Diaspora in the Countryside: Two Mennonite Communities and Mid-Twentieth-Century Rural Disjuncture (review)

employment opportunities. The Omushkeowak Oral History Project is part of a widespread movement to breathe life into First Nations languages and indigenous education initiatives. The aims of the project and website are to make Bird’s collection available in Cree and English audio files and as Cree syllabic and English transcriptions, create teachable units in Cree and English, promote scholarly use of Bird’s material, and find connections with other kinds of historical sources. Unfortunately the site advertises itself as a bilingual English and Cree database of Bird’s material, but I could find only one audio recording in Cree and transcribed in Cree syllabics. The collaborations between Bird and the southern scholars based at the University of Winnipeg have yet to yield dissemination of his Cree texts and create research and teaching materials that can be used in Omushkego classrooms and homes. The University of Winnipeg and especially the Centre for Rupert’s Land Studies should be congratulated for cultivating and supporting the work of Louis Bird. His collections of stories and his scholarly observations and analyses of Omushkego history and culture will have a lasting impact on the field of Canadian history by recording the rich and complex history of a sophisticated group of people capable of thriving in a harsh environment. I hope that his legacy will not be restricted to southern English-speaking audiences and will be preserved in Cree to benefit future Omushkego communities and help to preserve both their language and history. CAROLYN PODRUCHNY York University