Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation

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Product details

  • ISBN 9781513133720
  • Dimensions: 127 x 203mm
  • Publication Date: 31 Mar 2022
  • Publisher: West Margin Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation (1850) is a work of Indigenous American history by George Copway. Written while he was living with his wife and daughter in New York, The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation helped establish Copway’s reputation as a leading Native American author of the nineteenth century. Recognized as one of the first books of its kind written by an indigenous author, Copway’s work is an invaluable resource for understanding the history of contact between settlers and indigenous peoples, some of whom, like Copway’s family, assimilated and served as missionaries, translators, and ambassadors. “There is room and opportunity for adventure among the bold, broken, rugged rocks, piled up one upon another in ‘charming confusion,’ on the shores, along the borders of the silent waters, or beneath the solid cliffs against which the waters of Superior break with a force which has polished their rocky surface. The mountains, rivers, lakes, cliffs, and caverns of the Ojibway country, impress one with the thought that Nature has there built a home for Nature’s children.” Raised in a moment of immense cultural change for his people, George Copway played a complicated role as a Methodist missionary and Ojibway historian, preserving the traditions of his people while working to assimilate their religious beliefs with those of the white settlers whose presence so often proved detrimental to their continued existence. In this powerful work, one of the first written texts on Indigenous American history by an indigenous author, Copway reflects on the cultural traditions, geographical territory, and ancestral stories of the Ojibway people. Written in a poetic, meditative prose, The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation remains essential reading nearly two centuries after it appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of George Copway’s The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation is a classic work of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

George Copway (1818-1869) was a Mississauga Ojibwa writer, missionary, and advocate. Born in Trenton, Ontario, his Ojibwa name was Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh, meaning He Who Stands Forever. His father John was a medicine man and Mississauga chief who converted to Methodism in 1827. Sent to a nearby mission school, Copway became a missionary in 1834, working in Wisconsin to translate the Book of Acts and the Gospel of St Luke into Ojibwa. After earning an appointment as a Methodist minister, Copway moved with his wife to Minnesota, where they would raise a son and daughter while serving as missionaries. In 1846, accusations of embezzlement for his work on the Ojibwe General Council forced him to leave the Methodist church. The next year, he published The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh, a bestselling memoir that was the first book published by a Canadian First Nations writer. Encouraged by this success, Copway launched a weekly New York City newspaper called Copway’s American Indian but failed to keep his venture afloat despite letters of support from Lewis Henry Morgan, James Fenimore Cooper, and Washington Irving. Over the next decade, he succumbed to alcoholism and debt, and was left by his wife and daughter in 1858. Copway spent the last years of his life writing on Indian history, working as an herbalist, and recruiting troops for the Union army.

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