The generation to which Joe and Josephine Crowshoe belonged spanned more than the length of their lifetimes. That generation fought heroically in world wars and at the same time raised children under a paternalistic federal regime that denied both a culture and a heritage. The Crowshoes regained their heritage and shared it with the larger community, gaining respect from all the people with whom they were in contact and becoming articulate representatives and the holders of stories, legends, and customs. The interviews in Weasel Tail track not just their personal stories but the stories of a people who insisted on being recognized and a culture born out of the land of southern Alberta. Paralleling the interviews, Mike Ross has included historical photographs and documentation of a world and people who are a rich part of Alberta's history.

Michael Ross is a retired park planner and heritage resources consultant living in Edmonton, Alberta. He has degrees from the University of California at Berkeley (Geology) and Leicester University in England (Museum Studies). Several years of travelling, working, and photographing throughout western North America, Mexico, and Spain were driven by a slowly developing muscle disease that forced him to stop working in 2001. He met the Crowshoes in 1989, attended numerous cultural ceremonies, and later agreed to help the Old Man write his book a vow that took eleven years of hard work to fulfill.

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