The Tsimshian
Images of the Past, Views for the Present
the recent past and includes contributions from such diverse
perspectives as archaeology, linguistics, and social anthropology. The
contributors demonstrate a balance between current fieldwork and
careful archival analysis, as they build on the voluminous materials
that are a legacy of the scholarship of such major figures as Boas,
Barbeau, Tate, and Garfield. The book includes chapters on the crest
system and participation of the Tsimshian in the 'non-Native'
economy of the region and introduces much original material on
shamanism, basket making, and feasting.
Stimulating, thought-provoking, and provides promising new directions for future research on the Tsimshian and other Northwest Coast groups.
These papers collectively present a stimulating view of images and realities of Tsimshian life from both non-Indian scholars and Tsimshian thesmelves ... Scholarly and committed to its subject, this book will be warmly welcomes by all interested in the culture and history of the Northwest Coast.
The Tsimshian offers fresh insight that extends beyond intellectual pursuit to an appreciation of a living culture of real people.
List of Illustrations
Introduction
I. Recent Tsimshian Ethnohistory
1. Hartley Bay, British Columbia: A History / KenCampbell
2. Feasting with the Southern Tsimshian / Jay Miller
3. Images of the Nineteenth-Century Economy of the Tsimshian /James A. McDonald
II. Reconstructed Social Organization
4. Feast Names at Hartley Bay / Marjorie Halpin
5. The Epic of Nekt: The Archaeology of Metaphor / GeorgeMacDonald
6. A Native Mental Map of Coast Tsimshian Villages / LouisAllaire
7. International Matri-Moieties: The North Maritime Province of theNorth Pacific Coast / John Asher Dunn
8. Lest There Be No Salmon: Symbols in Traditional TsimshianPotlatch / Margaret Seguin
III. World View and Shamanism
9. An Introduction to Tsimshian World View and Its Practitioners /Marie-Francoise Guedon
10. Power in Their Hands: The Gitsontk / Audrey Shane
11. Tsimshian Shamanic Images / Marie-Francoise Guedon
IV. Material Culture
12. Tsimshian Basketry / Andrea Laforet
13. 'Seeing' in Stone: Tsimshian Masking and the Twin StoneMasks / Marjorie Halpin
Afterword / Carole Farber
References
Notes on Contributors
Index
