Where the Echo Began
and Other Oral Traditions from Southwestern Alaska Recorded by Hans Himmelheber. Ed.
In the mid-1930s, Hans Himmelheber closely observed the Yup'ik and Cup'ig people who offered him hospitality, paying heed to their stories and anecdotes; he photographed them just as carefully, capturing their activities with technical elegance while simultaneously preserving unstudied moments in the people's lives. Himmelheber's photographs also honor his informants, for as one of them told him regarding his people's artwork, "you know every picture has a meaning." The majority of these photographs have not been published before.
This book includes the translated contents of Himmelheber's The Frozen Path: Myths, Tales, and Legends of the Eskimos; "Ethnographic Notes on the Nunivak Eskimos"; "Noseblood as Adhesive Material for Color Paint among the Eskimos" ; and "Unimaginable Miracles in the Poetry of Western Africa and the Eskimos," originally released in German. Kurt and Ester Vitt's translation is readable and clear. Editor Ann Fienup-Riordan, herself a distinguished ethnographer known for her work in southwest Alaska, provides annotation and a detailed discussion of Himmelheber's role as observer and recorder in a thoughtful, scholarly introduction.
Though much has changed in the last half century, Yup'ik and Cup'ig orators continue to tell stories to educate and amuse their listeners. With this English translation, Himmelheber has passed on what he learned to Native and non-Native readers alike.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Hans Himmelheber: Making His Own Path
Himmelheber’s Alaska Year
The Frozen Path
The Frozen Path: Myths, Tales, and Legends of the Eskimos
Introduction
The Prose Poetry of the Nunivak Eskimos
Creation Stories
How the Raven Created Nunivak Island
How a Woman Came Down from the Sky and Created Nunivak Island
Support Anecdote: The Star
How Nunivak Island Received its Population
Myths
How Sun and Moon Came to Be
About a Girl who was Unwilling to Marry
Wolves as Human Beings
Where the Echo Began
Support Anecdote: The Raven
A Shaman Story
Support Anecdote: Crackling the Eyes of Murres
Animal Stories
How the Raven Deceived Various Animals
Great Adventures of a Little Mouse
Support Anecdote: The Disobedient Mouse
People’s Stories
The Expelled Woman
The Expelled Woman (Second Version)
Support Anecdote: The Wooden Wedge
The Woman with Five Husbands
About a Man Who Ran Away from His Wives
The Evil Sister
The Needlefish
Experiences of a Tree
About a Father Who Wished a Daughter for Himself
The Five Kayak Travelers
Support Anecdote: The Man and the Loon
How a Brother and Sister Met Other Human Beings for the First Time
Ancestor Stories
The Glutton
The Big and Little Brother
The Wooden Hat
Strange Hunting Adventure
The Father and His Child
Wolf Adventure
Adventure of a Couple in Love
Swan Flight
The Fight with the Walrus
Two Strong Men
The Kayak
Danced Ancestor Story
Ethnographic Notes on the Nunivak Eskimos
Festivals of the Nunivak Eskimos
Agaiach [Asiggluteng], The Women’s Dancing
Nagatschuchdachelu’ting [Nakacugtarluteng], The Bladder Festival
Kokchlu’ting [Qupluteng], Halving It
Beduchdacheluni [Petugtarluni], Small Things are Hanging
Religious Ideas
The Shaman
Analogy-Operations
Omina
The Good Number Six
Fire Drilling
Manufacture of Wooden Eating Bowls
Games of the Eskimos
Selected Writings
The Use of Noseblood as a Binding Agent for Paint Colors Among the Eskimos
Unimaginable Miracles in the Poetry of Western Africa and the Eskimos
Yup’ik and Cup’ig Oral Traditions
Translation and Transciption
Dog Husband
Retelling an Old Tale
Story by Robert Kolerak; recorded, transcribed, and translated by Marie Meade
Hans Himmelheber: Selected Bibliography
References
Index
About the Editor
