Folk-Tales of the Coast Salish

by Thelma Adamson (Editor), William R. Seaburg (Introduction), Laurel B. Sercombe (Introduction)

First published in 1934, this collection of tales was recorded and edited by Thelma Adamson (1901–83), a student of Franz Boas and one of the first women to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in the Pacific Northwest. A major contribution to our knowledge of western Washington Salish oral traditions, Folk-Tales of the Coast Salish contains 190 texts from nineteen consultants—most collected in English or in English translation. The 155 stories represent Upper Chehalis and Cowlitz Salish narrative traditions, primarily myths and tales, and constitute the largest published body of oral literature for either of these groups. Adamson included as many as four variants of the same tale-type, and Adele Froehlich prepared a useful forty-three-page section of abstracts with comparative notes from eight regional text collections. Folk-Tales of the Coast Salish provides a rich data source for those interested in the content and comparative analysis of Native texts told in English. With few exceptions, the tales refer to the time “when all the animals were people.” This new edition enhances Adamson’s seminal work with the inclusion of a biographical sketch of Adamson and of her friend and noted ethnomusicologist George Herzog, who produced the appended music transcriptions.  

Genres: Folklore, Fiction

430 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

Reviews

[Terry Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A for-real compendium specific to an indigenous group. Most of these are generic, and worthless.

[Alan Bach · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a book to record the stories this book certainly does its purpose, but unfortunately it is not a book to read for entertainment. The book points out quite a few versions of the same story, so you can skip those if you, as was the case for me, don't find reading the same story with minor variations fun. But also the book often has the same story told from the perspective of each tribe, and that isn't always clearly delineated, so you likely will accidentally reread some stories. As for the stories themselves a lot go over why things are the way they are. But they rarely tell you the point of the story upfront, so it is a lot of random stuff happens that doesn't appear to follow a clear narrative direction, and then bam, Tapeworm or Skunk or whoever is defeated and that is why they are bo longer an incredibly dangerous being.

Additionally, the place references are lost in translation in a book format: presumably in a storyteller format you could just look over yonder and have a deeper connection to places referenced in the stories, but in a book they are just random inconsequential bits of information.

[Meepspeeps · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an academic book with an effort to be true to the oral traditions of the tale tellers despite having to translate into English. It gave me a sense of what parts of nature and cultural activities were prioritized by the tellers to inform the editor, and prioritized by the editor to include in the book. I recommend it to peeps studying the Coast Salish or wanting to understand more about the Coast Salish as part of efforts to save salmon and other ecological programs in the Puget Sound area.