Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community is 2013 title in the Penguin Library of American Indian History Series. Written by Ojibwe scholar Brenda Child the volume offers a wealth of information about the history of Ojibwe women in their communities from contact to present day. Focusing on the Ojibwe of Lake Superior and the Mississippi River the author employs the English translation for mindimooyehn (mature, older woman) one who holds things together as the title and main premise of the book. Brenda Child documents the status, strength, wisdom and authority that women employed in nurturing their families and communities. She intertwines women's personal stories through the centuries with accounts of changes in Ojibwe society up to today. The volume is organized around key geographical centres of Ojibwe history and include: Madeline Island - Ojibwe women in the fur trade; reservations - holding our world together; Nett Lake - wild rice and the Great Depression; Mount Pleasant - metaphor of the muskrat boarding school); Minneapolis - a renaissance spirit. The book describes the origin stories of the Jingle Dress Dance, boarding schools (residential schools), AIM, treaties, wild rice, Midewiwin, military service, clans, and maple sugar. The book is accessible for senior high school students, college, level, and the general public. It contains maps, index, and bibliography. Highly recommended.
