Paper Talk: A History of Libraries, Print Culture, and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada before 1960

by Brendan Frederick R. Edwards

Overview

The pre-1960 history of print culture and libraries, as they relate to the First Peoples of Canada, has gone largely untold. Paper Talk explores the relationship between the introduction of western print culture to Aboriginal peoples by missionaries, the development of libraries in the Indian schools in the nineteenth century, and the establishment of community-accessible collections in the twentieth century. While missionaries and the Department of Indian Affairs envisioned books and libraries as assimilative and "civilizing" tools, Edwards shows that some Aboriginal peoples articulated western ideas of print culture, literacy, books, and libraries as tools to assist their own cultural, social, and political aspirations. This text also serves to illustrate that the contemporary struggle of Aboriginal peoples in Canada to establish libraries in communities has a historical basis and that many of the obstacles faced today are remarkably similar to those encountered by earlier generations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810851139
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/10/2004
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.44(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Brendan Frederick R. Edwards holds both a Master of Library and Information Studies degree and a Master of Arts in Canadian Studies and Native Studies.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Acknowledgments Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 1. Contexts and Foundations: Placing this history: literacy, books, libraries, and First Peoples Chapter 4 2. The Nineteenth Century: "Read, write, and worship God daily": The Missionary's tools: the written word, books, and education Chapter 5 3. First Quarter of the Twentieth Century: Books in the schools and Aboriginal literary initiatives Chapter 6 4. 1930 through 1960: Community development, philanthropy, and educational neglect: Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal literary perspectives Chapter 7 Conclusion: Knowledge keepers: libraries and the printed word Chapter 8 Appendix 1: Approved Supplementary Reading Books for Indian Schools, 1931-1938 Chapter 9 Appendix 2: Day School Libraries, 1943 Chapter 10 Bibliography Chapter 11 Index Chapter 12 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Paper Talk is an almost ideal example of this phenomenon of academic scrutiny supporting aboriginal values. It takes a seemingly peripheral subject - the history of libraries in aboriginal-European relations - and brings it to bear on the larger story with solid research, inexorable logic and often devastating conclusions.

Globe and Mail

The information in this book is excellent and important...

Project Muse

...Edwards' prose is clear and efficient...Edwards's extensive notes often provide lucid outlines of scholarly controversies, and his bibliography will tempt a variety of readers....All the current stakeholders—Canadians, librarians, cultural historians, and, not least, politicians and Indigenous peoples engaged in a digital age in which both the promise of access and the expense of ownership have risen dramatically—ought to read this learned and passionate book.

Information & Culture

...fascinating.... this provocative, well-written, well-edited, and thoroughly documented study deserves a place on the "must read" list of any academic librarian interested in the history of libraries, the social implications of Western notions of literacy, and/or the provision of library services to aboriginal peoples. Brendan Edwards and Scarecrow Press are to be commended for making this important study available...

College & Research Libraries

This is a history of libraries and print culture and their combined impact on Aboriginal people in Canada. There’s even an interesting piece on school libraries and their adequacies and deficiencies in the years before 1960. A scholarly and interesting read.

The Nipawin Journal

Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice Reviews

Covers the largely untold story of the introduction of print to Canadian aboriginal peoples by missionaries as a "civilizing" influence. Later, in the early twentieth century libraries were part of residential schools and the appendices include fascinating lists of approved books. Also documented are the initial efforts to establish public libraries in native communities, a void that remains today.

Vancouver Public Library Online

The history of the book in Canadian Aboriginal communities is becoming a subject of concentrated interest...Paper Talk is an original and fine addition to this ongoing discussion....Paper Talk provides a cohesive and richly detailed narrative that outline general patterns among Aboriginal people combined with illustrations of specific examples in local contexts. Edwards balances solid primary research with careful integration of published works in the field. The book will be of interest to scholars of both Aboriginal peoples and the history of the book.

Papers Of The Bibliographical Society Of Canada

This book...is a wonderful read and a valuable addition to Canadian book and library history....Edward's works are informative histories that break new ground and cover more than a century of varying kinds of library service and print culture among Aboriginals across Canada.

Libraries Today Blog

A scholar of library and information science, Canadian studies, and native studies, Edwards traces the introduction of books and print culture to Aboriginal people in Canada from the first endeavors of missionaries in the 1820s to the opening of the first official public library for natives. The overarching question he asks is what the motivations and effects were of introducing book literacy into Aboriginal cultures where orality and other variant forms of literacy already existed and had served the people well for many generations.

Reference and Research Book News

In this text, Edwards analyses the contributions of a number of Aboriginals that were instrumental in articulating their peoples' concerns. He discusses the challenges and contributions made by such people as Peter Jones, George Copway, Charles Cooke, Dr. Oronhyaetkha, and Edward Ahenakew. Edwards' text provides compelling background to contemporary literacy and print culture issues. Paper Talk provides an excellent initial contribution to a field deserving increased scholarly and public attention.

SHARP News

Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice

Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

CHOICE

...fascinating.... this provocative, well-written, well-edited, and thoroughly documented study deserves a place on the "must read" list of any academic librarian interested in the history of libraries, the social implications of Western notions of literacy, and/or the provision of library services to aboriginal peoples. Brendan Edwards and Scarecrow Press are to be commended for making this important study available...

College & Research Libraries (C&RL)

...Edwards' prose is clear and efficient...Edwards's extensive notes often provide lucid outlines of scholarly controversies, and his bibliography will tempt a variety of readers....All the current stakeholders—Canadians, librarians, cultural historians, and, not least, politicians and Indigenous peoples engaged in a digital age in which both the promise of access and the expense of ownership have risen dramatically—ought to read this learned and passionate book.

Libraries and The Cultural Record

In this text, Edwards analyses the contributions of a number of Aboriginals that were instrumental in articulating their peoples' concerns. He discusses the challenges and contributions made by such people as Peter Jones, George Copway, Charles Cooke, Dr. Oronhyaetkha, and Edward Ahenakew. Edwards' text provides compelling background to contemporary literacy and print culture issues. Paper Talk provides an excellent initial contribution to a field deserving increased scholarly and public attention.

Sharp News

Paper Talk is an almost ideal example of this phenomenon of academic scrutiny supporting aboriginal values. It takes a seemingly peripheral subject - the history of libraries in aboriginal-European relations - and brings it to bear on the larger story with solid research, inexorable logic and often devastating conclusions.

Globe & Mail