Our Voices

by Ruppert, James

• ISBN13: 9780803289840
• ISBN10: 0803289847
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

Storytelling is a precious, vibrant tradition among the Native peoples of the Far North. Collected here for the first time are stories from the communities of interior Alaska and the Yukon Territory. These are the tales the people tell about themselves, their communities, and the world they inhabit. Our Voicesshowcases twenty storytellers and writers who represent a full range of Athabaskan and related languages of Alaska and the Yukon. Both men and women recount popular tales of ancient times that describe the origins of social institutions and cultural values, as well as meaningful, sometimes intimate stories about their own lives and families or the history of their people. As representatives of an art transmitted through countless generations and now practiced with renewed interest and vigor by people reclaiming their cultural heritage, these narratives create a broad, brightly colored, richly detailed picture of the world of the Far North, present and past.

Author Biography

James Ruppert is a professor of English and Alaska Native studies, and John W. Bernet is a professor emeritus of English, both at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Ruppert's books include Mediation in Contemporary Native American Fiction.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(38)
Deg Hit'an	39	(30)
Belle Deacon
Deg Hit'an Gixudhoy / The People's Stories	42	(1)
Taxghozr / Polar Bear	43	(9)
Nil'oqay Ni'idaxin / The Man and Wife	52	(17)
Koyukon	69	(40)
Catherine Attla
Doz K'ikaal Yee Nogheelt'uyhdlee / The One Who Used to Put His Nephew into a Fishtail	72	(12)
Dotson' Sa Ninin'' atltseen / Great Raven Who Shaped the World	84	(6)
K'etl'enbaalots'ek	90	(6)
Dekeltlaal De'ot Etldleeyee / The Woodpecker Who Starved His Wife	96	(9)
Elts'eeyh Denaa / Wind Man	105	(4)
Gwich'in	109	(20)
Katherine Peter
Shaaghan / The Old Woman	113	(2)
K'aiiheenjik	115	(2)
from ``Gwichyaa Zheh Gwats'a' Tr'ahaajil'' / We Go to Fort Yukon	117	(8)
Jalgiitsik, Tl'yahdik Haa / Chalkyitsik and Tl'yahdik	125	(4)
Northern Tutchone	129	(18)
Gertie Tom
Gyo Cho Chu / Living at Big Salmon, 1930s and 1940s	133	(7)
K'enlu Man / Northern Lake, 1944	140	(4)
K'enlu Man / Northern Lake, 1956	144	(3)
Kaska	147	(22)
John Dickson
Gedeni Ges Gagah Nede / The Girl Who Lived with Salmon	152	(8)
Maudie Dick
Dzohdie Guh Cho Dzehhin / Dzohdie' Kills the Giant Worm	160	(9)
Tagish	169	(18)
Angela Sidney
Getting Married	173	(7)
The Stolen Woman	180	(7)
Southern Tutchone	187	(42)
Annie Ned
Our Shagoon, Our Family History	193	(5)
How First This Yukon Came to Be: Crow and Beaverman	198	(14)
Kitty Smith
Naakw: Devilfish, or Octopus, Helper	212	(8)
[To Build a Fire]	220	(3)
The First Time They Knew K'och'en, White Man	223	(6)
Upper Tanana	229	(16)
Mary Tyone
Stsoo Shyaan Oonign': Ch'aldzeek Shyii Dineh Gaay Na'ithadn / My Old Grandmother: The Little Man Standing in the Moon	232	(5)
Dlign Mba' Hehk'aayh Ts'a' / When the Tree Squirrels Cut Fish	237	(2)
Ch'oot'uudn Ch'aachin' Shyiit Eedah / When Horsefly Was Living in a Stump	239	(2)
Taatsaan' Dzanh eh Oonign' / Raven and Muskrat Story	241	(4)
Tanacross	245	(16)
Gaither Paul
The Child Who Was Stolen by a Brush Indian	249	(4)
How Dentalium Necklaces Came to the Country	253	(8)
Lower Tanana	261	(16)
Peter John
from ``Stand for What Is Right''
I Learned the Indian Way	263	(2)
Strong People	265	(3)
from ``Old Ways''
I Belong to My Mother's Side	268	(2)
Try to Make Things from	270	(2)
from ``Set Your Mind''
Never Get Scared	272	(2)
from ``Out on Our Own''
Love Woods Life	274	(2)
I Don't Go Around	276	(1)
Upper Kuskokwim	277	(20)
Miska Deaphon
Dotron' Minagha' Sritonedak Di / Raven Lost His Eyes	282	(3)
Dotron' Suje Gona' No'iltsenh / Raven Fixes Marten's Arm	285	(3)
Lena Petruska
Jezra / Camp Robbers	288	(2)
Ch'itsets'ina' / The Skull	290	(7)
Dena'ina	297	(28)
Peter Kalifornsky
Unhshcheyakda Sukt'a / My Great-Great-Grandfather's Story	301	(2)
Qadanalchen K'elik'a / Qadanalchen's Song	303	(1)
Talin Ch'iltant Qatsinitsexen / The One Who Dreamed at Polly Creek	304	(1)
K'elen II Ch'qghe'uyi Ch'u K'ech'eltani / Beliefs in Things a Person Can See and in Things a Person Cannot See	305	(3)
Qezdaghnen Ggagga / The Kustatan Bear	308	(5)
Qezdaghnen Ggagga Beghun / The Other Half of the Kustatan Bear Story	313	(3)
Ch'enlahi Sukdu / The Gambling Story	316	(2)
Ggugguyni Sukt'a / Raven Story	318	(3)
Ggugguyni Ch'u Nut'aq'i / Raven and the Geese	321	(2)
Kil Ch'u Dujemi / The Man and the Loon	323	(2)
Ahtna	325	(24)
Katie John
Fred John Sr.
Lazeni'linn Nataelde Ghadghaande / When Russians Were Killed at ``Roasted Salmon Place'' (Batzulnetas)	330	(6)
Cet'aenn Nal'aen'de / When the Tailed Ones Were Seen	336	(3)
Huston Sanford
Dae'Ts'atk'aats / How We Were Trained	339	(4)
John Billum
Demba / Two Checker Players	343	(3)
Xay Tnaey / Spruce Root Man	346	(3)
Eyak	349	(36)
Anna Nelson Harry
Lake-Dwarves	353	(7)
Giant Rat	360	(9)
Maagudetl'elahdexunhyuu / Around-the-Lake People [1933]	369	(2)
Luundiyahsluw / The Big Mouse [1933]	371	(2)
[The Girl and the Dog] [1933]	373	(2)
Two Sisters	375	(10)
Source Acknowledgments	385	(4)
Index	389