959-

http://library.link/vocab/creatorName: Child, Brenda J.

Dewey number: 977.004/97333

Index: index present

LC call number: E99.C6

LC item number: C48 2011

Literary form: non fiction

Nature of contents: bibliography

http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred: True

Series statement: Penguin library of American Indian history

http://library.link/vocab/subjectName

Ojibwa women
Ojibwa women
Ojibwa women

http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/titleRemainder: Ojibwe women and the survival of community

Label: Holding our world together : Ojibwe women and the survival of community, Brenda J. Child

Instantiates

trueHolding our world together : Ojibwe women and the survival of community

Publication

New York, Viking, 2011

Copyright

Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: 846078

Extent: pages cm.

Isbn: 9780670023240

Lccn: 2011036175

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

System control number: (Sirsi) i9780670023240

Label: Holding our world together : Ojibwe women and the survival of community, Brenda J. Child

Publication

New York, Viking, 2011

Copyright

Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references and index

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: 846078

Extent: pages cm.

Isbn: 9780670023240

Lccn: 2011036175

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

System control number: (Sirsi) i9780670023240

New user? Get a card!

Reviews

Review

Dismissed by early American and European historians, Native American women have long taken a backseat to chiefs, warriors, and huntsmen. In this broad historical account, Child (Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families: 1900–1940) sheds light on the role of women as linchpins of the Ojibwe world: forging kinship ties and strategic alliances; maintaining medicinal knowledge; organizing the seasonal harvests; participating in civil rights groups like the American Indian Movement; and bolstering community values as social activist leaders. From the strategic alliances of the fur-trading days to the forced “civilization” of the reservation era, Child follows the ups and downs of white relations with the tribes and shows how women held communities together as removal policies and land theft disrupted the harmonious seasonal round of berry picking, wild rice harvesting, and maple sugar collecting in the Great Lakes region. Instead of despairing at the racism and deprivation they faced, these resourceful women adapted to a new tourist and service economy while preserving the traditions and family bonds that enrich Ojibwe life. Though some documented anecdotes and myths could have used more room to breathe, the book offers a sensitive portrait of a resilient group and the struggles it has overcome. (Feb.) --Staff (Reviewed December 12, 2011) (Publishers Weekly, vol 258, issue 50, p)
In a follow-up to her prize-winning study, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families: 1900-1940 (2000), Child (American Studies/Univ. of Minnesota) chronicles the "history of Ojibwe community life in the Great Lakes," with special emphasis on the role of women. As a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation, the author has an intimate connection to her subject. Beginning in the 1830s, with the U.S. government's policy of forced relocation of Native Americans to reservations, Child chronicles the destruction of their way of life, which had been based on the cultivation of wild rice, traditionally woman's work, and hunting, which was done by men and boys. When the Ojibwe were forcibly removed from their homes and land in Michigan and Wisconsin to a reservation in the territory of Minnesota, their standard of living was reduced to bare subsistence. Forced to depend on food shipments and a meager annuity from the government, their population was decimated by starvation and disease. Remarkably, they preserved the core of their cultural beliefs, and traditional spiritual values survived despite the pressures and hardships of their new circumstances. The author writes of the unsuccessful but relentless drive of the institutions of the dominant American population to impose its core values, such as the inferior position of women in society and the replacement of traditional religious practices with Christianity. In some ways, the situation of the Ojibwe improved during the New Deal when the policy of forced assimilation ended. Poverty-relief programs run by New Deal agencies offered new employment opportunities, and the Ojibwe received funding to farm wild rice using modern methods. During World War II, Indian men were subject to the draft while women worked in defense plants. Today the vast majority live in cities while maintaining ties to the reservation and their traditional way of life. A fascinating account of a resilient culture that has survived despite oppression.(Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2011)

Central LibraryBorrow it

710 W. Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX, 78701, US

30.2713021 -97.7460168

Subject

Member of

Reviews

Library Locations

Library Links