The Voice of the Crane Echoes Afar : The Sociopolitical Organization of the Lake Superior Ojibwa, 1640-1855 Book

In her skillful and significant scholarly discussion of the ethnohistory of the Ojibwa, the author examines origins, social organization, and political structure, offering significant breakthroughs in interpretation and challenging many of the canonical interpretations of previous histories of Ojibwa sociopolitical development.
The sociopolitical organization of the Lake Superior Ojibwa remained essentially unchanged from their earliest contact with Europeans until the establishment of reservations by the Treaty of 1854. The earliest Ojibwa are identified as the Crane totem of the Upper Great Lakes Algonquians. Using linguistic and documentary sources, as well as recorded oral traditions, the study explains the process by which other groups joined the Ojibwa. The patrilineal totemic band remained the basic unit of Ojibwa society throughout the pre-reservation period. The author describes sociopolitical organization of these bands and their leadership. The author also disproves the prevalent belief in the existence of large multi-clan villages in prehistoric times and dismisses the legend of a once-powerful chief of all the Ojibwa. The role of the fur trade in maintaining the traditional Ojibwa culture is also discussed.