Stories from the Six Worlds: Micmac Legends

by Ruth Holmes Whitehead, Kathy Kaulbach (Illustrator)

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction

246 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Ruth Holmes Whitehead is a renowned historian and ethnologist. She has worked with the Nova Scotia Museum for over 40 years, first as assistant curator in history and now as research associate.

The author of several books, including Six Mi’kmaq Stories, The Old Man Told Us, and Black Loyalists, Ruth lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was awarded the prestigious Order of Nova Scotia in 2014 in recognition for her contributions to documenting the province's cultural history.

Reviews

[Jim Puskas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of tales. In common with the Norse and the Greco-Roman mythology, there is a good deal of violence in these stories, but they also offer a unique insight into the attitudes, values and customs of the Micmac. Their perception of a set of multiple, parallel worlds as a setting for the tales, along with their concept of the various creatures and objects within their environment as being "peoples" like themselves, complete with souls goes some way to explaining their relationship with nature and the world around them -- so different from that of Europeans.
One additional comment about a particular story: "Papkutparut" (the Guardian) bears an intriguing resemblance to the Orpheus legend, right down to the ending. But that story also explains for them the origin of corn, tobacco and berries, so apart from being a really appealing story, it has a practical outcome as well.

[Araminta Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great capturing of the folk tales of the MicMac (called "The People" by the people themselves as Micmac turns out to be a bastardization of the greeting the tribe gave to the Europeans who landed here and later it became the term for the tribe itself). I LOVED learning that the Mi'kmaq language has verb conjugations that could fill an entire book in explanation and that stories of the Mi'kmaq are as capable of shape-shifting as the shape-shifting animate Persons (all living or animate things are Persons in Micmac, including trees, animals, humans, the wind). That is, stories can evolve with the storyteller and are expected to do so. Beautiful concept. I loved this book.

[VoteTassia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a coarse I took in college. It turned out to be one of my most favorite books that I have read. It reads like a mellow wine. Very vivid stories passed from generation to generation in the oral tradition of the Micmac.

[Sarah Lombard · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so beautiful its hard to put down. magical stories were alot of shape shifting is going on. there are beautiful drawings of what looks like quill work and alot of the stories titles are in the micmac language.