The Creator’s Game

This book is an excellent contribution to the scholarly literature of Canadian political biography, partly because it invites readers to think seriously about its conclusions, regardless of whether or not they agree with them. That invitation facilitates an acknowledgment by the reader of the book’s critical strengths and laudable scholarly approach. It is a historical work but also multidisciplinary, combining features of political science, economics, and philosophy that reflect the equally complex and nuanced life and accomplishments of its biographical subject.

-- James T. McHugh * American Journal of Canadian Studies *
Downey describes the history of lacrosse as a “Trickster tale, full of anomalies, contradictions, and tricks.” He displays considerable writing and interpretive talents in demonstrating the importance of the game for the history and identity of Indigenous peoples. -- Lyle Dick * Canada's Journal *
Downey’s meticulous and conceptually rich work offers scholars of politics and settler colonialism a crucial link between Indigenous nationhood and lacrosse that allows us to think of history, metaphysics and meaning beyond the settler states that have claimed the sport and the lands for its own. -- Audra Simpson, professor of anthropology at Columbia University * Canadian Journal of Political Science *

Many readers will find this book valuable. It enlarges the existing framework for understanding lacrosse, and it should prompt readers to consider how other Indigenous perspectives could enhance this story.

-- Janice Forsynth * Native American and Indigenous Studies *

It is impossible to sum up this vital book in a short review such as this: it is far too rich a work of scholarship and cultural exposition to do it justice. What will suffice, here, is to conclude that this is a major work of insight and recovery; a highly successful fusion of European/settler historiographical tradition with methodologies based on Indigenous storytelling, faith keeping, and personal understanding.

-- Allan Downey * American Review of Canadian Studies *

Downey’s writing is approachable and jargon-free, appealing to both casual and specialist readers[…]this book is an exciting glimpse at what the future holds as Indigenous scholars bring Indigenous learnings to Western-style academia.

-- Gillian Poulter * Canadian Historical Revi