Stories That Make the World – Oral Literature of the Indian Peoples of the Inland Northwest (The Civilisation of the American Indian Series, Vol. #218)

By using verse form and visual clues indicating pauses, intonations, and gestures, anthropologist Rodney Frey permits readers to hear the oral literature of narrators from the Coeur d’Alene, Crow, Klikitat, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Sanpoil, and Wasco people today in Washington, northern Idaho, and Montana. He places each of the twenty-three narratives in its larger cultural, literary, and expressive context, making this anthology an important resource both for American Indian people and for non-Native scholars and general readers. A glossary and a lesson-plan appendix facilitate the book’s use in both secondary and college-level courses. Frey (anthropology, Lewis-Clark State College) worked closely with tribal members in Washington, Idaho, and Montana to produce this anthology of contemporary Native oral literature illustrated with b & w portraits and landscapes. He traces cultural themes and literary motifs, and describes traditional storytelling techniques and the purposes of oral literature. The stories themselves are written in verse from and include notes on intonation, pauses, and gestures. For secondary and college-level students, as well as general readers It was a warm and pleasant June afternoon.