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A Guide to B.C. Indian Myth and Legend e-book
Boas, Teit, Hill-Tout, Barbeau, Swanton, Jenness, the luminaries of field research in British Columbia, are discussed here in A Guide to B.C. Indian Myth and Legend, and their work in Indian folklore evaluated. Other scholars, amateurs and Native informants of the past and present are given ample consideration, making this book a comprehensive survey of myth collecting in B.C. The aim is to reveal the true extent of this neglected body of world literature, and to begin to sort out the more valuable texts from those damaged in transmission. A Guide to B.C. Indian Myth and Legend is a valuable reference tool for beginning or advanced students of anthropology, and an absorbing look at the research process itself.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2015
The description of this is plenty straightforward, but I still bought it with the hopes of more actual mythology. Instead, the heavy emphasis is on the ethnologists (mostly white men) who ventured into British Columbia and the larger Pacific Northwest to collect tales from native tribes. I won't say this book was useless for my purposes, though, because it was very thought-provoking and includes a huge bibliography of texts, and perhaps more importantly, which ones are most authentic.
This is judged by a series of questions (page 191). "What is the process of transmission? How did the story get on the printed page? Are there field notes that might reveal how scrupulous the ethnologist was in his procedures? How well did he know the language?" Etc.
I know that in my reading, I have encountered many tales that seem... dry or child-like in simplicity. Now I understand why, and it makes me sad that these poorer renditions are the ones that are often re-published. I had no idea what the conditions were like for these original researchers. They traveled the wilderness on very tight deadlines. They might visit a village and talk to whoever was there, whether or not they were a storyteller. Some tales were recorded as if they represented an entire tribe while there might be significant differences between families. Others ignore the provenance of the story, such as "this tribe's story is just like this tribe's, which shows common roots and socialization" while the truth might be that the grandfather was briefly enslaved by the other tribe as a child and the story has been passed through the family ever since. Context means a great deal.
I'll be keeping this book on my shelf as a reference as I seek out more mythologies, and the enlightened perspective will stay with me as I read across cultures.
This is judged by a series of questions (page 191). "What is the process of transmission? How did the story get on the printed page? Are there field notes that might reveal how scrupulous the ethnologist was in his procedures? How well did he know the language?" Etc.
I know that in my reading, I have encountered many tales that seem... dry or child-like in simplicity. Now I understand why, and it makes me sad that these poorer renditions are the ones that are often re-published. I had no idea what the conditions were like for these original researchers. They traveled the wilderness on very tight deadlines. They might visit a village and talk to whoever was there, whether or not they were a storyteller. Some tales were recorded as if they represented an entire tribe while there might be significant differences between families. Others ignore the provenance of the story, such as "this tribe's story is just like this tribe's, which shows common roots and socialization" while the truth might be that the grandfather was briefly enslaved by the other tribe as a child and the story has been passed through the family ever since. Context means a great deal.
I'll be keeping this book on my shelf as a reference as I seek out more mythologies, and the enlightened perspective will stay with me as I read across cultures.
April 5, 2017
Interesting read but not what I had expected. There are fragments of B.C. Indian myths and legends.
The book is more of a study about the individuals involved in collecting information from the time of first contact until this book was written in 1982.
It is a revealing look at the methods, techniques, and sometimes questionable practices of the anthropologists, ethnographers, historians, musicicologists, and folklorists.
It is interesting to see how preexisting notions may have influenced the translations of some stories and how the natives may have stopped cooperating fully with these academics when they saw how their valued traditions was being altered and misrepresented in some cases.
The book contains some very nice information about further reading for anybody who is interested in digging deeper into the legends of the various aboriginal tribes from the west coast.
The book is more of a study about the individuals involved in collecting information from the time of first contact until this book was written in 1982.
It is a revealing look at the methods, techniques, and sometimes questionable practices of the anthropologists, ethnographers, historians, musicicologists, and folklorists.
It is interesting to see how preexisting notions may have influenced the translations of some stories and how the natives may have stopped cooperating fully with these academics when they saw how their valued traditions was being altered and misrepresented in some cases.
The book contains some very nice information about further reading for anybody who is interested in digging deeper into the legends of the various aboriginal tribes from the west coast.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews