Does anyone know where I can track down some good resources to learn about the Anishinaabe aboriginal groups in Canada and the United States?

by Captain_Flaps_Jack

I'm looking for information to be as general or in depth as possible.

Anishinaabe peoples have a cultural history I'm particularly interested in but don't really know where to start learning from source wise, and given the tendency for so much of their history, traditions, mythology, stories, etc to have been passed on through oral tradition I recognize that much of our available resources on may likely limited to post-european contact.

What I am looking for those is any sources that can highlight the social structure of power/authority in Anishinaabe groups, particularly of the Ojibwe/Cree if possible, but all is welcome. In addition to that, spiritualism is also a big interest to me. I realized about a day ago that my knowledge of medicine societies is lacking and that I should take efforts to fill in the gaps of knowledge I currently have as my current understanding is pretty flat and shallow which opens my interpretations up to generalize practices which were rich in their formation and meaning and could have varied drastically from band to band.

Economics and the roll of the natural world around the tribe also greatly interest me, and I'd also like to know in general the familial structures that came to reflect these peoples reliance and understanding of their environments, their knowledge of plants, etc.

Again, I recognize the difficulty in finding sources though given that likely much of what we know comes from post-european contact and the scope of work into these groups may have short falls.

In addition, I'm wondering if anyone could also point out any literature on the historical consequences to the strong-arm efforts to snuff out elements of Anishinaabe culture/language too. All of this is happening because I wrote a common mentioning 'bad medicine' not realizing my conception of what that means is probably based on the assumption of a relatively modern inception in Anishinaabe spiritualism that itself has arisen out of a misinterpretation of Anishinaabe traditions that exist as a consequence to these aforementioned efforts to snuff the culture out.

So yea, I'm just looking for sources that could set my assumptions and misunderstandings straight and give me a clearer picture of what Anishinaabe cultures looked like at different periods. Any and all direction would be appreciated!

Sorry if this was to general and vague!

anthropology_nerd

You should check out Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America by McDonnell. The book will serve as a great introduction to the Anishinaabeg, their influence on the history of North America, and current persistence. The bibliography alone is worth investigating and you can pillage those sources for further reading. I very much enjoyed the book and think it will help address many of the questions you raised.