About the Author

Ruth Holmes Whitehead, ethnologist and assistant curator at the Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, has worked with the Mi'kmaw people for 30 years, and her work is an important source of information about historic Mi'kmaw culture. Her meticulous analysis, attention to detail, creative genius, and sensitivity have earned her the respect of Mi'kmaw specialists such as linguist Bernie Francis, who lent his expertise to Tracking Doctor Lonecloud. Ruth Holmes Whitehead became aware of Jerry Lonecloud in 1972 when she began working with the collections and records of the Nova Scotia Museum, much of which had been acquired during the tenure of Harry Piers, curator from 1899 to 1940. She was also on hand when photos by Clara Dennis were donated to the museum in 1973, a collection of black and white images of Mi'kmaw people, including portraits of Lonecloud. Research on the book really began in 1992 when her colleague Trudy Sable took her to look at the Clara Dennis material in the Nova Scotia Archives. They spent months transcribing notebooks containing Lonecloud's memoir, recorded by Clara Dennis in pencil in children's scribblers. A consultant to the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Whitehead has curated numerous exhibitions and written many articles and monographs. Among her popular books are Micmac Quillwork, Stories from the Six Worlds: Micmac Legends, and The Old Man Told Us: Excerpts from Micmac History, 1500-1950.

Reviews

"Tracking Doctor Lonecloud is a short book, but it contains more information than most books twice its size, and much of the content isn't documented anywhere else ... captivating . . . Whitehead lets [these stories] stand alone, and her economy is the reason for this volume's success. Lonecloud's voice is a true original, and this book is a singular accomplishment."
*Quill & Quire starred review*