This book would have been impossible
without the Ahnishinahbæótjibway
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 Ahnishinahbæótjibway. 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 Ahnishinahbæótjibway
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]
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