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Being in Being: The Collected Works of Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay (D&M $35)
Born in 1827, Skaay was a Haida who devoted himself to telling stories after suffering a crippling injury in middle age. The third volume of Robert Bringhurst's translations of American anthropololgist John Swanton's turn-of-the-century linguistic fieldwork into the myths of Skaay and other Haida storytellers is Being in Being: The Collected Works of Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay (D&M $35).
John Swanton arrived in Haida country from Harvard in the fall of 1900 when Haida were being ravaged by European diseases, commercially exploited by the fur trade and assimilated by the missionaries. Despite Swanton's pioneering work as a transcriber, Skaay's stories were not widely appreciated. Although there has been opposition from some Haida about having another white editor/translator representing-or misrepresenting-their culture, Bringhurst's work is being well received beyond the Queen Charlottes.
The second volume of Bringhurst's translations based on Swanton's efforts to record Haida mythology is Nine Visits to the Mythworld (D&M $28.95). It includes the stories told by Ghandl, a blind Haida man in his fifties who manages to survive smallpox and pass on his culture. The first volume is A Story as Sharp as a Knife; Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers. (D&M $29.95). 1-55054-826-3
[BCBW SUMMER 2001]
John Swanton arrived in Haida country from Harvard in the fall of 1900 when Haida were being ravaged by European diseases, commercially exploited by the fur trade and assimilated by the missionaries. Despite Swanton's pioneering work as a transcriber, Skaay's stories were not widely appreciated. Although there has been opposition from some Haida about having another white editor/translator representing-or misrepresenting-their culture, Bringhurst's work is being well received beyond the Queen Charlottes.
The second volume of Bringhurst's translations based on Swanton's efforts to record Haida mythology is Nine Visits to the Mythworld (D&M $28.95). It includes the stories told by Ghandl, a blind Haida man in his fifties who manages to survive smallpox and pass on his culture. The first volume is A Story as Sharp as a Knife; Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers. (D&M $29.95). 1-55054-826-3
[BCBW SUMMER 2001]
Submitted on June 25, 2003 in By David.
