A descendant of Pezeke,
the great "Chief Buffalo" of Lake Superior, Paul Buffalo was born
near the fork of the Leech and Mississippi Rivers in 1900. On the Fourth
of July in 1900. Or at least that's how they reconstructed it. What
they really only know is that he was born on
the day that the whites were temporarily crazy.
In his early youth Paul Buffalo witnessed the traditional ways of
northern Minnesota Ojibwa and their continuing encounter with the white
man and his roads, railroads, river boats, values and ways of life. And
they were white men in those days. He remembers the first white
woman that moved into his family's area. She was the mother of his
life-long friend, whose funeral sermon begins Paul's story in Chapter
1.
Paul Buffalo participated in the early
logging activities of northern
Minnesota, and during the 1930s acted as a councilman and representative
of his people.
Mr. Buffalo had a gift of recounting "campfire
talk" of the old days
and of making his cultural principles, values, and perspectives on history
relevant to present times.
Although baptized in the Christian religion, Mr. Buffalo continued
native Indian practices. His knowledge of Indian religion and ways of
life, and his awareness of present day concerns and problems, gave him
rare insight into the beliefs of his people.
Few individuals have witnessed so much cultural change as have
recent
generations of American Indian people. Few of these native Americans now
remember
or will discuss at length their early days before whites brought radical
change to their
native way of life. From the turn of the century to the Indian
Reorganization Act of
1934, the world of Paul Buffalo and his people changed drastically in
response to
lumbering, mining, transportation, and communications developments.
During the
twelve years of taping life history materials, Paul Buffalo discussed
every aspect of his
public and private life, including descriptions of his religious beliefs
and herbal medical
practices. He spoke of his heritage, his years as leader of the Local
Indian Council, his
beliefs, his language, the changes he had seen, the things his elders told
him and his
personal experiences of life. He was only one of many with similar
experiences, but he
was one of the few Ojibwa leaders who would talk at length about the past.
People of
Minnesota and the United States are overdue to learn a personal story of
the people
that whites have called "Chippewa" and "Ojibwa," and who call themselves
Anishinabe.
In the spirit of earlier books setting forth the traditions of North
American Indian
peoples, books such as Crashing Thunder, Black Elk Speaks,
Cheyenne Memories,
and The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian, the following memoirs
aim to provide
for "people who want to listen" a personal account of the early life of a
modern Ojibwa
Medicine Doctor. They faithfully represent the thirty-three hundred pages
of transcribed
oral narratives, and attempt to retain Paul Buffalo's interesting and
subtle ways of
saying things. Subtle, because great metaphysical and spiritual
assertions are
enmeshed in simple description of ordinary events. Interesting, because
they are.
Paul Buffalo's life history
provides a very personal statement about his people and their relationship
to the land of Lake Superior. His narratives reflect a belief in the
interrelationship of all things of nature that is, paradoxically,
straightforward but intricate. Great and profound questions about the
universe intermingle with reflections on experiences of a robin's song.
The simple and grandiose coexist in a natural world, and are of equal
importance in one's personal life. Death, illness, health, life, law,
emotions, friendship, religion, diet, hope, and a thousand facets of life
interact as parts of a natural world. Underlying these freestyle
narratives are a basic statement about this interrelatedness of all
creation, and a self-renewing excitement of nature.
Although Paul Buffalo speaks with extensive experiencing of, and very
long familiarity with, the natural world, his attitude is not dulled by
habit. After three-quarters of a century his approach to nature remains
fresh and sensitive, and, often, one of awe.
A NOTE ON TENSES:
Tenses
in this manuscript are mixed in an unusual way. Paul Buffalo regularly
uses the present tense when he's talking about something that
happened or started in the past that HE KNOWS continues to be done or
exists today. He usually uses the past tense when whatever he
is talking about no longer exists or takes place. This distinction
has been preserved in the editing.
A NOTE ON STYLE:
Paul
Buffalo narrates in an oral tradition. -- Paul Buffalo's style is one
sometimes typical of an oral tradition. -- It involves much repetition. In
particular, a typical sequence is that a statement is made, then more or
less repeated with the main element of the statement/sentence stressed.
Oral tradition is often very repetitive, expecially compared to printed
traditions. Things are repeated to emphasize certain items. Things are
repeated to add emphasis. Things are repeated to insure that one doesn't
forget, that is, repetition is used as a learning device. In the work
that follows there is much repetition -- not as much as in the original,
but enough, hopefully, to maintain the personal style of Paul Buffalo.
Some of repetition is minimized here, although an attempt to keep the
original flavor is maintained. Attempts have been made to carefully
preserve that tradition, even though this work is in print, since that's
the way Paul would have told it to you. Reviewers who have actually known
Paul Buffalo and who have read some of the materials indicate that it is
"just like Paul himself talking." Those who did not know Paul Buffalo, or
those who are not familiar with his peoples' story-telling traditions,
think the following is too repetitious. The goal of this work is
to present the material "just like Paul himself is talking." Perhaps in a
separate, future work, these materials can be condensed for those more
familiar with and comfortable with the printed page.
1. Uncertainty surrounds the origin
of the name "Ojibwa." Historians frequently suggest the name originally
meant "to roast until puckered up," referring to a style of moccasin with
a puckered seam worm only by the Ojibwa. The name "Chippewa," by which
the Ojibwa are frequently known, is thought to be a result of
misunderstanding and faulty recording of the native word "Ojibwa." Most
Ojibwa consider their appropriate name Anishinaubag, or more
popularly Anishinabe, which means something like "real or genuine
people." Cf., "Early Indian Life in the Lake Superior Region," Timothy G.
Roufs, in Duluth: Sketches of the
Past, Ryck Lydecker, Lawrence J. Sommer and Arthur Larsen (Eds.)
Special Bicentennial Volume of Duluth's Legacy Series, Duluth,
Minnesota, 1976, p. 45 (reprinted in The Minnesota
Archaeologist, Vol. 37, No.
4, (November 1978) pp. 157-197.
2.
Publication of this
material is done in memory of Paul Peter Buffalo who died June 28, 1977. I
wish to thank Stanley E. Aschenbrenner, Joe Barnes, Joesephine Barrett,
Priscilla
Giddings Buffalohead, W. Roger Buffalohead, Wayne and Ida Cronin,
Roger Lips, Frank C.
Miller, Susan Collins Mulholland, Joe "Sky" Nason, Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Nason, Gretel Pelto, Pertti J. Pelto, Dr. Robert E. Powless, Mike
Rynkiewich, Katy Salter, Barbara Simon-Jackson,
Kathleen Smyth Roufs,
Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Sjolund I, Cliff Sjolund II, Cliff Sjolund III, David
M. Smith, Jim and Theresa Smith, William Stockdon, and Mr. and Mrs. Orson
Weekley, Joe "Core" Whitebird, for their review of and/or assistance with
all or part of this
work. To many others we are also endebted. . . . Their names will be
added here later.
3.
"Forever-Flying-Bird."
Tim Roufs
are welcome!
University of Minnesota Campuses