Review of Voices of the Plains Cree by Edward Ahenakew

Authors

Ann Leger-Anderson, Canadian Plains Research Center
Brian Mlazgar, Canadian Plains Research Center

Date of this Version

Summer 1997

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 3/4, Summer/Fall 1997, pp. 263.

Comments

Copyright 1997 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

RESPONSE TO REVIEW

Jennifer S. H. Brown reviewed Edward Ahenakew's Voices of the Plains Cree (reprinted Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center) in the Winter 1997 issue of Great Plains Quarterly (volume 17, number 1). Because we believe her review misrepresents the book, however, we would like to explain why the Canadian Plains Research Center Publication Board made the choices that it did regarding its decision to reprint this volume.

The board considered the sorts of issues raised by Brown. Extensive discussion occurred, and the board concurred that a reissue of the original Voices of the Plains Cree was preferable to an academically edited tome containing an index and running heads. Basically, the Board concluded that, in response to the rising demand for copies of the book, the reissue should honor the integrity of the original publication. No index appeared in the original edition, hence the decision not to include one in the reprint. Furthermore, chapters in the "Old Keyam" section of the book were untitled in the original. Again, in the interests of preserving the integrity of the original, running heads were not included. One may perhaps question, given the emphasis upon preserving the integrity of the original edition, the use of the illustrations. The artist, whose work was known to the board, was available, and the board concluded that inclusion of these attractive illustrations was fitting.

There is far more that can be done with the Ahenakew stories-these and the ones that have not yet found their way into print. This is a major academic undertaking, and the CPRC would like to be part of the necessary labors to produce a far more complete and definitive piece of work. In the meantime there was a demand for the original Voices of the Plains Cree, which had been unavailable for several years. The CPRC houses an academic press that has a long and honorable history of publishing Native-related material, at no profit to itself. Although we wish that we had featured the newly prepared Stan Cuthand introduction on the cover and title page, we emphasize that our edition of Voices of the Plains Cree is a timely reprint of a classic text that filled an important need for readers.