Tellings from Our Elders Lushootseed syeyehub | Volume 2: Tales from the Skagit Valley 2

Oral stories form a portal through which rich cultural and linguistic information is passed from generation to generation. Traditional stories, called syeyehub in the Lushootseed language, are among the most valued oral traditions of the Coast Salish people of the southern and eastern shores of Puget Sound. Tellings from Our Elders, Volume 2, presents nine stories told in the Skagit River dialects of the Lushootseed language, transcribed from recordings of the last generation of Elders who learned Lushootseed as an exclusive mother tongue. As a collection, they open a doorway not only to important cultural knowledge but also to the specialized vocabulary and patterns of narrative stylistics typical of Coast Salish storytelling. Each story is presented in an interlinearized format with full morpheme-by-morpheme glosses and English translations. This format makes explicit the structure of the language and illustrates the richness of Lushootseed grammar as it is used in context. A glossary at the end of the book gives non-linguists some insight into the specialized terminology used in the analysis, making the texts accessible to the layperson. This book is an invaluable tool for those who want to ensure that Lushootseed is spoken by generations to come. This collection will be of interest to linguists, typologists, aficionados of oral narrative, and speakers and learners of Lushootseed and other Coast Salishan languages. Oral stories form a portal through which rich cultural and linguistic information is passed from generation to generation. Tellings from Our Elders, Volume 2 , presents stories in the Skagit Valley dialects of Lushootseed, the language of the indigenous people of the southern and eastern shores of Puget Sound. Transcribed from recordings made of the last generation of elders who learned Lushootseed as an exclusive mother tongue, and published with line-by-line interlinear glosses, this collection of nine traditional stories ( syyhub ) opens a doorway to cultural knowledge, specialized vocabulary, and patterns of narrative stylistics typical of Coast Salish storytelling. Oral stories form a portal through which rich cultural and linguistic information is passed from generation to generation. Tellings from Our Elders, Volume 2, presents stories in the Skagit Valley dialects of Lushootseed, the language of the indigenous people of the southern and eastern shores of Puget Sound. Transcribed from recordings made of the last generation of elders who learned Lushootseed as an exclusive mother tongue, and published with line-by-line interlinear glosses, this collection of nine traditional stories (syeyehub) opens a doorway to cultural knowledge, specialized vocabulary, and patterns of narrative stylistics typical of Coast Salish storytelling. Cover Copyright Contents Foreword Abbreviations and Symbols Introduction Language Texts Presentation Acknowledgments 1 - gwəqwulc’əʔ Susie Sampson Peter Star Child 2 - Dora Solomon Star Child 3 - Mary Sampson Willup Star Child 4 - Harry Moses Star Child How Daylight Was Stolen 5 - tsi sqwux̌waɬ Louise Anderson Basket Ogress 6 - ʔalataɬ Martin Sampson Basket Ogress 7 - Dewey Mitchell Basket Ogress 8 - Alice Williams Basket Ogress Glossary of Terms References Nine traditional stories from the Skagit Valley, presented with line-by-line interlinear glosses, illuminate the grammatical and narrative richness of the Lushootseed language This invaluable analysis of eighteen Lushootseed traditional stories includes interlinear grammatical analyses.