Their Example Showed Me the Way / kwayask -k-p-kiskinowpahtihicik (Paperback)

Emma Minde

ISBN 10: 0888642911 / ISBN 13: 9780888642912

Published by University of Alberta Press, Alberta, 1997

About this Item

Paperback. Emma Minde's portraits of the family into which she was given in marriage are touching and instructive. They show us a young woman leaving her home at Saddle Lake, Alberta, to join a household of strangers at Hobbema -- with not only a husband she has yet to meet, but also four powerful adults who will shape her life: her husband's parents, Mary-Jane and Dan Minde, and Dan Minde's youngest brother Sam and his wife Mary. Emma Minde's autobiography focuses on her relationship with these two women, Mary-Jane Minde and Mary-Minde. The education that the newly arrived wife received in their households was built on obedience, hard work and a firmly held set of beliefs, seen as essential preparation for a life of uncertainty and rapid change, hardship and constant struggle. These reminiscences, told to Freda Ahenakew, offer rare insights into a life history guided by two powerful forces: the traditional world of the Plains Cree and the Catholic missions with their boarding-schools. Rarely has the interplay of these two world views -- often in conflict, but often also, it seems, very much in harmony with one another -- been sketched so eloquently as in Emma Minde's autobiography.Emma Minde's stories are presented as she told them in Cree, with a translation into English on facing pages. With its Cree-English Glossary and an English Index to the Glossary, this work is an important Cree language resource. Emma Minde's portraits of the family into which she was given in marriage more than sixty years ago are instructive and touching. She offers rare insight into a life history guided by two powerful forces: the traditional world of the Plains Cree and the influence of the Catholic missions. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780888642912

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Their Example Showed Me the Way / kwayask -k-p-kiskinowpahtihicik (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of Alberta Press, Alberta
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0888642911
• ISBN 13: 9780888642912
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Emma Minde’s portraits of the family into which she was given in marriage are touching and instructive. They show us a young woman leaving her home in Saddle Lake, Alberta, to join a household of strangers in Hobbema. In addition to the husband she has yet to meet, Emma comes to know four strong-willed people who will shape her life: her husband’s parents, Mary-Jane and Dan Minde, Dan’s younger brother, Sam, and his wife, Mary. These reminiscences, told to Freda Ahenakew, offer rare insights into a life guided by two powerful forces: the traditional world of the Plains Cree and the Catholic missions and boarding-schools of the day, designed to re-make their charges entirely. Rarely has the interplay of these two worlds€”often in conflict, yet oddly in harmony€”been sketched so eloquently as in this moving autobiography. Emma Minde’s stories are presented here as she told them in Cree, with a translation into English on the facing pages. With its Cre

About the Author

Emma Minde, a Cree woman, was born in 1907 and raised in Saddle Lake, Alberta. Upon her marriage, she moved to Hobbema (now Maskwacis). She recorded her autobiography in 1988.