Born in Winnipeg in 1926, Norman Hart Lerman was encouraged to conduct field research by Erna Gunther as a prerequisite to entering graduate school at the University of Washington. He conducted extensive interviews with two Aboriginal couples in Chilliwack, plus gathered stories in Tsawwassen, Musqueam and Everson, Washington. This work formed the basis for a Master's thesis in Anthropology in 1952. Two subsequent volumes of transcriptions were published commercially, the first being a collection for young readers in 1968, followed by Legends of the River People (1976), a collection of 30 stories linked with dialogue between children and elders around a fire. Lerman died in October of 1975, prior to the book's completion by Betty Keller.

BOOKS:

Lerman, Norman & Helen S. Carkin. Once Upon an Indian Tale (New York: Carlton Press, 1968)

Lerman, Norman & Betty Keller. Legends of the River People (Vancouver: November House, 1976).

[BCBW 2004] "First Nations"