**For the first time since its initial publication in 1885, this classic
history of the Ojibwe is available with new annotations and a new
introduction by Theresa Schenck.
**
William W. Warren's History of the Ojibway People has long been
recognized as a classic source on Ojibwe history and culture. Warren,
the son of an Ojibwe woman, wrote his history in the hope of saving
traditional stories for posterity even as he presented to the American
public a sympathetic view of a people he believed were fast disappearing
under the onslaught of a corrupt frontier population. He collected
firsthand descriptions and stories from relatives, tribal leaders, and
acquaintances and transcribed this oral history in terms that
nineteenth-century whites could understand, focusing on warfare, tribal
organizations, and political leaders.
First published in 1885, the book has also been criticized by Native and
non-Native scholars, many of whom do not take into account Warren's
perspective, goals, and limitations. Now, for the first time since its
initial publication, it is made available with new annotations
researched and written by professor Theresa Schenck. A new introduction
by Schenck also gives a clear and concise history of the text and of the
author, firmly establishing a place for William Warren in the tradition
of American Indian intellectual thought.
