Michael McDonnell (1)

The book argues, quite convincingly, that the tribes around the Great Lakes were pretty much running the show in the 17th and 18th centuries, playing the British and French empires off against one another, and in doing so restores some balance to a heretofore Euro-centric historical narrative. The argument is similar to that made by Pekka Hamalained in The Comanche Empire. As with that book, I found myself accepting the argument, but not much liking the Native American peoples it described, who come off as petty, manipulative, demanding presents to behave, and perfectly happy to start a war if they don't get their way--in other words, just like everyone else. The book will certainly disabuse you of the notion that Native Americans lived in harmony with nature and one another before the European invasion. It's an eye-opening book and to my mind long overdue.… (meer)

While rather dry, this diplomatic history of the Odawa/Ottawa of what is now Wisconsin makes a good point of illustrating how into the 19th century these people were among the main arbiters of events in North America; certainly the French aspirations to empire lived and died on the decisions of their so-called "auxiliaries" among the First Nations. Though the book sort of fades out more than ends, McDonnell notes that while many other of the First Nations found themselves forced out of their traditional ranges, the Odawa remain in large numbers in Wisconsin to this day, a testament to their abilities at relationship building, and perhaps a shrewd eye for not picking fights with a low percentage of victory!… (meer)

This book was... okay? I read it over a very spread out amount of time, which is never good for reading books, but also in part speaks to how this book just didn't grab me. I was convinced by the end that McDonnell was right to identify how the Odawa had been left out of narratives, and I generally believed the power they held over the region. I just got caught up in the details and it made it hard to follow things that were happening. That might be part of the point, but it made for a really difficult read, and the months it took me to read it made it even more difficult. Overall, not a terrible read, and interesting to consider, but not my favorite thing.… (meer)