Nine Visits to the Mythworld: Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers, Volume 2
Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2000.
First Canadian Edition. Hardcover.
First Canadian Edition, Published simultaneously with the first U.S. Edition (University of Nebraska Press, 2000).
The nine stories here are from one of the last of the traditional Haida storytellers, Ghandl of the Qayahl Llaanas, born in 1851 off the coast of British Columbia. European diseases had wiped out over ninety percent of the Haidas and cost him his sight. He became a skilled listener and collected the myths, legends, and everyday stories of his people.
Nearly all of the poems in this volume are "qqaygaang," narrative poems set in the Haida mythtime of long ago. One story, "The Names of Their Gambling Sticks," is a "qqayaagaang," a story that juxtaposes mythtime and historical time and is the property of a Haida family. Each poem enacts a myth that celebrates the traditional Haida world and reveals Ghandl's personal view of the foibles and potential of human beings. The stories have been translated and annotated by Robert Bringhurst.
Item #901515ISBN: 1550548034
6-1/8 x 9-1/4”, fuschia and brown paper over boards, illustrated endpapers, 222pp, appendix of Haida Spelling and Pronunciation, notes to the text and illustrations, select bibliography, map, photographic illustrations.
Fine in lightly rubbed dust wrapper and protective mylar.
Price: $60.00