Life Woven with Song
The Tlingit Indians of southeastern Alaska are known for their totem poles, Chilkat blankets, and ocean-going canoes. Nora Marks Dauenhauer is a cultural emissary of her people and now tells the story of her own life within the context of her community's. Life Woven with Song re-creates in written language the oral tradition of the Tlingit people as it records memories of Dauenhauer's heritage--of older relatives and Tlingit elders, of trolling for salmon and preparing food in the dryfish...
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The Tlingit Indians of southeastern Alaska are known for their totem poles, Chilkat blankets, and ocean-going canoes. Nora Marks Dauenhauer is a cultural emissary of her people and now tells the story of her own life within the context of her community's. Life Woven with Song re-creates in written language the oral tradition of the Tlingit people as it records memories of Dauenhauer's heritage--of older relatives and Tlingit elders, of trolling for salmon and preparing food in the dryfish camps, of making a living by working in canneries. She explores these recurring themes of food and land, salmon and rainforest, from changing perspectives--as a child, a mother, and a grandmother--and through a variety of literary forms. In prose, Dauenhauer presents stories such as "Egg Boat"--the tale of a twelve-year-old girl fishing the North Pacific for the first time alone--and an autobiographical piece that reveals much about Tlingit lifeways. Then in a section of short lyrical poems she offers crystalline tributes to her land and people. In a concluding selection of plays, Dauenhauer presents three Raven stories that were adapted as stage plays from oral versions told in Tlingit by three storytellers of her community. These plays were commissioned by the Naa Kahidi Theater and have been performed throughout America and Europe. They take the form of a storyteller delivering a narrative while other members of the cast act and dance in masks and costumes. Collectively, Dauenhauer's writings form an "autoethnography," offering new insight into how the Tlingit have been affected by modernization and how Native American culture perseveres in the face of change. Despite thehardships her people have seen, this woman affirms the goodness of life as found in family and community, in daily work and play, and in tribal traditions.Native Peoples - A TackAs Dauenhauer's humor leads us to new, somtimes uncomfortable awareness, so this carefully interwoven book leads us to a deeper understanding of a unique Native woman and the culture that nurtured her. Beyond that, it show us the transformative power of Native traditions that are timeless today.
List of FiguresPrefaceSome Slices of Salmon3Egg Boat17Magic Gloves25Chemawa Cemetery: Buried in Alien Land29Life Woven with Song: An Autobiographical Essay57A Poem for Jim Nagataak'w (Jakwteen)57Grandpa Jakwteen in Eclipse58Auntie Frances, My Father's Sister59My Auntie Jennie's Bed60Grandmother Eliza61Salmon Egg Puller - $2.15 an Hour63In Memory of Jeff David65Willie66Memorial Day in Kiev67Tlingit Elders68Migration Catalog69Spring70Buds71Blossoms72From Camp Heaven73Constellation Course: Hanging Loose74Totemic Display75For My Granddaughters Genny and Lenny76Letter to Nanao Sakaki79Angoon at Low Tide80Berries81Crossing the Bridge82Raven at Grand Canyon83Coming Down from the Mogollon Rim84Zuni Ring: Glacial Turquoise85Fieldwork86Ernestine's House, Hoonah, Alaska, 6 A.M.87Variations of Two88The Storm89Storms from an Enemy Sky90Steel Gray91Trees in North Wind92Amelia's First Ski Run93Tonio Saves Christmas94For My Granddaughter Amelia95Introduction to the Raven Plays99White Raven and Water103Raven, King Salmon, and the Birds112Raven Loses His Nose122Glossary133Acknowledgments137
\ A TackAs Dauenhauer's humor leads us to new, somtimes uncomfortable awareness, so this carefully interwoven book leads us to a deeper understanding of a unique Native woman and the culture that nurtured her. Beyond that, it show us the transformative power of Native traditions that are timeless today.\ —Native Peoples\ \
