Tanaina Tales from Alaska (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

255 Pages·1981·0.59 MB·English

by  Bill Vaudrin

Tanaina Tales From Alaska Civilization of
title:
the American Indian Series ; V. 96
author: Vaudrin, Bill.
publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
isbn10 | asin: 0806114142
print isbn13: 9780806114149
ebook isbn13: 9780585194004
language: English
subject Dena'ina Indians--Folklore.
publication date: 1981
lcc: E99.T185V3 1981eb
ddc: 398.2/09174/972
subject: Dena'ina Indians--Folklore.
Page iii
Tanaina Tales from Alaska
by Bill Vaudrin
Introduction by Joan B. Townsend
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS
NORMAN AND LONDON
Page iv
to
Walter and Annie Johnson
the very best people in the world
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 69-16717
ISBN: 0-8061-1414-2
Tanaina Tales from Alaska is Volume 96 in The Civilization of the
American Indian Series.
For that copyrighted material that appeared in article form in Viltis: A
Folklore Magazine (see pages viiiix) and used here in essentially
original form, copyright assigned 1969 to University of Oklahoma
Press, courtesy V. F. Beliagus, Editor of Viltis. New edition copyright
© 1969 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing
Division of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the
U.S.A.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Page v
Preface
The pre-Russian culture of the Lake Iliamna-Cook Inlet Tanaina is
dead. A few songs and dances survive, a handful of legitimate
artifacts, and a dissipating language, as tangible evidences of its once-
glory and pathos. And we have the Russian records. But most of what
is known today about the early Tanaina has been perpetuated in the
villages through the oral tradition, itself fading.
Three kinds of stories are told by the old-timers: (1) true historical
accountsusually epic narratives of wars with the Aleuts or Russians,
and sometimes of individual heroes who distinguished themselves in
those wars; (2) cultural mythstales involving spirits or beings, other
than men and animals, which inhabit the earth;* (3) "legend-
stories"anecdotal narratives centered on a particular animal, or
animals, common to the Tanaina country. This volume is a collection
of the third type of storythe suk-tu.
In the days before the Russian encounter, suk-tus were told primarily
to entertain and instruct (dulce et utile), and they are as apt to do so
for today's audience as yesterday's. But their central value for the
twentieth century may well consist in what was peripheral to the
seventeenththe incidental picture of life in the Tanaina world out of
which the legends grew. The stories reflect both the thinking of their
originators and the nature of the physical community and environment
in which they lived.
Anachronisms such as "chair," "window," ''ax," and "cabin'' appear in
some of the stories, and serve as an index to either their later genesis
or their susceptibility to foreign influence. At any rate, these
references are a part of the legends as they are told today, and I have
denied myself the liberty of weeding them out.
* See my "The Amigook, the Eiukna, and the Joncha," The Alaska Review,
Vol. I, No. 1 (Winter, 1963), 2035.
Page vi
I have attempted at all times to impart the original sense of the stories,
both in choice of language and dramatic or moral intention, as it has
been communicated to me by the old-timers. That is, I have tried to
say what I think they were trying to sayabout life and how life was.
The great difficulty, challenge, and responsibility of a re-creator in my
position involves, of course, being remedially aware of the cultural
difference that exists between the world for which these stories were
intended and that to which I now present them.
One device I have employed is use of vernacular and idiomatic
expressions common among the old-timers in their daily speech
patterns, particularly expressions which reappear consistently in the
recounting of the legend-stories: "September-month," "forth and
back," "cache house,'' "picking wood," ''married up with," inviting
someone to "sit up and eat," etc. My rationalization is that these are
intercultural expressions of Russian or Indian idioms that are on their
way to becoming anglicized, which have not yet passed the stage of
transition where they are valuable as reflections of the culture from
which they spring.
The stories appearing here come almost exclusively from Pedro Bay
and Nondalton villages, two Tanaina communities in the Lake Iliamna
region of southwestern Alaska (see map following). The people
originally migrated into this area from the Kenai Peninsula, and still
refer to themselves as "Kenai" Indians. They belong to the
Athapascan language group, along with such other North American
tribes as the Apaches and Navahos.
No words on a printed page could hope to recapture the spirit and
immediacy of a firsthand telling of these stories by the people
themselves. Steambaths and fish boats have played their parts for
meand gas lamps and Swede stoves, log houses and long winter
nights. Many of my favorite hours were spent in the preparation of
this collection of stories.
Page vii
Page viii
Deepest thanks to Michael A. and Jean Ricteroff, who have spent so
many hours re-creating for me the days of the old time, and who are
responsible for the plots of most of the stories as they appear here.
And to Walter and Annie Johnson, who first suggested the project of
collecting the legends, and who have stood by me and been helpful in
every way through its completion.
Also to the many friends at Pedro Bay, Nondalton, Eklutna, and
Tyonek who have shared stories with me or given helpful advice and
criticism, especially Rose Hedlund, Gillie Jacko, Gulia Delkettie,
Logaria Foss, and the late Sophie Foss.
And to Joan Broom Townsend, anthropologist, for making available
to me her unpublished doctoral dissertation concerning the
ethnohistory, ecology, and cultural change of the Tanaina Indian in the
Cook Inlet-Lake Iliamna region;
To Robert D. Bowen;
To Mr. V. F. (Vyts) Beliajus, editor of Viltis folklore magazine, for
printing and releasing copyright privileges for: "The Wolverine Story"
(Vol. XXIV, No. 4, December, 1965), "The First Beaver Story" (Vol.
XXIV, No. 5, JanuaryFebruary, 1966), ''The Fox Story" (Vol. XXIV,
No. 6, MarchApril, 1966), ''The Mouse Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 1, May,
1966), "The Second Beaver Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 2, JuneSeptember,
1966), "The Trout Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 3, OctoberNovember, 1966),
"First Brown Bear Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 4, December, 1966), "The
Loon Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 5, JanuaryFebruary, 1967), "The Black
Bear Story" (Vol. XXV, No. 6, MarchApril, 1967), "The Lynx and the
Wolverine," "The Second Eagle Story" (Vol. XXVI, No. 1, May,
1967), "The First Eagle Story," "The Loon Story" (Vol. XXVI, No. 2,
JuneSeptember, 1967), "The Cat Story" (Vol. XXVI, No. 3,
OctoberNovember, 1967), "The Porcupine and the Beaver" (Vol.
XXVI, No. 4, December, 1967), and "The Sea Gull Story"