Synopses & Reviews
Franz Boas (1858-1942), geographer, linguist, physical anthropologist and ethnologist, is considered the father of modern North American anthropology.
The 1895 German publication of Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas gathered together in a single volume his earliest research in British Columbia, consisting of 250 B.C. First Nations myths and legends which had been previously serialized in German periodicals between 1891 and 1895.
In 1973, the B.C. Indian Language Project first commissioned this peer-reviewed translation from Dietrich Bertz of Victoria, who completed his revised draft in 1977, incorporating the introduction by Professor Claude Lévi-Strauss. Then began the Projects immense task of researching, footnoting and annotating the text, which was to continue intermittently for over twenty years.
This volume of First Nations myths and legends is an extraordinarily important document in the history of North American anthropology.
Review
This is one of the richest collections of mythological texts available for the whole of the American continent.”
Claude Lévi-Strauss, from the Foreword
these stories comprise the true matter of British Columbia
I cant think of a work
more impressive in its contribution to the future generations of this province.”
Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun
Synopsis
Franz Boas (1858-1942), geographer, linguist, physical anthropologist and ethnologist, is considered the father of modern North American anthropology. The 1895 German publication of this book gathered together in a single volume his earliest research in British Columbia and now, for the first time, is made available in English. Extensively annotated and footnoted, Claude Levi-Strauss describes it as one of the richest collections of mythological text available.
Synopsis
This volume of Native myths and legends is an indispensable document in the history of North American anthropology.
About the Author
Franz BoasFranz Boas greatly influenced American anthropology, particularly in his development of the theoretical framework known as cultural relativism, which argued against the evolutionary scale leading from savagery to Culture, laid out by his 19th-century predecessors. Indian Myths and Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, includes his earliest research in British Columbia concerning First Nations myths and legends.