Life and Traditions of the Red Man A Rediscovered Treasure of Native American Literature
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Joseph Nicolar (1827–94) was an elder and political leader of the Penobscot Nation of Maine. He served six terms as the tribe’s elected representative to the Maine State Legislature.
Annette Kolodny is the College of Humanities Professor Emerita of American Literature and Culture at The University of Arizona. She is the author The Land Before Her: Fantasy and Experience of the American Frontiers, 1630–1860 and The Lay of the Land: Metaphor as Experience and History in American Life and Letters.
“<i>The Life and Traditions of the Red Man</i> is an extraordinary rendering of Eastern Algonquian history, story, and prophecy, self-published in the nineteenth century by a native writer from the northeast coast of the United States. As remarkable as the text was Joseph Nicolar himself, a brilliant and largely self-educated member of the Penobscot tribe who fervently wished to pass on what he could to the younger generations.”-Patricia Clark Smith, coauthor of <i>On the Trail of Elder Brother: Glous’gap Stories of the Micmac Indians</i> “Joseph Nicolar’s <i>The Life and Traditions of the Red Man</i> is surely a landmark text, and Annette Kolodny’s framing helps make the narrative come alive.”-Philip Deloria, author of <i>Indians in Unexpected Places</i> “Joseph Nicolar’s <i>The Life and Traditions of the Red Man</i>, reissued with Annette Kolodny’s excellent prefatory material, provides students and scholars of American Indian literatures with a valuable text in a reader-friendly edition, which is, crucially, endorsed by the Penobscot Nation.”- Eric Cheyfitz, editor of <i>The Columbia Guide to American Indian Literatures of the United States since 1945</i>
The Life and Traditions of the Red Man has not been widely available until now, largely because Nicolar passed away just a few months after the printing of the book was completed, and shortly afterwards most of the few hundred copies that had been printed were lost in a fire. This new edition has been prepared with the assistance of Nicolar’s descendants and members of the Penobscot Nation. It includes a summary history of the tribe; an introduction that illuminates the book’s narrative strategies, the aims of its author, and its key themes; and annotations providing historical context and explaining unfamiliar words and phrases. The book also contains a preface by Nicolar’s grandson, Charles Norman Shay, and an afterword by Bonnie D. Newsom, former Director of the Penobscot Nation’s Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation. The Life and Traditions of the Red Man is a remarkable narrative of Native American culture, spirituality, and literary daring.
Preface / Charles Norman Shay ix
Acknowledgments xiii
A Summary History of the Penobscot Nation / Annette Kolodny 1
Introduction to Joseph Nicolar's 1893 The Life and Traditions of the Red Man / Annette Kolodny 35
A Note on Nicolar's Text 89
Joseph Nicolar's The Life and Traditions of the Red Man
Preface 95
1. The Creation.-Klose-kur-beh's Journey.-Meeting his Companions.-The Marriage 97
2. With the aid of May May, Klose-kur-beh destroyed the Serpent.-The Sea Voyage. 114
3. Klose-kur-beh's hunting.-The first mother changed into corn and tobacco. 130
4. The winter and the seven years famine.-The discovery of the frist white man's track. 142
5. The fish famine.-The capture of the white swan and the white spiritual men driven away. 161
6. The winding up the war with the May-Quays.-The grand council established-The arrival and settlement of the white man. 184
Conclusion 195
Notes to the Nicolar Text 201
Afterword / Bonnie D. Newsom 213
Works Consulted and Recommendations for Further Reading 215
Illustration Credits 221
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Joseph Nicolar (1827–94) was an elder and political leader of the Penobscot Nation of Maine. He served six terms as the tribe’s elected representative to the Maine State Legislature.
Annette Kolodny is the College of Humanities Professor Emerita of American Literature and Culture at The University of Arizona. She is the author The Land Before Her: Fantasy and Experience of the American Frontiers, 1630–1860 and The Lay of the Land: Metaphor as Experience and History in American Life and Letters.