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History and Folklore of the Cowichan Indians
By Martha Douglas Harris (Illustrations by Margaret C. Maclure)
Introduction by Dr. Paul Lindholdt, Eastern Washington University
In the late 1800s, Martha Douglas Harris, the daughter of the former governor of British Columbia, observed that "civilization" was destroying the "native dignity and wholesome life" of the Cowichan tribe of Vancouver, "substituting much evil for the real good found in their former customs and character." She herself was part Cree Indian—a fact that her father was none too eager to make public. But he and her mother had long since passed away, and so she wrote this book of 20 folktales in 1901, partly to honor her Native American heritage.
"Reciting these legends to my own children, I have found that they contain the power to delight and amaze. ... There are unforgettable creation legends, a war song, epic heroes, and wild women. There are characters with all the rashness of Odysseus, the romantic compunction of the prodigal son ... and folklore motifs that parallel the classical epics and biblical parables." –Dr. Paul J. Lindholdt, from the Introduction
Contents: The Enchanted Bear, The War Song, The Thunder and Lightning Bird, Children of the Moon, The Two Sisters and 15 other classic stories about the Cowichan and Cree tribes.
"...a significant and seminal contribution to Native American Studies..." -The Midwest Book Review
138 pages / paperback / 6 x 9 format / 11 illustrations / fall 2004 / $29.95 / Includes CIP data and index / ISBN: 0-922993-11-4
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