Richard J. Preston
Richard J. Preston was a Canadian anthropologist, ethnographer and ethnohistorian who worked at McMaster University. Preston’s career involved a more than 40 year period in which he lived with and learned about the James Bay Cree. His work focused on the Cree concept of community as well as Cree and Northern Ojibwe oral traditions. Most of his field work focused on the village of Waskaganish. Preston’s dissertation focused on oral tradition and traditional stories, including shamanism and attitudes, values and world views. These interests continued throughout his career. He was also interested in cultural psychiatry, including a master’s thesis on Edward Sapir.
