No word for time: The way of the Algonquin people [Paperback]

The author describes his experiences study Algonquin traditions and makes several general statements on how the "Elders" act and feel. Many of these statements are so absolute, It makes me wonder... Do all the 'elder's' act/feel this way? What is the origin and purpose of these traditions? Is there a difference between the philosophy of the elders based on Gender? What about Gender rolls in Algonquin society? How do the non-elders feel? I was left curious about this.

Second, while I enjoyed some of the stories, I felt the author may leap to some conclusions based on experiences with a small group of people. Saying: "All Algonquin's behave a certain way-," is like saying: all Anglos eat fried rice on Tuesday..." it just seemed to generalized for me.

Third, I didn't really care for the first-person narrative: the author writes throughout the book "I have seen-" or "I-went" Or, "I did this." It just didn't seem to have the same impact as a third-person narrative.

Fourth: there was a distinct absence of footnotes, in the text. Chapters were slurred together with no particular order or purpose. Chapters starting off at the end of the paragraph of a previous chapter. I found this distracting.

Fifth: Finally, there is a certain 'pseudo-science' which I think can be misleading in this book. The author starts speculating that early native peoples were Neanderthal-like in appearance is incorrect. No neanderthals migrated to the American continent at all, and there is no scientific evidence to suggest that Native American's appeared any different in their physical aspects than other Early native peoples.

Overall, I recommend this book for fans of the metaphysical, who don't mind a 'stream of consciousness' style narration, and a certain lack of scientific perspective.

In conclusion, while I enjoyed aspects of "No Word For Time" I would use this book as a reference with caution.

This book is not written linearly, like a novel. It touches on a subject, circles around it for a while, and then comes back to address the same subject again in more depth. Micmac prayers move in this manner, circularly. And the rhythms of the earth and of traditional Native life are similary cyclical, moving around a center rather than progressing linearly like our concept of time from the past to an isolated future.

In response to a previous reviewer: Lack of linear time does not equal "primitive". On the contrary, I believe the author is actually trying to show us how much more *sophisticated* the Micmac view of life is than ours. If their sophistication is linguistic, spiritual, and philosophical rather than technological, then in my mind that makes it just that much more important.

This book seeks to immerse us in the worldview of a people whose wisdom we have long ignored, but that we now very much need. And it succeeds in this far better than any other book I have read. Rather than simply teaching us intellectually about the Micmac approach to life and spirituality, it helps us feel what it is like to see the world through Micmac eyes.

I highly recommend this book.

Of course, the book is mostly about spirituality, not linguistics, and that part may be much more valid. I wouldn't know--personally, I was too put off by the errors to finish the thing. If you don't care about languages you may like this book anyway. The writing style seems interesting. I just couldn't get past the gross inaccuracies in the one part I already knew something about.