Books: The challenge of living in two worlds

By Shelley J. Pearen

“Balancing Two Worlds: Jean-Baptiste Assiginack and the Odawa Nation, 1768-1866” is a new book published by Dr. Cecil King, an Odawa from Wikwemikong and an internationally-recognized educator.

Jean-Baptiste Assiginack is a controversial hero. He was an Odawa war chief, an interpreter, an orator and a spokesperson but he is largely remembered on Manitoulin for endorsing and signing the 1862 treaty. By that one act, performed in his mid 90s, he was transformed in the view of many of his people from a respected chief to a traitor.

“Balancing Two Worlds” is actually two compelling stories. It’s a fascinating biography of a forgotten hero of the War of 1812 and a history of the Anishnabek people as they navigated contact with the strangers who came to their territories. This history is told in the unique voice of the Anishnabek people, who are rarely heard, though credited with saving the country during wars and saving the lives of explorers, traders and settlers in times of peace.

Recognizing that in order to understand Assiginack, it’s necessary to understand the Anishnabek people, Dr. King provides generous background information. He explains the origins, worldview, customs and relationships of the Anishnabek. This is history told from an entirely new and extremely compelling angle – an Anishnabe speaking for the Anishnabek people.

Jean-Baptiste Assiginack was born in a period of great turmoil. The French had just been defeated by the English in North America. As a boy he witnessed canoe brigades of trade goods and fighting men of many cultures and languages at Arbre Croche and Mackinac. He was chosen to learn the language of the English so that he would be able to speak in council on behalf of his people when dealing with the English and the Americans. He not only mastered English but became a persuasive multi-lingual orator.

Like Assiginack, Dr. King has lived a life on paths between old and new worlds.

Cecil King was born and spent his early years in Buzwa on the Wikwemikong Peninsula. He began his formal education at the Buzwa Indian Day School and completed it with a PhD at the University of Calgary. He has spent more than 50 years in education as a teacher, professor, researcher, consultant and teacher of teachers. He has developed Ojibwe Language Programs in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Minnesota, Chicago and California and has produced an 8,000-word Ojibwe dictionary.

A biography of an Anishnabe chief is an extremely difficult undertaking. Just sorting out the Assiginack and Blackbird relations and non-relations is problematic. Dr. King has obviously scoured countless sources and found, transcribed and incorporated them into this book.

For those who thought Assiginack was simply a township named for a chief, reading “Balancing Two Worlds” will give you a new appreciation of the chief and the Anishnabek people.

“Balancing Two Worlds: Jean-Baptiste Assiginack and the Odawa Natiion,1768-1866” published in 2013 by Dr. Cecil King. 329 pages.