Description
Cree Legends and Narratives from the West Coast of James Bay presents Swampy, Moose and Kashechewan Cree legends retold by Xavier Sutherland, Isiah Sutherland, John Wynne, Joel Linklater, Silas Wesley, Jannah Wynne, Gabriel Kiokee, Andrew Faries, Gilbert Faries, Sophie Gunner, James Gunner, Willie Frenchman, Hannah Loon, Ellen McLeod, and John Carpenter. This volume is the first major body of 68 annotated texts in James Bay Cree, and a unique documentation of Swampy and Moose Cree (Western James Bay) usage of the 1950s and 1960s. Conversations and interviews with 16 different speakers include: legends, reminiscences, historical narratives, stories and conversations, as well as descriptions of technology. The book includes a detailed pronunciation guide, notes on Cree terms, informants’ comments, dialect variations, and descriptions of cultural values and customs. The introduction describes and compares the various genres in traditional and popular culture. Topics include accounts about Weesakechahk, Chahkabesh, Where the first people came from; Chahkabesh and the bears; How Chahkabesh snared the sun; The legend of Weesakechahk and the flood; The windigoes; Weesakechahk tricks the bear; How Ghost River got its name; Lost in the bush; The first airplane comes to Moose Factory; Why the bear has a short tail; The old days at Moose Factory; Making rabbit-skin blankets; and Making birch bark canoes. The dual language text appears in Cree (Roman Orthography) and English translation.