Review of Plain Speaking: Essays on Aboriginal Peoples and the Prairie Edited by Patrick Douaud and Bruce Dawson

• Main Author: Hill, L. Brooks
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2002
• Subjects: Other International and Area Studies; Blair; Finn; McLeod; First Nations; Metis
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2298; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/3298/viewcontent/BR_Hill.pdf

Primarily derived from a March 2001 conference held in Regina, Saskatchewan, these essays present diverse perspectives on various connections between First Nations and Metis peoples and the Canadian Plains. Designed to create a more holistic perspective, the conference and this companion book used a wide variety of presentational formats to capture the diversity of past and present connections between Aboriginal Peoples and the prairies. The twelve articles range from traditional academic reports to autobiographical commentaries, photo essays, and transcribed interviews from an Elders' roundtable. Essential to this collection is the confrontation of modernism with traditionalism. In his article Neal McLeod presents this struggle within the context of current and past social and political conditions. The remaining articles variously fit within his social change perspective. Portraying traditional ideas most vividly are the illuminating retrospectives of the Elders' roundtable and a photo essay by Finn Andersen about Everett Baker's work. Three historical articles reveal some of the recurrent problems that characterize the colonial experience, such as broken treaties, foolish bureaucracies, and linguistic confusion. As cases in point, Blair Stonechild provides an archival report about Treaty Number Four, Bruce Dawson examines the bureaucratic fiasco of the Greater Production Campaign, and Jean Okimasis analyzes Cree place names. A recurrent theme in discussions of social change is what we have lost in the guise of progress. Three articles address the centrality of the land to physical and psychological welfare: Douaud frames these concerns broadly in relation to spirituality, Linda Otway analyzes the compromises in women's health care, and Bev Cardinal discusses her family's place as related to her social well-being. The remaining three articles examine the struggle of artists with their heritage and how to use it. Randy Lundy recognizes this struggle and seriously questions the burden of heritage; Floyd Favel ...