Doodem and Council Fire: Anishinaabe Governance through Alliance by Heidi Bohaker

Abstract

Reviewed by: Doodem and Council Fire: Anishinaabe Governance through Alliance by Heidi Bohaker Natasha Myhal Heidi Bohaker. Doodem and Council Fire: Anishinaabe Governance through Alliance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020. 304 pp. Paperback, $34.95. In Doodem and Council Fire: Anishinaabe Governance through Alliance, historian Heidi Bohaker addresses the doodem (clan) traditions within the Anishinaabe worldview and how their governments interacted with settlers and then later settler colonial policies beginning in the seventeenth century. Anishinaabe philosophy within Doodem and Council Fire indicates that a doodem was given by the Creator to the Anishinaabe, which detailed responsibilities for them. This book presents a rich and detailed analysis of the doodem as an "analytical category" (44) to support Anishinaabe histories. The beginning of the text details the doodems' meaning to the Anishinaabe, as a philosophy, system of law, and a foundation of their alliances with other tribes and European settlers. The text then demonstrates the Anishinaabe view of doodemag (plural) as living ensouled beings, that they were in relationship with and held responsibilities toward. Thus, these relationships guided their own negotiations and the treaties they would later make with settler governments. The rest of the text provides an in-depth analysis on doodemag as different facets of Anishinaabe philosophy and law. Bohaker first relates Anishinaabe stories (aadizookaanag) that were written down by either European trader or interpreters and includes, when possible, Anishinaabeg writers and their own doodem stories from that time. This lays the foundation from an Anishinaabe perspective on how doodems informed Anishinaabe kinship practices. "To share a doodem is to be immediate kin" (57), and thus Bohaker describes how the Anishinaabe view kinship through "shared souls" and not blood. Bohaker's work is different than other historians in that she [End Page 357] provides a nuanced analysis of the how Western categories, such as kinship, imposed on Anishinaabe life, do not adequately describe relations between doodem. In her reliance on Euro-American written accounts, she pulls from the accounts of fur traders. In particular, a seventeenth-century fur trader Nicholas Perraut describes in his writings how Anishinaabek governments were based on doodems. Bohaker's book is filled with various accounts such as this, which shed light on how doodems related to a particular place, and how doodems took up various roles in the community. Bohaker goes on to describe how doodemag represented various cultural and spiritual practices for the Anishinaabe, such as burial practices, adoption, and marriage. In particular, these topics extend themselves to the overall argument that doodemag are a web of relations. Bohaker emphasizes that one's doodem encompasses a way of life and often teaches the person how to live through everyday acts, ceremonies, and employing care toward others. A web of relations is best shown through a discussion of the environment and alliances. For example, the Anishinaabe used wampum belts or strings to record alliances in what Bohaker considers "the literal weaving of thoughts from living human being and materials for living marine, floral, and faunal beings" (92). When the Anishinaabe exchanged wampum with other tribes and Europeans, it signified an alliance that came with a set of responsibilities. Ultimately, the Anishinaabe philosophy of minobimaadiziwin (to live well/balance) informs doodemag relations. Their philosophies remind them to care for their relations, which extends into the foundation of their governance. The second half of the text describes doodemag through the Anishinaabe worldview of fire and leadership practices. Bohaker's emphasis on the Anishinaabe government as founded upon council fires supports Anishinaabe decision-making through alliances. Bohaker critiques the terminology or labels prescribed on the Anishinaabe—such as "nation," "tribe," "village," or "band"—emphasizing the Eurocentric nature of these terms, as they do not accurately describe the fluidity or seasonality of how council fires shift within various regions. Bohaker then goes on to describe how Anishinaabe leaders embodied doodemag and were guided by their teachings. The meanings behind certain doodems, such as the thunderbirds "with its wings outstretched," imply "preparing to do battle with the underwater manidoog, [End Page 358] protecting the Anishinaabek from dangerous lake storms" (140). This analysis is illustrated with images of doodemag so readers can visualize Anishinaabe employment of these images. Bohaker reminds...