Description
Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times examines the Plains Cree perspective of their historical experience from the treaty period to contemporary times. Drawing on his Cree ancestry, the author also uses the Cree language to understand the narrative memory of his Nation. The narrative memory is not simply storytelling but provides a rubric for the reinterpretation of Canadian history from the Cree worldview. Part of the collective narrative is the importance of kinship and spirituality to the reliability of the collective memory. Chapters cover the Cree narrative of place, rethinking of the spirit of Treaty 6, the spirit of resistance, spatial and spiritual exile of the reserve system and residential schools, the importance of stories including humour, contemporary Cree political identity and institutions, and contemporary Cree narrative imagination. This book provides a new approach to understanding Cree historiography in a highly accessible manner. The book includes archival photographs, a glossary of Cree terms, a map of Cree places of significance, and numerous quotes. Neal McLeod teaches Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.