Pierre Deleage is a researcher at the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale at the the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Catherine Howard is an anthropologist and translator.

• Figures Acknowledgments A Note on Terminology Introduction Writing Systems and Ritual Discourses Selective Writing Systems and Total Writing Systems Bound Writing Systems Five Indigenous American Rituals Prophetic Writing Systems and Shamanic Writing Systems Chapter 1 The Writing System of Charles Meiaskaouat, Montagnais Preacher Meiaskaouat’s Vision The Ritual Calendar The Book of Superstitions The Propagation of Charles Meiaskaouat’s Selective Writing System Chapter 2 The Great Book of Neolin, Delaware Visionary July 5, 1754—The Susquehanna River—An Indian Book July 24, 1754—Onondaga—A Nanticoke Letter June 2, 1760—The Susquehanna River—An Old Delaware Priest’s Book of Images October 15, 1762—The Ohio River—The Great Book of Neolin, Delaware Prophet October 22, 1767—The Ohio River—The Preachers’ Bible Chapter 3 Kenekuk’s Bible: The Kickapoo Prophet An Eschatological Map Kenekuk’s Selective Writing System After the Death of the Prophet Chapter 4 The Charts of Abishabis and Wasiteck, Cree Prophets Two Cree Prophets Two Printed Hymns and an Eschatological Chart Chapter 5 Prophetic Scripts Two Aspects of Ritual Invention Mapping Vision Narratives and Transcribing Songs The Prophetic Invention of Writing Chapter 6 The Midewiwin: The Writing System and Charts of an Ojibwe Shamanic Society Two Accounts Separated by More Than a Century  An Ojibwe Shamanic Society  Ojibwe Graphic Repertories  The Origin of the Midewiwin Selective Script Midewiwin Shamanic Songs  An Example The Selective Script of the Songs The Charts  The Institutional Context of the Midewiwin Charts and Writing System  The Midewiwin and Christianity The Midewiwin and the JaasakidsChapter 7 The Writing Systems of Shamans and Prophets Epistemology and Liturgy Stability and Distribution Institutional Conditions for the Invention of Writing Conclusion Bound Writing Systems Selective Writing Systems Secondary Writing Systems Total Writing Systems Afterword to the English Edition The Problem of the Origin of Writing Standardized Graphic Systems Selective Writing Systems Bound Writing Systems Bibliography Index

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