Customer Reviews

Ojibway Heritage

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Similar to Joyce above, I read this book as apart of an essay for a philosophy course. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Although I have no Anishnabeg blood in me, I could relate so well to the vivid stories that Basil Johnson recites that in a way, I could not help but feel apart of this heritage as well. I was so use to hearing about the legend and lore of far off lands such as Ancient Greece, Medieval England and Ireland, that it was refreshing to hear lore that dealt with this part of the world... with my own back yard. I could relate to the Great Lakes region as I live in it! I could related to the animals (bears, beavers, muskrat, etc.) as they are all characters I have experience with. I could even relate to the places mentioned (for now there are often towns of the same name as places referred to in the book). I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking a colourful yet serious read, and who wishes to develop a keener appreciation for the Ojibway.

Canadians can sometimes forget how ancient their culture is. This book is the kind of thing that is needed to get us back in touch with our past. Frankly a lot of our ancient heritage lives on in modern Canada, from canoes and snowshoes to art and attitudes, but without us recognizing the great unbroken chain of culture we have here. People have been living here for over fourteen thousand years, and maybe even as many as one-hundred thousand years. This book is quite possibly the best one there is to get us back in touch with our ancient roots and ancient predecessors. We are often so inundated with American, European and other myths and legends that it is refreshing to be able to read our own, especially when we realize that ours are probably every bit as old as those famous tales from Ancient Greece, Rome and other places. Regardless of what the exact make-up of your DNA is, if you are Canadian, these are your stories, and they contain no small dose of wisdom either: literally thousands of years of accumulated wisdom condensed and simplified into tales. This is no pulp-fiction novel but rather a precious book chock-full of knowledge bequeathed to us by our forebears.

I read this book for an essay and I LOVED it. Johnston's use of stories beautifully revealed the spirituality of the Anishnabe-so much so that I discovered my own spirituality and place in this world by reading it. I wish to get my own copy to share with my children, which is what led me to search this website for the first time.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the sacred worldview of the Ojibway, whose simple ,honorable views of all things is quite universally held by most N.American First nations groups.This book is extremely readable and I would recommend it for all age groups!