‘Wisconsin Indian Literature’ highlights oral traditions of state’s 12 Indian nations

“Wisconsin Indian Literature,” to be published in January 2007 by the University of Wisconsin Press, is a unique anthology that respectfully presents the oral traditions, literature, and historically significant documents of the current twelve independent bands and Indian Nations of Wisconsin.

Anthology editor Kathleen Tigerman sought input from tribe elders and educators to provide an accurate chronological portrait of each nation, including the Siouan Ho-Chunk; the Algonquian Menominee, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi; and three groups originally from what is now New York State: the Iroquoian Oneida, the Stockbridge-Munsee band of the Mohican Nations, and the Brothertown.

This original collection brings together an impressive selection of Native American oral traditions, legends, speeches, myths, and histories. Some of these works feature a cultural hero or refer to very ancient times – more than 6,000 years ago – while others are more contemporary. These pieces focus on issues of Wisconsin Native communities by sharing Native knowledge and dialogue about sovereignty, decolonization, cultural genocide, forced removals, assimilation, and other concerns.

The anthology introduces a vivid collection of voices, enhanced by many maps, photographs, and chronologies. “Wisconsin Indian Literature” also fosters cross-cultural understanding among non-Native readers and the people of the First Nations.

“Kathleen Tigerman uniquely presents these selections from a literary perspective, using the actual words of native writers themselves as the basis for knowledge about their heritage and their contemporary significance,” says S. Verna Fowler, president of the College of Menominee Nation. “(The anthology) will enlarge the available resources for the task of educating not only K-12 and college students, but also Wisconsin’s residents about the native issue in the state.”

Tigerman, an associate professor of English at UW-Platteville, developed a course on Wisconsin Indian Literature that has become a permanent course offering. This book was funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin.