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Nebraska
Press Series 1
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Prophecy and Power among
the Dogrib Indians
June Helm, Cloth: 1994,xiv,173,CIP.LC
94-11841, 0-8032-2373-0
Studies in the Anthropology
of North American Indians Series
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Dogrib Indians are one of the Dene
groups - Athapaskan-speaking peoples of the western
Canadian Subarctic. Based on the author's field studies
from 1959 to 1976, this volume presents an ethnographic
description of the Dogrib prophet movement. Part 1 introduces
three prophets who came to prominence in the 1960s 1970s.
Although they developed from the same cultural background
and had the same aims, their prophetic styles contrasted
dramatically with one another. Helm situates the prophet
movement in relation to both aboriginal and Christian
traditions and shows the determining importance of the
prophets' personalities in shaping their practice of
prophecy.
Part 2 examines the traditional Dogrib
concept of power (ink'on), which underlies the prophet
movement. It draws together information given over the
course of years by Vital Thomas, a Dogrib who collaborated
closely with Helm. This first-hand material is noteworthy
for its personal perspective and for the understanding
it provides of the differing sources and uses of power.
The concept of power is so pervasive in daily life that
it forms the key for understanding the dynamics of Dogrib
culture. The book concludes with a brief autobiography
related by Vital Thomas.
JUNE HELM received a Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago and has for many years been a
professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa.
She is the editor of Subarctic, volume 6 of the Handbook
of North American Indians, published by the Smithsonian
Institution (1981).
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