Cree Narrative Memory

From Treaties to Contemporary Times

Neal McLeod

Neal McLeod examines the history of the nêhiyawak (Cree People) of western Canada from the massive upheavals of the 1870s and the reserve period to the vibrant cultural and political rebirth of contemporary times. Central to the text are the narratives of McLeod’s family, which give first hand examples of the tenacity and resiliency of the human spirit while providing a rubric for reinterpreting the history of Indigenous people, drawing on Cree worldviews and Cree narrative structures.

In a readable style augmented with extensive use of the Cree language throughout, McLeod draws heavily on original research, the methodology of which could serve as a template for those doing similar work. While the book is based on the Cree experience of the Canadian prairies, its message and methodology are applicable to all Indigenous societies.

Contents

·      Acknowledgements

·      Introduction

1: Cree Narrative Memory

·      wâhkôhtowin (Kinship) and Narrative Memory

·      The Reliability of Collective Narrative Memory

·      Toward a Notion of Spiritual History / âtayôhkêwina

2: Cree Narrative of Place

·      Mistasiniy

·      Other Important Places

·      Communication with the Landscape and Other Beings

·      Dreaming the World

3: Rethinking Treaty in the Spirit of mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear)

·      The Historical Context of Treaty Six

·      mistahi-maskwa and wîhkasko-kisêyin: Different Approaches to Treaty

4: kâ-miyikowisiyahk: What the Powers Have Given Us

·      mistahi-maskwa’s Resistance

·      The Spirit of mistahi-maskwa

5: Spatial and Spiritual Exile of the nêhiyawak (Cree People)

·      Dwelling in the Familiar

·      Exile

·      Spatial Exile

·      Spiritual Exile and the Residential Schools

6: Coming Home Through Stories

·      Playful and Humorous Treaty Stories

·      Exile

·      Coming Home

7: pîkahin okosisa: A Cree Story of Change

·      Historical Context of the Story

·      pîkahin okosisa: The Story

8: Embodied Memory: Contemporary Cree Political Identity

·      The League of Indians

·      The Creation of Modern Indigenous Institutions

9: Cree Narrative Imagination

·      Modernity and Colonialism: Dislocation from Collective Sound and Memory

·      Narrative Imagination: Bridging Past, Present, and Future through âtayôhkêwina

·      Indigenous Theory

·      Dialogue and Poetry: A Paradigm for Indigenous Theory

·      Appendix A: Cree Glossary

·      Appendix B: Neal McLeod’s Family Tree

·      Appendix C: Map of Local Cree Territory

·      Notes

·      Selected Bibliography Index

·      About the Author

About the Author

Neal McLeod holds a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies, and currently teaches Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. In addition to being a visual artist and entertainer, he has published a book of poetry, Songs to Kill a Wihtikow, and has another forthcoming entitled Gabriel’s Beach. He is Cree and Swedish, and was born and raised in Saskatchewan.