5. Frederick Matthew Wiseman, The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation

[pauraque]

By page 3, I knew I was going to like this book.

The tradition of Western science is unidirectional from subject (Abenaki elder, archaeological site, industrial raw material) to the collector/researcher to the publisher. From there it goes to the teacher (college professor) or media person (Nova scriptwriter) and finally to the multiethnic American community, the ultimate consumer. As viewed by the consumer, this is a process of enrichment. But viewed from the perspective of the elder who has lost legal control of her life story, the backfilled hole that was once a site, or the plant crucified on acid-free paper in some paradichlorobenzined herbarium cabinet, this may seem exploitative to say the least.

What a breath of fresh air Wiseman is. With penetrating insight, he identifies and rejects those stale old views, and goes on to show us how it ought to be done. He guides us through his people's history from the depths of time to the present day in a voice that is urgent, sensitive, and quite likeable. He makes no false pose of neutrality -- he is pro-Abenaki and puts his own and his people's views first -- yet he explains competing viewpoints more generously than most writers who do claim to be neutral. It feels like seeing in color for the first time, when before all you knew was black and white.

"Tradition of Western science", you just got served.

( What's in the book )

( What's not in the book )

( Why a book about history moved me deeply )