Woman of the Green Glade chronicles the of Ozhaguscodaywayquay, a strong influential Ojibway woman who occupied a focal point on the cultural and political frontier of North America during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The author infuses a woman's emotions and perspectives in bringing to life this engaging story of a real Native American heroine. -- The heroine of this story provided much of the information used by Longfellow in writing Hiawatha

Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of the Ojibway chief Waubojeeg, lived in what we now know as northern Wisconsin until she married the Irish fur trader John Johnston. The couple moved to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, where they operated a major trading post in what was perhaps the most important crossroads in the upper Great Lakes region.

The years from the fall of New France in 1763 to the amalgamation of the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company in 1821 were marked by fierce competition in the fur trade. Traders from the warring companies pushed west, undertaking incredible voyages in their search for new sources of furs. Irene Gordon explores the eventful lives of those who worked in the trade, including Alexander Henry the Elder, a trader and merchant who left a vivid written account of his experiences; Net-no-kwa, a woman of the Ottawa tribe who was so highly regarded by the traders at Michilimackinac that they saluted her with gunfire every time she arrived there; and the bold and flamboyant Scotsman Colin Robertson, who used "glittering pomposity" to impress those he dealt with. From chief factors to servants, independent traders, Native trappers and Metis, the people of the fur trade left an indelible imprint on North American history.

The First Nations who have lived in the Great Lakes watershed have been strongly influenced by the imposition of colonial and national boundaries there. The essays in Lines Drawn upon the Water examine the impact of the Canadian—American border on communities, with reference to national efforts to enforce the boundary and the determination of local groups to pursue their interests and define themselves. Although both governments regard the border as clearly defined, local communities continue to contest the artificial divisions imposed by the international boundary and define spatial and human relationships in the borderlands in their own terms. The debate is often cast in terms of Canada’s failure to recognize the 1794 Jay Treaty’s confirmation of Native rights to transport goods into Canada, but ultimately the issue concerns the larger struggle of First Nations to force recognition of their people’s rights to move freely across the border in search of economic and social independence.

Immortalized in words and song, the symbol of the great, untreaded Wilderness, the shores surrounding Lake Superior rustle with stories of gregarious legend, unlikely heroes, quiet sorrow, and unmatched feats of bravery and adventure. From the earliest European records of the world's largest body of fresh, open water, to the ghostly anecdotes of the men lost in her freezing waters, Peter Unwin records the stories of the great Superior and the people who, over centuries, have determined to make it their home. In short, cultivating chapters, Unwin lays out the history of the lake and its lands, illuminating the stories of the copper stained greed of men who sought the Ontonagon Boulder, the strangling dread of Mishipizheu, the maddening determination of voyageurs as they packed 400 pounds across rugged earth and choppy water, and the hollow ache of loss on the greatest of inland seas. All the ferociousness of the Wolf's Head the lake embodies is laid out here, filled with extraordinary facts, humorous anecdotes, and an understanding of the people who have chosen to live along its shores. In simple, witty language that endears and engages, Peter Unwin brings Lake Superior to life like no other writer can, delivering in breathless vibrancy, the history of the Wolf's Head.