An important, well-researched look into the printed history of an Indigenous language.
A team of Chickasaw linguistic experts explores their nation’s language in this edited anthology of two 19th-century works.
A Methodist minister, politician, and educator, Judson Dwight Collins was a central figure in mid-to-late-19th-century Chickasaw history. In addition to serving in various high-profile roles within the Chickasaw government, including its Supreme Court, as well as overseeing the Collins Institute school, he also collaborated with Swiss ethnologist and linguist Albert Samuel Gatschet to document the Chikashshanompa’ language. The duo published two manuscripts: Words, Phrases and Grammatic Elements of the Chicasa Language Obtained from Judson Dwight Collins and Chikasa: Lexical and Syntactical Collection Obtained from J.D. Collins. Published together here, these two documents “are the earliest to contain whole narratives and examples of complete, interconnected speech in sentence form” of the language, as well as vocabulary lists, verb declensions, and archaic and novel words that do not appear in Chickasaw dictionaries. Housed at the Smithsonian Institution since the 1920s, the manuscripts are offered to a general audience in this groundbreaking anthology. Seeking to maintain the eclectic transcription style of Gatschet, the book provides high-resolution scans of the original, handwritten manuscripts on the right page, with a typed and annotated version provided on the left. Beyond offering the full versions of both manuscripts, the authors provide several essays that introduce readers to the historical context of the documents and discuss their linguistic methodology. All editors are experts on the Chickasaw nation’s linguistic history and have Ph.D.s centered on Indigenous languages; most have served in leading positions within the Chickasaw Nation Language Preservation Division. The work includes an academic bibliography and ample footnotes that complement the translations. And while the book’s goal is the continued preservation and study of Chikashshanompa’ among the scholarly community, it remains accessible to nonexperts by offering an approachable introduction to the language. The inclusion of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other visual elements makes for an intellectually stimulating and visually stunning work.
An important, well-researched look into the printed history of an Indigenous language.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781952397196
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Chickasaw Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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