Reconfigurations of Native North America: An Anthology of New Perspectives. Ed. by John R. Wunder and Kurt E. Kinbacher. (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2009. xii, 314 pp. $45.00, ISBN 978-0-89672-641-3.)

Abstract

The seventeen essays in this volume are the result of the Ninth Biennial Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference on North American Studies, hosted by the University of Helsinki in 2002. The conference has earned a positive reputation for its ambitious efforts to initiate international discussions on topics that cross the interpretive borders between Canada and the United States. In this case, the organizers dedicated an entire conference to thinking about Native North American history and culture. The editors, John R. Wunder and Kurt E. Kinbacher, explain that “for this particular book … reconfigurations denote new ways to consider scholarship concerning indigenous North Americans” (p. 7). Although there are several excellent essays in the volume, the book has many of the problems associated with conference proceedings. The essays are uneven in their development. Some are highly polished pieces of scholarship, while others are so brief and suggestive that there is hardly space to present complex ideas or fresh insights. The editors organized the chapters into five thematic sections, but despite their best efforts the connections sometimes appear forced. The section “Comparative Historical and Cultural Perspectives” joins essays on colonial treaties in the United States and Canada, modern issues of self-determination among the James Bay Crees and the Navajos, and bear ceremonialism in the subarctic and plains regions. The latter essay simply does not fit well. Surprisingly, the book also contains a number of minor mistakes that should have been corrected in the copyediting process. These errors are mostly just annoying, but they do not look good in a book produced by a respected academic press. In the end, we miss the most important part of the meeting: the many stimulating conversations that took place in the conference rooms, restaurants, and bars of Helsinki.