When Our Words Return: Writing, Hearing, and Remembering Oral Traditions of Alaska and the Yukon PDF
Preview When Our Words Return: Writing, Hearing, and Remembering Oral Traditions of Alaska and the Yukon
When Our Words Return When Our Words Return Writing, Hearing, and Remembering Oral Traditions of Alaska and the Yukon Edited by Phyllis Morrow and William Schneider UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Logan, Utah 1995 Copyright © 1995 Utah State University Press "The Weight of Tradition and the Writer's Work" copyright © 1995 Mary Odden. Photographs on front cover and pp. 12, 19, 78, and 88 copyright © 1995 James H. Barker. All rights reserved. Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7800 All royalties after expenses from the sale of this book will be donated to support the Alaska Native Elders in Residence Program Alaska Native Studies University of Alaska Fairbanks Cover photo: Martina Phillip of Alakanuk skins a seal caught in 1982 by her husband, Joe, who is in the background talking. Photo by James H. Barker. Cover design by Michelle Sellers. The book was typeset in TP< from WordPerfect files by The Bartlett Press, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data When our words return: writing, hearing, and remembering oral traditions of alaska and the yukon/Edited by Phyllis Morrow and William Schneider. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBNO-87421-199-9.-ISBNO-87421-195-6(pbk.) 1. Indians of North America-Alaska-Folklore. 2. Indians of North America-Yukon Territory-Folklore. 3. Indians of North America-Alaska Writing. 4. Indians of North America-Yukon Territory-Writing. 5. Oral tradition-Alaska-History and criticism. 6. Oral tradition-Yukon Territory History and criticism. 7. Tales-Alaska-Structural analysis. 8. Tales-Yukon Territory-Structural analysis. I. Morrow, PhylliS. II. Schneider, William, 1946- . E78.A3W44 1995 398.2'089970798-dc20 95-32445 CIP Contents Acknowledgments ix In trod uction 1 A Note on Consistency 9 Part 1. Writing With a Vision beyond Our Immediate Needs: Oral Traditions in an Age of Literacy 13 ELSIE MATHER On Shaky Ground: Folklore, Collaboration, and Problematic Outcomes 27 PHYLLIS MORROW "Pete's Song": Establishing Meanings through Story and Song 53 JULIE CRUIKSHANK Part II. Hearing Seeing Wisely, Crying Wolf: A Cautionary Tale on the Euro-Yup'ik Border 79 ROBIN BARKER "They Talked of the Land with Respect": Interethnic Communication in the Documentation of Historical Places and Cemetery Sites 99 ROBERT M. DROZDA A Bright Light Ahead of Us: Belle Deacon's Stories in English and Deg Hit'a n 123 JAMES RUPPERT Part III. Remembering The Days of Yore: Alutiiq Mythical Time 139 PATRICIA H. PARTNOW v vi When Our Words Return Lessons from Alaska Natives about Oral Tradition and Recordings 185 WILLIAM SCHNEIDER The Weight of Tradition and the Writer's Work 205 MARY ODDEN Epilogue 223 Appendix: Polar Bear Story 227 TWO TELLINGS BY BELLE DEACON About the Authors 241 Illustrations Alaska and the Yukon (map) viii Native Languages of Alaska and the Yukon (map) x Central Yup'ik region of Southwest Alaska (map) 10 Elsie Mather 12 Theresa Charles at the Cama-i Dance Festival 21 Angela Sidney with Julie Cruikshank 52 Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska (map) 54 Native Regional Corporations (map) 76 Maggie Lind 78 Helen, Shirley, and Maggie Wasuli picking salmonberries 88 Yup'ik translator and Tuluksak elders record place names 98 Sketch map of the Elaayiq River drainage by Joshua Phillip 107 Belle Deacon at work making baskets 124 The Alaska Peninsula (map) 136 Perryville with Chiachi Island across the channel 138 Frieda and Ignatius Kosbruk 159 Alaska, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories (map) 184 John Fredson 194 vii .[ $ ~ g. fi [ p N Ala6/<JJ. OCEA GiJlf of , c n c R A ~ ' # , ~. "'c G '~.: ~,~,A" "i' '",: jR:.;;:i , , , . , . . , , G ,, N ; I ~" R ~ ~ ; ; ? / 1 \ • :': . ::~: ' :~-:~: Acknowledgments We offer our deep and heartfelt thanks to the following: Robert Drozda for translating his love of place into maps, and James H. Barker for translating his love of people into photographs; Our proofreader, Sue Mitchell, for her microscopic attention to misplaced commas despite impeding (or was that impending?) child birth; Linda Schandelmeier for a last proofreading; Barre Toelken for his solid and encouraging affirmation that we had something to say, for his incisive commentaries, and for shep herding us through the publication process; Pete Sinclair and Cather ine McClellan, who along with Toelken acted as observant and stimulating reviewers of the original manuscript; Kitty Broderson for patiently sorting out conflicting masters (while pursuing her own master's degree) as she typed the manuscript, and Clarice Dickess for careful proofreading; The Alaska Humanities Forum for that essential ingredient with out which no humanistic work of this type can proceed: money; the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, for a bit more of that incentive; and the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library for the many necessities that add up fast: telephone, fax, photocopying, et al; Supportive spouses (and secretaries, students, and colleagues), who suspended their needs, left messages, warded off callers, and picked up loose ends while we sequestered ourselves to work on the book; The authors and editors for accepting both criticism and encour agement across the miles separating Bethel, McGrath, and Anchor age, Alaska; Vancouver, Canada; and Cambridge, England; from Fairbanks, Alaska, and Logan, Utah. Finally, beyond enumeration are all of the oral (and written) tradi tion bearers-the wits, the raconteurs, the faithful conduits, and the trenchant observers; the family, friends, and strangers named and unnamed in this volume-who have led us to love words, images, and ideas. Our words return to you above all. ix
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