Northern Tales: Traditional Stories of Eskimo and Indian Peoples

by Howard Norman

Folktales from the tribal peoples of Greenland, Canada, Russia, Alaska, and the polar region describe village life, the wisdom of the shamans, love and marriage, and menacing neighbors

Genres: Folklore, Mythology, History, Fairy Tales, Nonfiction, Folk Tales, Anthologies

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Howard A. Norman (born 1949), is an American award-winning writer and educator. Most of his short stories and novels are set in Canada's Maritime Provinces. He has written several translations of Algonquin, Cree, Eskimo, and Inuit folklore. His books have been translated into 12 languages.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather varied collection of Inuit and other Northern people folk tales (though, there doesn't seem to be any Lapp tales). The tales are varied in style, which means the reader's reaction to the tales is going to vary. Many of the tales are sexual, and sometimes you wonder things like, "Why is it important that she is naked" or "how come the women are naked but not the men". But they are still good fun.

The tales are more different in tone than say European folktales and the fairy tales that are commonly read to children. It makes one wonder why. Why are the Northern tales more sexual, more blunt about it. Is it the weather? One wonders.

And I actually think this is one of the few folktale collections I've read that doesn't have a Cinderella variant in it.

[Lizz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great tales, but storytellers are often difficult to follow, understand.

See my other ten word book reviews at my blog: https://tenwordbookreviews.wordpress....

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1990 with the sub-title "Traditional stories of the Eskimo & Indian Peoples", the only thing i can see different between the two editions seems to be the title itself, for good reason. By the time of this edition in 1998, the word Eskimo had become more recognized as being of European creation/slang word, and thus, not a PC term. I'm not sure how well known the term Inuit was in the early to mid 2000's, but even then, Inuit is very specific to a certain region of arctic peoples, so the prevailing title peoples "of the Arctic and Sub-arctic regions" is a far more accurate description for the sources of the varied stories contained within.

As for the stories themselves, some could use a bit of an edit, if only just to make them easier to read. However, I know it's difficult to do that, without "inadvertently trespassing on, rather than illuminating, what is most vital in oral tradition" (qupting Norman himself) but I feel it would be good at least to separate stories by tribe and give a little background on each tribe so as to better understand where they might be pulling the story from, instead of a 2 page synopsis on each section based on grouped story theme content...

For instance, on page 15, "the chuginadak woman", we see this woman birthed from a mountain who takes a journey across many different waters to get to a man she loves on the other side... by itself, writing about crossing 4 or more different bodies of water seems kind of like redundant storytelling, until you look at the map and see where the AleutIan people are located... on a chain of 14 volcanic islands that make up the tail of Alaska through the icy arctic waters... then it all makes sense.

But how many people look at the map for every story? How many know the differences between the tribes that add to the uniqueness of the storit's themselves? So this is what I mean by needing an edit. it would be nice to give context, maybe an introduction, to certain stories to alleviate any confusion in reading. But otherwise it's a sound book with great stories that are indeed very unique. I originally bought it for being.part of the pantheon fairytale and folklore library, and I'm not disappointed.

[Monica. A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una raccolta di racconti divisa in otto sezioni che partono dall'isola giapponese di Hokkaido e arrivano fino in Siberia, in Groenlandia, in Canada e nelle isole Aleutine.
Si può facilmente intuire che le doti più ricercate erano le abilità nella caccia e in qualsisi attività utile a procacciare il cibo.
Scordiamoci il classico principe azzurro.
Sono racconti talvolta poco comprensibili, triviali e dal finale brusco,  cruenti ma estremamente vincolati alla vita e alla sacralità della natura.

I - L'imbarazzo della compagnia dei mirtilli.  Storie di vita di villaggio.
14 racconti, per certi versi, simili alle nostre fiabe che narrano vicende di vita e servono da monito a chi le ascolta.
Ne "La donna Chuginadak", ad esempio, una delle storie che più si avvicinano alle nostre, la fanciulla usa un budello di leone che lacia e invoca e questo si trasforma all'occorrenza in un ponte che le permette di attraversare gli ostacoli.
"Padre e figlio Witiko sistemati per le feste da un'indovina" è  la macabra storia di due assassini  che si cibano delle loro vittime.
Degni di nota sono poi "Ciocco d'otranto", "La storia del corvo", "Qasiagssaq il grande bugiardo".

II - Perché i gufi muoiono con le ali spiegate. Come le cose sono diventate quel che sono.
16 racconti che costituiscono una specie di genesi.
In "Come venne creata la Terra" apprendiamo dunque di essere stati generati da due corvi, i continenti dai loro escrementi, le acque dell'urina.
Interessanti "Come al narvalo crebbe il dente",  per il resto sono delle storie piuttosto fantasiose che parlano della creazione di pipistrelli e altri animali.

III - Infiniti guai,  infinito vagare. Maghi ed eroi popolari.
3 racconti incentrati sul viaggio e le conseguenti avventure di Castoro lo sveglio che eliminò tutti gli animali giganteschi e gli uomini che terrorizzavano la gente.
Ridusse gli animali alle dimensioni che conosciamo e pose fine al cannibalismo.

IV - La cocciutaggine delle ghiandaie azzurre.  Storie di animali.
13 racconti, molti dei quali piuttosto inverosimili, altri privi di finale o morale. Quelli che più si avvicinano alle nostre storie sono "Volpe e Coyote" e "La balena,  lo scorpione marino, il sasso e l'aquila".

V - Rapporto dalla luna.  Storie di sciamani.
10 racconti.
Tutte interessanti le storie degli sciamani, in particolar modo quella della donna sciamano che fa un viaggio nell'aldilà per riportare indietro il figlio morto.

VI - Spirito con la frusta e orsi con dieci zampe.  Storie di vicini strani e minacciosi.
18 racconti raccapriccianti e crudi dove feti vengono strappati dal ventre materno e dita di bambini vengono mozzate senza pietà.  Ne "La madre delle creature marine" questa bambina affoga in mare, le vengono mozzate le dita per impedirle di aggrapparsi ad una zattera. Lei diventa la madre di tutte le creature marine e le sue dita si trasformano nelle foche che oggi conosciamo.

VII - Un giorno in cui le gazze di mare presero in trappola Nascosto- Bene.  Storie di caccia.
10 storie piuttosto monotone che descrivono tecniche di caccia e di successvo utilizzo delle prede.
Peccato che,  anche ne "Il giorno in cui le gazze di mare presero in trappola Nascosto-Bene", una storia ben articolata, finisca in modo burco privando di significato tutta la storia.

VIII - La sposa del lupo e stelle come mariti. Storie di matrimoni di ogni sorta. 11 storie bizzare di coppie improbali, come la vecchia che si ciba di uomini servendosi della giovane figlia per addescarli o la donna che sposa il polipo che mi ha ricordato una celebre stampa ukiyo-e.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection has its highs and lows like any other, and there are plenty of kind of boring or inscrutable stories. In general, though, it very much reflects the singular frank, often brutal, mythological storytelling I was hoping for. The weird genital magic and horrific monsters teased in those very short stories in the Angela Carter collection is very much present and a lot of fun. What I found surprising and perhaps even more compelling, was the storytelling style and world building tone at work (to the extent that I even worried that Norman had "ghostwritten" these to obtain a consistent style; this definitely is not the case, the stories are presented very literally as they were transcribed, even up to and including some gestures and a few very awkward translations).

Compared to the fairytales and myths I've been reading, both Eurasian in that Angela Carter collection and Native American, these stories feel a notch or two closer to contemporary horror stories. They feel a little bit less formal, a little more psychological. They still have the fairytale magic, where a random person tells the protagonists to do something very particular but seemingly minor, and then their problem is solved. But while some of them have a happy ending, they don't feel as cliché. Part of it is that characters are slightly more motivated and distinct, but this is definitely not true of plenty of the stories. Another element might be that few of these stories feel like variants of each other (there is a Baba Yaga variant but I don't think I recognized any of the rest of them). I don't know if that indicates they are genuinely more unique or even record actual events, or if that is just an artifact of the curation. Anyway, there are a few of these that honestly could be the plot for a great contemporary horror movie, especially the ones that deal with shamans.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A varied collection of stories told by Natives of the North, mostly in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska. Not all of the stories seem to have a point, from my 21st century Californian perspective. I do appreciate that Norman presents the stories as they were told, but I’m unclear on whether he gathered oral stories himself, or translated stories that had been written down by others. Norman’s introductions to each section pretty much give away the most interesting tales. As a scholar of the arctic, he could have enhanced the book with a few sentences introducing each story, describing the culture’s social structure and location, or other contextual information. The maps included did not show every group from which the stories were taken.

Still the stories are entertaining, if sometimes inscrutable and repetitive. I especially liked the hunting stories, as they reflect incredible survival skills and strength of individuals and societies. I am not a hunter—quite the opposite—but am in awe of a society without agriculture, or even wild plants, and thus no alternatives. Plus, it’s cold and stormy—talk about extreme not-a-sport. The stories about love and lust were tame in comparison, unlike the real life dramas described by old-time explorer Knud Rasmussen, in societies where men outnumbered women due to female infanticide, and competition extreme and often deadly.

Recommended reading for cold winter nights, for squelching complaints about cold weather and nothing to eat at home, and for appreciating heat and lights on a winter day.

[Beattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were very interesting, others were hard to follow. I understand they were written down as spoken, but some could have used a little editing. I also would have appreciated footnotes or explanations for certain things that happened in each story. Many times I was left wondering about the cultural context behind what was in the story. Overall enjoyed!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often hard to follow. Not a failing of the stories themselves—I checked the references and yes, this is exactly how the stories were originally told, but the audience for this book needs a lot more context in order to make sense of the stories.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture them told around a fire in a warm iglu!

[Amber]

I am so grateful these stories are written down and available for future generations.

[S]

selected, edited & retold by Howard Norman (The Bird Artist)

New York: Pantheon Books, 1990

another set of mildly disturbing adult tales, reminiscent of Barbecued

[First Second Books]

This is a collection of stories from native people who live in the far north – the blend of what I think of as traditional US stories and Russian folktales is fascinating!

[Alice Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. I based my senior thesis prints on the stories from this book.