Honoring Elders

Aging, Authority, and Ojibwe Religion

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology, History, Americas, United States, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book Honoring Elders by Michael D. McNally, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael D. McNally ISBN: 9780231518253
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: August 6, 2009
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Michael D. McNally
ISBN: 9780231518253
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: August 6, 2009
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Like many Native Americans, Ojibwe people esteem the wisdom, authority, and religious significance of old age, but this respect does not come easily or naturally. It is the fruit of hard work, rooted in narrative traditions, moral vision, and ritualized practices of decorum that are comparable in sophistication to those of Confucianism. Even as the dispossession and policies of assimilation have threatened Ojibwe peoplehood and have targeted the traditions and the elders who embody it, Ojibwe and other Anishinaabe communities have been resolute and resourceful in their disciplined respect for elders. Indeed, the challenges of colonization have served to accentuate eldership in new ways.

Using archival and ethnographic research, Michael D. McNally follows the making of Ojibwe eldership, showing that deference to older women and men is part of a fuller moral, aesthetic, and cosmological vision connected to the ongoing circle of life-a tradition of authority that has been crucial to surviving colonization. McNally argues that the tradition of authority and the authority of tradition frame a decidedly indigenous dialectic, eluding analytic frameworks of invented tradition and naïve continuity. Demonstrating the rich possibilities of treating age as a category of analysis, McNally provocatively asserts that the elder belongs alongside the priest, prophet, sage, and other key figures in the study of religion.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Like many Native Americans, Ojibwe people esteem the wisdom, authority, and religious significance of old age, but this respect does not come easily or naturally. It is the fruit of hard work, rooted in narrative traditions, moral vision, and ritualized practices of decorum that are comparable in sophistication to those of Confucianism. Even as the dispossession and policies of assimilation have threatened Ojibwe peoplehood and have targeted the traditions and the elders who embody it, Ojibwe and other Anishinaabe communities have been resolute and resourceful in their disciplined respect for elders. Indeed, the challenges of colonization have served to accentuate eldership in new ways.

Using archival and ethnographic research, Michael D. McNally follows the making of Ojibwe eldership, showing that deference to older women and men is part of a fuller moral, aesthetic, and cosmological vision connected to the ongoing circle of life-a tradition of authority that has been crucial to surviving colonization. McNally argues that the tradition of authority and the authority of tradition frame a decidedly indigenous dialectic, eluding analytic frameworks of invented tradition and naïve continuity. Demonstrating the rich possibilities of treating age as a category of analysis, McNally provocatively asserts that the elder belongs alongside the priest, prophet, sage, and other key figures in the study of religion.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Ghalib by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Measured Excess by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Religion and International Relations Theory by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Catechizing Culture by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Orhan Pamuk and the Good of World Literature by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Teenage Suicide Notes by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book If You're in a Dogfight, Become a Cat! by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book The Fate of Ideas by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Corporate Risk Management by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book The Birth of Conservative Judaism by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book The Gnostic New Age by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book Just Life by Michael D. McNally
Cover of the book East Asia Before the West by Michael D. McNally
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy