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Social Science Cultural

Living by Stories

A Journey of Landscape and Memory

by (author) Harry Robinson

edited by Wendy Wickwire

Publisher
Talonbooks
Initial publish date
Sep 2005
Category
Cultural
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780889225220
    Publish Date
    Sep 2005
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780889228771
    Publish Date
    Oct 2013
    List Price
    $24.99

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 13
  • Grade: 8

Description

Following on two previous collections— Write It on Your Heart: The Epic World of an Okanagan Storyteller (1989) and Nature Power: In the Spirit of an Okanagan Storyteller (2004)—Talonbooks is pleased to announce the release of this third volume of oral narratives by Okanagan storyteller Harry Robinson.
Living by Stories includes a number of classic stories set in the “mythological age” about the trickster/transformer, Coyote, and his efforts to rid the world of bad people— spatla or “monsters,” but this new volume is more important for its presentation of historical narratives set in the more recent past. As with the mythological accounts, there is much chaos and conflict in these stories, mainly due to the arrival of new quasi-monsters—“SHAmas” (Whites)—who dispossess “Indians” of their lands and rights, impose new political and legal systems, and erect roads, rail lines, mines, farms, ranches and towns on the landscape.

About the authors

Harry Robinson
As a member of the Lower Similkameen Band of the Interior Salish people and a rancher for most of his life, Robinson also looked upon himself as one of the last storytellers of his people. As he came to realize fully the importance of the storytelling tradition in his community, he began telling stories in the Okanagan language and became as skilled in English storytelling by his mid-seventies. Wendy Wickwire met Robinson while working on her doctoral thesis and recognized what, as Thomas King would later suggest, may well be “the most powerful storytelling voice in North America.” He passed away in 1990'shortly after the publication of Write It on Your Heart, the first of three story collections which will ensure the survival of the epic world of Harry Robinson in many generations to come.”

Wendy Wickwire
Born in Nova Scotia, Wendy Wickwire lived in Merrit and Lytton, British Columbia while researching her doctoral thesis on Native song. During her ten years of research, she met Similkameen storyteller Harry Robinson and recorded his stories in the critically acclaimed Write It on Your Heart and Nature Power. She also co-authored the award-winning Stein: The Way of the River with her husband Michael M’Gonigle.

Wickwire teaches and continues her work in both the School of Environmental Studies and the Department of History at the University of Victoria. She now focuses her research on the oral tradition (oral narratives, songs, life history) of the First Nations peoples of south-central British Columbia.

Harry Robinson's profile page

Born in Nova Scotia, Wendy Wickwire lived in Merrit and Lytton, British Columbia while researching her doctoral thesis on Native song. During her ten years of research, she met Similkameen storyteller Harry Robinson and recorded his stories in the critically acclaimed Write It on Your Heart and Nature Power. She also co-authored the award-winning Stein: The Way of the River with her husband Michael M’Gonigle. Wickwire teaches and continues her work in both the School of Environmental Studies and the Department of History at the University of Victoria. She now focuses her research on the oral tradition (oral narratives, songs, life history) of the First Nations peoples of south-central British Columbia.

Wendy Wickwire's profile page

Editorial Reviews

“Whenever I need to be reminded that language is magic and that stories can change the world, I go to Robinson.”
Thomas King

Librarian Reviews

Living by Stories: A Journey of Landscape and Memory

This third book in the series of stories told by Okanagan Elder Harry Robinson includes stories from the mythological age and historical narratives. The editor includes an extended introduction that elaborates on the nature of her relationship with Robinson and places the stories in an historical and anthropological context. Some tales are about the trickster, Coyote, while others are concerned with talking cats or animals that do fantastic things. The last group concerns the arrival of Europeans and their conflict with Aboriginal peoples. These stories try to make sense of and express grievances with historical events.

Wickwire teaches oral history, environmental history and ethnography at the University of Victoria.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2007-2008.

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