Acknowledgements

            This book would have been impossible without the Ahnishinahbæó^tji­bway and other people in the Red Lake community, whose insights have become a part of this book, and whose oral history has been invaluable in the compilation of the genealogies.  Because of the political and social engineering by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Reservation, we cannot name them all; however we can acknowledge the contribu­tions of Donald Mish-kun-dum-bay "Red" Pemberton, Dennis Smith, Bill Lawrence, Maynard Swan and Roman Sigana-and we thank everyone who helped.

            The support of Dr. Jean Houston has also been crucial to this book.  In 1986, I wrote a 32-page letter to Dr. Jean Houston about the genocide of the Ahnishinahbæó^tjibway.  She said, "write a book."  This book ensued.

            We were able to do the more than ten years of research which have gone into this book, largely because of the support of Dr. Jean Houston and the students of her Mystery School, and especially the dedicated supportive work of Dr. Joy Craddick, who has proofread the manuscript through its many revisions, helped us fund research, and donated a camera to photograph documents.  Through the generosity of the Mystery School, we were able purchase microfilms, and to make a second trip to the National Archives in the Spring of 1992, returning with more than ten thousand pages of copies of documents, including the Chippewa Halfbreed Scrip.  We also thank Mr. Robert L. Satterlee for loaning us two computers, a microfilm reader, helping us purchase microfilms, and all of the other assistance that he has given us.  I also thank my wife, Clara, for helping with the research, typing and listening.

            We also thank Michael Blake, Trish Broersma, Greg Chester, Andrew Dick, Ruth and Roger Grillo, Joan Henderson, Carolyn Jerome, Judy Lawrence, Melissa McLeod, Jonas Mekas, Anoja Rajapatirana, Peggy Nash Rubin, Harvey and Janis Sarles, Donna Satterlee, Mary Ellen Shaw, Jim and Sharon Toscano, and Valerie for their proofreading, encourage­ment, constructive criticism and other efforts, without which this book would not have been possible.

            Some of the Archivists, including Alan Woolworth, went above and beyond their job descriptions in helping us to find documents.  (We also acknowledge the Bureau of Indian Affairs; without their policies toward Aboriginal Indigenous people, this book would have not been necessary.)  None of the research or writing has been Federally or Tribally funded, nor supported by corporate foundations.

            The generosity of these and many other people who have helped in getting this book researched, edited and published, is all the more appreciated because they respected my writing from an Ahnishinahbæó^tji­bway perspective.  This includes an editor who donated a year of her time, who struggled valiantly with the very difficult problems of translating Aboriginal Indigenous thought into grammatical English, and who structured a non-linear mass of manuscript into the outline used in the book; and a publisher who agreed to publish the book as I wanted it, even though some of the English syntax is nonstandard.

            This book includes some things with which the contributors and the publisher may not agree.  The views expressed in this book are from an Aboriginal Indigenous perspective, and the way they are written is my responsibility alone.  If the reader has compliments, please send them to the publisher, but address arguments to the author:

                                                                                                      Wub-e-ke-niew, a.k.a. Francis Blake, Jr.

                                                                                                   [Note: Wub-e-ke-niew died on October 15, 1997.
                                                                                                        His widow can be reached at ClaraN@umn.edu]