North Spirit: Travels Among The Cree And Ojibway Nations and Their Star Maps

About this book

In 1974 when Paulette Jiles was first sent by the CBC to work as a journalist in Big Trout Lake a village without radio or television in remote northern Ontario she didnt know a bush plane from a backpack. She had little experience of the north or of the local cultures. North Spirit at turns lyrical witty and reflective is based on the seven years Jiles spent working with the Northern Cree and Ojibway peoples who call themselves Anishinabe. The book evokes a time when new technology including the communication systems the author helps introduce is beginning to clash with the traditional culture. Jiles episodic narrative-a unique blend of autobiography history geography poetry theater mythology and travelog-documents and explores this turning point in the culture of the Anishinabe. At the center of the authors journey is her search for the meaning of the remote and sometimes terrifying Oda-Ka-Daun or Stern Padler who moves his cosmic vessel through the heavens. As she seeks to unravel this mystery Jiles recounts her many adventures among the Anishinabe people and reveals the enduring legacy of their northern mythology.