Two Houses Half-buried in Sand: Oral Traditions of the Hul'q'umi'num' Coast Salish of Kuper Island and Vancouver Island ( Halkomelem / Cowichan / Salishan language)

Vancouver, British Columbia: Vancouver, BC: Talon Books / Talonbooks, 2007, 1st Edition, First Printing, 2007. ------------( 1st printing of the First Edition ) --- softcover, a Near Fine example BUT there is a crease on the rear panel so a Very Good+ example, feels unread, 351 pages. b&w photos-, ---"A vital collection of writings about First Nations people and culture as it existed on the island coasts of the Depression-era Pacific Northwest and originally published in the pages of Victoria’s oldest newspaper, the Daily Colonist, the sixty stories included here are the result of a unique collaboration between a middle-aged woman, Beryl Cryer, of upper-class British ancestry, and well-known Hul’q’umi’num’-speaking cultural elders, keenly aware of the punitive anti-land claims legislation passed by the Canadian Parliament in 1927, and therefore eager to have their stories told and published. ---Mary Rice from Kuper Island, who lived next door to the Cryer family home in Chemainus, BC, is well remembered even today for her storytelling abilities; she taught Beryl Cryer, with whom she became close friends, countless aspects of indigenous culture, particularly as experienced by women. An elder in a thriving native culture, she introduced Cryer to the many other authorities from whom these stories were gathered for the newspaper. ---Although she was not a trained anthropologist, Beryl Cryer was an honest observer and careful recorder. She embellished the material she collected with minor anecdotal introductions that give the reader a vivid sense of the person telling the story. The accounts themselves are valuable documents of Coast Salish oral traditions dealing with a wide range of subject matter from known sources, almost all of whom were well-versed in English"---, any image directly beside this listing is the actual book and not a generic photo /// NOT SIGNED ---GUARANTEED to be AVAILABLE/// ---sizes are approximate (generally within 1/8 inch)---. First Edition. Soft Cover. Very Good+ ( see Description ). Illus. by Photo Cover. 6w x 9h Inches.