Tales from Maliseet Country - (Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians) by Philip S Lesourd (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

During the summer of 1963, Harvard linguist Karl V. Teeter traveled along the Saint John River, the great thoroughfare of Native New Brunswick, Canada, with his principal Maliseet consultant, Peter Lewis Paul. Together they recorded a series of tales from Maliseet elders whom Paul regarded as among the best Maliseet storytellers born before 1900, including Charles Laporte, Matilda Sappier, Solomon Polchies, William Saulis, and Alexander Sacobie. Paul also contributed eleven narratives of his own. Tales from Maliseet Country presents the transcripts and translations of the texts Teeter collected, together with one tale recorded by linguist Philip S. LeSourd in 1977. The stories range from chronicles of shamanistic activity and mysterious events of the distant past, through more conventionally historical narratives, to frankly fictional yarns, fairy tales with roots in European traditions, and personal accounts of subsistence activities and reservation life. This entertaining and revealing volume testifies to the rich heritage of the Maliseets and the enduring vibrancy of their culture today. Featuring a bilingual format, with Maliseet and English on facing pages, this is the first extensive collection to be published in the Maliseet language, a member of the far-flung Algonquian family spoken in New Brunswick. The volume is also the first to provide full phonemic transcriptions, including the notation of accentual contrasts, of the Maliseet tales. An authoritative introduction provides a guide to interpreting the texts.

Review Quotes

"This bilingual collection (English and Maliseet) is significant in that it is the first extensive collection to be published in the Maliseet language. . . . Collected in the spirit of salvage anthropology, these stories are a significant starting place for readers with an interest in Algonquian languages or the Maliseet people."--CHOICE -- (6/18/2008 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Philip S. LeSourd is an associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University. He is the author of Accent and Syllable Structure in Passamaquoddy.