Rita T. Kohn

Accompanied by kinda-crappy oil paintings, leaders of Woodland Nations talk about their personal histories and views on their tribes, and what they hope the future holds. The interviews took place in 1994-5, so the leaders are born between 1902 and 1950. They are able to speak from their own experience of forcible removal to Indian boarding schools (designed to speed assimilation with English-speaking, American culture), living through the Depression, and the later resurgence of interest in native languages, beliefs, and practices. This could have been absolutely fascinating, but this book is terribly put together. It isn't organized in any way--the interviews jump from one tribe to the next, from one generation to the next, without rhyme or reason. The editors wanted to preserve the People's exact words and phrasing, but unfortunately this means the interviews come across as rambling and poorly phrased. Oral interviews just don't translate directly to the page. (For example: "In the summer we would always pick strawberries in the strawberry patch, and we would go barefoot. The snake would wind itself around my ankle. It was just a garden snake. The river that runs through the Reserve is a fishing river." What? How do these sentences connect?) It also frustrated me that the interviewers never asked for clarification or further details: many times a subject vaguely mentions something totally fascinating or unexpected, and that's the last we hear about it.

A number of the people interviewed died before the book was even published, so clearly the editors were wise to start this project when they did; just think of how much more would have been lost if they'd waited even another year! There are hints of information here, but so much is vague, or doesn't make sense without context, or isn't expanded upon, that this book is not as useful as it could have been. Still, I was glad to learn a little bit more about the descendents of people who lived from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. A tidbit I found particularly interesting: following the War of 1812, the Shawnee were removed from Ohio and split into three bands: the Eastern Shawnees, the Absentee Shawnees (so called because they took no part in the allotment of lands in Kansas) and the Loyal Shawnees (because they supported the Union cause during the Civil War).… (plus d'informations)

This informative (and colourfully fun) picture book about a Native American harvest festival (Woodland Peoples of the Great Lakes region) is essentially a counting book. A great teaching and learning resource for young children, The Fall Gathering can be used both at home and in a Kindergarten, pre-school or first grade classroom, not only to teach about quantities, but also as an entertainingly enlightening basic introduction to Native American harvest culture and traditions. Of course, because The Fall Gathering is a counting book, numbers and quantities do feature somewhat more prominently than narrative. There is, however, enough of a textual frame, and both it and the excellent illustrations can easily be used to expand both content and context of the book.

I really do love the illustrations. They are bright, evocative and very respectful of Native Americans, showing them not as The Other, but as ordinary persons gathering together for a fun celebration; they have come to share the harvest, and give thanks for the bounties received. I believe that most young children would likely totally adore the bright and colourful illustrations. There is so much to be discovered and discussed, like how many of the vegetables featured in the book are American in origin and were actually originally domesticated by Native Americans, like squash and corn, for example (and that is just one example of many, but I don't want to give away too many visual spoilers, as the illustrations and the informative treasures they contain really need to be experienced first-hand).

The author's notes at the end of the book, which discuss the history of the Woodland Peoples, and the tradition of the Fall Gathering as well as the recipe section that follows are also informative and interesting (it would/could perhaps be fun to make some of the featured recipes at a school or class harvest festival). Personally, I also appreciate the fact that the author does not shy away from mentioning the fact that the Woodland Peoples, although they had signed treaties with the British, giving them the right to live peacefully in the Great Lakes region, had their lands taken by the government of the United States of America, who refused to honour said treaties. Highly recommended!… (plus d'informations)