What the Reviewers Say

Lake Superior Magazine

Konnie LeMay

Star Songs and Water Spirits: A Great Lakes Native Reader

Edited by Victoria Brehm Ladyslipper Press

ISBN: 978-0-9843340-0-1

$27.95 Softcover

Victoria Brehm, a resident of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is accustomed to tackling far-reaching subjects for her books. She is, after all, author of The Women’s Great Lakes Reader.

But with Star Songs and Water Spirits she’s created a masterwork and an accumulated treasure.

Having a non-Indian person gather traditional stories and cultural histories can be delicate. One of the best accolades that I know for this book is that it is a strong seller at Birchbark Books, a bookstore

started in Minneapolis by famed Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich, and also that it receives high praise from the staff there.

Obviously at more than 525 pages, the oversized volume is not a weekend read, which would not be the way to comprehend and savor the narratives and histories of the 15 nations Victoria has included here.

The work gives insight using history, stories, songs, poems and illustrations.

Victoria often includes the historical context of when a piece came into being. I most appreciate references telling from where and from whom the stories were gathered. It gives authority to the book and humanity to the tales.

Readers of this book will come away more enlightened and more connected to the region and each other.

Booklist Online

“Among the Indian nations of America, those of the Great Lakes are often overlooked in popular culture and, indeed, even in scholarly publishing. Much more literature is available about the pueblo nations of the Southwest, the eagle-feathered Plains Indians, and the whale-hunting Arctic peoples than about the dozens of groups who lived in the Midwest, making their living by fishing, hunting, and cultivating “the three sisters”—corn, beans, and squash.

“Yet those groups, including the Ojibwe, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Miami, Seneca, Huron, and others, have complex cultures rich in significant myths and legends. This impressively thorough reader is organized seasonally, showing the connection of myth to the land and its changes. Eloquent introductions provide context for the historical accounts, and poems from contemporary Great Lakes Native writers connect past and present. An excellent resource for all Great Lakes–area libraries and for others with active American Indian collections.”

— Patricia Monaghan

MENSA Bulletin

“Anyone with an interest in Native American cultures will find this book a delight.”

Grand Rapids Press

“The book provides a bridge from historic American Indians . . . to contemporary writers. [It] should be savored, one writing at a time.”

Ontario Historical Society

“A comprehensive collection of traditional and contemporary Great Lakes Native literatures—stories, songs, poetry, speeches, autobiography, and fiction—enriched by music, visual arts, and a historic timeline.”

Midwest Book Review Bookwatch

“A precious resource to encourage further exploration. Truly a beautiful patchwork sampler of many cultures and entities’ distilled knowledge and traditions in the form of their stories and literature. Perhaps it might be thought of as a Great Lakes Native American Norton Anthology, if that is not a demeaning comparison.”