"Story story. For the Clackamas Chinook Indians, these words signaled the end of a myth recital. Melville Jacobs spent a lifetime recording such traditional stories and studying the life ways of those who told them. An anthropologist and folklorist, Jacobs worked to preserve and inerpret the fast-disappearing languages and traditions of the Indian people of Oregon and Washington. This volume presents an introduction to Jacobs's seminal research and provides an engaging selection of myths and tales that he painstakingly collected"--Back cover.
A compilation of essays and translations in which leading scholars in the fields of linguistics, folklore, ethnopoetics and literary criticism discuss the continuing American Indian oral tradition as literature. Native Americans invested the spoken word with reverence and power, and the oral literature that resulted from the fusing of language and event into vital force is extraordinarily rich and potent. Authors such as Dell Hymes, Karl Kroeber, Dennis Tedlock, Jarold Ramsey and John Bierhorst address the many aspects of the study of this literature, from the problem of translation and of the role of the literary critic to the interpretation of specific stories. ISBN 0-520-04902-0 : $12.95.
In American Indian societies, storytelling and speech-making are invested with special significance, crafted to reveal central psychological and social values, tensions, and ambi-guities. As Karl Kroeber notes, "It is our scholarship, not Indian storytelling, that is primitive, undeveloped." ø This book is an essential introduction to the study and appreciation of American Indian oral literatures. The essays, by leading scholars, illuminate the subtle artistry of form and content that gives spoken stories and myths an enduring vitality in native communities yet often makes them perplexing to outsiders. The presentation and analysis of complete oral texts, often without translations, enable the reader to grasp the meaning, purpose, and structure of the tales and to become familiar with the techniques scholars use to translate and interpret them. ø This expanded edition of the widely praised collection contains a recent analysis of the Wintu myth of female sexuality, a revised introduction by Karl Kroeber, a contribution by Dell Hymes, a new translation by Dennis Tedlock, and a new, annotated bibliography.
The vivid imagination, robust humor, and profound sense of place of the Indians of Oregon are revealed in this anthology, which gathers together hitherto scattered and often inaccessible legends originally transcribed and translated by scholars such as Archie Phinney, Melville Jacobs, and Franz Boas.
The myths and legends in this book have been selected both for their excellence as stories and because they illustrate the distinctive nature of Native American storytelling. A collection of Native American myths and legends. Selected for their excellence as stories, and because they illustrate the distinctive nature of Native American storytelling. Drawn from the oral traditions of all major areas of aboriginal North America. Reveals the highly practical functions of myths and legends in Native American societies. Illustrates American Indians’ profound engagement with their natural environment. Edited by an outstanding interpreter of Native American oral stories.
"Victor Golla has been the leading scholar of California Indian languages for most of his professional life, and this book shows why. His ability to synthesize centuries of fieldwork and writings while bringing forward new ideas and fresh ways of looking at California’s famous linguistic diversity will make this the primary text for anyone interested in California languages."--Leanne Hinton, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley and author of How to Keep Your Language Alive “This book is a wonderful contribution that only Golla could have written. It is a perfect confluence of author and subject matter.”--Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist, Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution "Golla is a gifted polymath and California Indian Languages is certainly his landmark achievement, required reading for any linguist, archaeologist, ethnographer, or historian interested in aboriginal California."--Robert L. Bettinger, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis and author of Hunter-Gatherer Foraging "The preeminent figure in his field, Victor Golla has written a masterpiece filled with treasures for every audience: Indian communities working toward cultural and linguistic revival; general readers interested in the many cultures of Native California; and scholars in the fields of language, archaeology, and prehistory. The information here is so detailed that it supersedes all previous reference works."--Andrew Garrett, Professor of Linguistics, University of California Berkeley and Director, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages “This is a truly magnificent work, at once authoritative, comprehensive, accessible to a wide readership, and fascinating. Masterfully integrating linguistic, archaeological, historical, and cultural information, the author describes not just the languages, but also the major figures in the story: speakers, explorers, missionaries, and scholars. It is beautifully written, a great pleasure to read, and difficult to put down."--Marianne Mithun, author of The Languages of Native North America
The history of the Siletz is in many ways the history of all Indian tribes in America: a story of heartache, perseverance, survival, and revival. It began in a resource-rich homeland thousands of years ago and today finds a vibrant, modern community with a deeply held commitment to tradition. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians�twenty-seven tribes speaking at least ten languages�were brought together on the Oregon Coast through treaties with the federal government in 1853�55. For decades after, the Siletz people lost many traditional customs, saw their languages almost wiped out, and experienced poverty, killing diseases, and humiliation. Again and again, the federal government took great chunks of the magnificent, timber-rich tribal homeland, a reservation of 1.1 million acres reaching a full 100 miles north to south on the Oregon Coast. By 1956, the tribe had been �terminated� under the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act, selling off the remaining land, cutting off federal health and education benefits, and denying tribal status. Poverty worsened, and the sense of cultural loss deepened. The Siletz people refused to give in. In 1977, after years of work and appeals to Congress, they became the second tribe in the nation to have its federal status, its treaty rights, and its sovereignty restored. Hand-in-glove with this federal recognition of the tribe has come a recovery of some land--several hundred acres near Siletz and 9,000 acres of forest--and a profound cultural revival. This remarkable account, written by one of the nation�s most respected experts in tribal law and history, is rich in Indian voices and grounded in extensive research that includes oral tradition and personal interviews. It is a book that not only provides a deep and beautifully written account of the history of the Siletz, but reaches beyond region and tribe to tell a story that will inform the way all of us think about the past. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEtAIGxp6pc
As a child growing up in rural Oklahoma, Donald Fixico often heard “hvmakimata”—“that’s what they used to say”—a phrase Mvskokes and Seminoles use to end stories. In his latest work, Fixico, who is Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Mvskoke (as “Muskogee” is spelled in the Mvskoke language), and Seminole, invites readers into his own oral tradition to learn how storytelling, legends and prophecies, and oral histories and creation myths knit together to explain the Indian world. Interweaving the storytelling and traditions of his ancestors, Fixico conveys the richness and importance of oral culture in Native communities and demonstrates the power of the spoken word to bring past and present together, creating a shared reality both immediate and historical for Native peoples. Fixico’s stories conjure war heroes and ghosts, inspire fear and laughter, explain the past, and foresee the future—and through them he skillfully connects personal, familial, tribal, and Native history. Oral tradition, Fixico affirms, at once reflects and creates the unique internal reality of each Native community. Stories possess spiritual energy, and by summoning this energy, storytellers bring their communities together. Sharing these stories, and the larger story of where they come from and how they work, “That’s What They Used to Say” offers readers rare insight into the oral traditions at the very heart of Native cultures, in all of their rich and infinitely complex permutations.
Musaicum Books presents to you a meticulously edited Thornton Burgess collection. This ebook has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Content: Bedtime Story-Books: The Adventures of Reddy Fox The Adventures of Johnny Chuck The Adventures of Peter Cottontail The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum The Adventures of Mr. Mocker The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse The Adventures of Grandfather Frog The Adventures of Chatterer, the Red Squirrel The Adventures of Sammy Jay The Adventures of Buster Bear The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad The Adventures of Prickly Porky The Adventures of Old Man Coyote The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack The Adventures of Bobby Coon The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk The Adventures of Bob White The Mother West Wind Series: Old Mother West Wind Mother West Wind's Children Mother West Wind's Animal Friends Mother West Wind "Why" Stories Mother West Wind "How" Stories Mother West Wind "When" Stories Mother West Wind "Where" Stories The Green Meadow Series: Happy Jack Mrs. Peter Rabbit Bowser the Hound Old Granny Fox Other Children's Books: Lightfoot the Deer Blacky the Crow Whitefoot the Woodmouse The Burgess Bird Book for Children The Burgess Animal Book for Children Boy Scout Books: The Boy Scouts of Woodcraft Camp The Boy Scouts in a Trapper's Camp