The epic sca

& A Story as Sharp esa
Kuife: The Classical Haida
Mythtellers and their World
by Robert Bringhurst,
Douglas & McIntyre, 512
pp, 26 half-tone, $45 cloth.
B Mythic Beings: Spirit Art of
the Northwest Const,
Greystone Books, 14-4 pp,
$26.95 paper.
B® The Trickster Shift:
Hsmour and Irony in
Contemporary Native Art by
ian J. Ryan, UBC Press,
318 pp, $65 paper.

2B

by Scott Thybony, Graphic
Arts Centre Publishing, 128
pp, $21.95 paper.

Riders of the West:

Portrait from Indian Rodeo
~~ Photography by Linda

:. MacCannell and text by

. Peter I Greystone
Books, 121 pp; $28.95 paper.

- SEVERAL studies published this summer provide

insights into North American native cultures.
First and foremost is Robert Bringhurst’s

landmark study of Haida classical oral literature.
His new book is based on the research of

’ American anthropologist John Swanton who
studied the culture’s epic tales at the turn of the
century.

”. Bringhurst claims that the myths, passed

le of Hai

down for hundreds of generations, should be
considered as one of the world’s great epic oral
traditions. The literature is on a par with the
Haida’s visual art forms and relates to the same
body of mythico-historical material.

Two of the poets Skaai and Ghandl dictated
hundreds of pages to Swanton over a 10-month
period, however after the anthropologist
returned to the States his research was ignored
for more than 70 years. Bringhurst expertly
threads together the two separate narratives of

Singling out the iead-

From page 6

village at approximately | p.m.
On Squ’acum’s command the
Lamaicha returned fire from
the two points of land at the
entrance to the bay. Sixteen-
year-old sailor Charles F.

-,. Gliddon was hit in the temple
he spot, He was

Lascelles moved the gun
beat away from the bay and
'- ordered his men‘to continue
firing on the unscen enemy..At
4 p.m the Forward weighed
anchor and left the vicinity. -
“News of the only tactical :
defeat ever inflicted by a tribal

. people over the Royal Navy“

. took a while td reach Victoria
. And when it did the military”.
 establishment‘made every +”
effort to deny their defeat.
Newspapsr-reports were fic-

* tien supplied by Lascelles and
his superiors...
_ Tt took nwo further forays
into the area with three boats.

and 500 men to apprehend
natives alleged responsible for
the killings. Three youths were
hung for the killing of Brady
and four more natives

. (Acheewun, Shenasaluk,
Qualatultun and Allwhenuk)
were publicly executed on July
4 for the Marks’ and Gliddon

eaths.

Reports suggest that,.con?

fessions Were obtained, -
through torture but the (retal-
iatory) deaths satisfied authori-
ties. The press was another © .
matter, decrying the injustice
of the proceedings — the.
natives were tried without
defence or counsel and mainly
in a language they did not
“understand. . 2.
"Kuper Island. is now reserve
“except for the site of the
~~ Lamalcha village which was

* taken away trom the’group

/ +s after the summer of death. It is

currently on the table as part

-of ongoing treaty negotiations - -

with the Hul’qumi’num First
Nations. . :
* In his retelling of the 1863

events Arnett mas.

tion between the treaus..
natives in Canada and the
States. “South of the border
the Americans would raise a
raytag body of militia and go
out and shoot everybody in
sight. The British did things
differently — they were much
more ruthless and selective. .

They singled out the leaders #.--.

and went after them.”

Squ’acum, the war chief of.

the Lamalcha, was never cap-
tured-by the authorities. “I’ve
talked to elders and they know £
his name,” says Arnett.

“People remember him as a

war chief who was quote

‘mean to the whites’, He
would have been quite a bril-
liant tactician.” :
@ Chris Amett will read from
Terror of the Coast at the /
North Vancouver City Library
(121 West 14th St.) on - -:
Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. he
will be at the Vancouver Public
Library, downtown branch, for
a reading

Swanton and the Haida into
one grind adventure. Highly
recommended,

Gary Wyatt, curator of
Vancouver's Spirit Wresder
Gallery, provides the introduc:
tion for Mythical Beings, a col-
lection of 75. works by 33 con-
temporary Native artists inter-
preting Northwest Coast
mythology.

The art is organized into
four categories (The Sky
World, The Mortal World, The
Undersea World and The Spiric
World) with biographies of all
the artists (inchuding North
Shore residents Norman Tait
and Lucinda Turner) provided
at the back of the book.

Rock Art of the American Southwest examines
the cultural contexts of the Anasazi, Apache,
Navajo Zuni and other peoples, The pho-
tographs by Fred Hirschmann capture the paint-
ings and carvings in site with Scott Thybony
providing background on the fascinating desert
cultures. They almost seem otherworldly until
one remembers the Dene origins of the Navajo
and Apache in B.C.

Allan J. Ryan’s study of contemporary native
artists locates the traditional concept of the trick-
ster within their work. The collection of artists
assembled is a who’s who of the North
American native art scene. Ryan is currently
researching native cartoonists and some of their
work is also included in The Trickster Shift.

Riders from the West intersperses text and
photographs to docunient the lifestyle of Indian
rodeo culrure. MacCanneli and Iverson bring to
life the day to day poetry of rural North
America. — John Goodinan

North Shore News — 17

a) 01 rr

Author's easy gcing
honesty appeals

Terry Peters

Book reviews

M8 The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by
Billie Letts, Warner Books, 304 pp, $17.99.

LIKE the warm atmosphere of a roadside diner,

- The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, draws you

and offers comfor:.

The story moves along at an easy pace and.
we are gradually drawn into the lives of the
regulars. .

Not much changes at the diner, then one
week nvo newcomers push their way into the

Svs Letts page 18

$1298en. erates -
“oR OGiek.

Alipackaged stock valued under”

$12.98ex.*Members,
‘Cf OFF .
ae