A Translation of Franz Boas’ 1895 Edition of “Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas”
By Franz Boas
Edited by Randy Bouchard & Dorothy Kennedy
Translated by Dietrich Bertz
Franz Boas (1858-1942), geographer, linguist, physical anthropologist and ethnologist, is considered the father of modern North American anthropology.
The 1895 German publication of Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas gathered together in a single volume his earliest research in British Columbia, consisting of 250 B.C. First Nations myths and legends which had been previously serialized in German periodicals between 1891 and 1895.
In 1973, the B.C. Indian Language Project first commissioned this peer-reviewed translation from Dietrich Bertz of Victoria, who completed his revised draft in 1977, incorporating the introduction by Professor Claude Lévi-Strauss. Then began the Project’s immense task of researching, footnoting and annotating the text, which was to continue intermittently for over twenty years.
This volume of First Nations myths and legends is an extraordinarily important document in the history of North American anthropology.
Short-listed 2003 BC Book Prize: Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize
“This is one of the richest collections of mythological texts available for the whole of the American continent.”
— Claude Lévi-Strauss, from the Foreword
“… these stories comprise the true matter of British Columbia … I can’t think of a work … more impressive in its contribution to the future generations of this province.”
— Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun
By Franz Boas
Franz Boas greatly influenced American anthropology, particularly in his development of the theoretical framework known as cultural relativism, which argued against the evolutionary scale leading from savagery to Culture, laid out by his 19th-century predecessors. Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, includes his earliest research in British Columbia concerning First Nations myths and legends.
Edited by Randy Bouchard
Randy Bouchard and Dr. Dorothy Kennedy are the founders of the BC Indian Language Project, dedicated to the documentation and preservation of BC’s First Nations languages, cultures, and histories.
Kennedy and Bouchard’s comprehensive study of the Native people of the Desolation Sound area, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands, was published by Talonbooks in 1983. They are also co-editors of Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, published in 2002 by Talonbooks.
The Lil’wat World of Charlie Mack, published by Talonbooks in February 2010, is Kennedy and Bouchard’s tribute to one of their First Nations collaborators.
Edited by Dorothy Kennedy
Dr. Dorothy Kennedy and Randy Bouchard are the founders of the BC Indian Language Project, dedicated to the documentation and preservation of BC’s First Nations languages, cultures, and histories.
Kennedy and Bouchard’s comprehensive study of the Native people of the Desolation Sound area, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands, was published by Talonbooks in 1983. They are also co-editors of Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, published in 2002 by Talonbooks.
The Lil’wat World of Charlie Mack, published by Talonbooks in February 2010, is Kennedy and Bouchard’s tribute to one of their First Nations collaborators.
news | 2012-05-23
Aboriginal Awareness Week in 2012
…Shuswap Gets Her Trout Gabriel Dumont Speaks Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America Lasagna: The Man Behind the Mask News: Postcards …
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