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Tyendinaga Tales

edited by Rona Rustige

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Jun 1988
Category
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773506503
    Publish Date
    Jun 1988
    List Price
    $29.95
  • Downloadable audio file

    ISBN
    9780228016120
    Publish Date
    Sep 2023
    List Price
    $32.95

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Description

From the introduction: "Folk-tales are the verbal account of the world view and way of life of a people. They hold a special importance when the people lack a formal system of writing. For a thousand years the philosophy, religion, morals, customs, and ideas of the Iroquoian people were perpetuated by means of the spoken word. Folklore may explain the origin of man, animals, plants, and the world. Codes of behaviour, ethics, and social mores are validated in accounts which describe, for example, heroic or malicious deeds. Story- telling was used to socialize and instruct young people and acted as a social cohesive for the whole group." The tales which Rona Rustige has collected contain many folkloric motifs which relate them to other Iroquoian literatures. In the context of this body of Iroquoian folklore the tales take on a broader significance and their preservation allows for future systematic study.

About the author

Editorial Reviews

"charming ... as a record of folklore that has survived in an otherwise unrecorded setting ... a good job of making versions of the tales that read well." William F. Fenton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, SUNY - Albany