Description
Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay was born in the Haida village of Qquuna about 1827. During Skaay’s lifetime, the face of Haida Gwaii was transformed but the traditions he was born to and grew up with were those of the precolonial, preindustrial, preliterate Haida world. So great were his talents as a storyteller and poet that he remains the most important figure in all of Haida literature.
Robert Bringhurst, winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence and former Guggenheim Fellow in poetry, trained initially in the sciences at MIT but has made his career in the humanities. He is also an officer of the Order of Canada and the recipient of two honourary doctorates.
Being in Being contains three masterpieces by legendary Haida mythteller Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay. The shortest recounts the high points of the legend of his family. The second, Raven Travelling, is the longest and most complex version of the story of the Raven ever recorded on the Northwest Coast. The third is The Qquuna Cycle, a narrative poem of nearly 5,500 lines, one of the true masterpieces of North American literature.
Robert Bringhurst’s eloquent and vivid translations of these works are supplemented by explanatory notes that supply the needed background information. Halftones, black and white.
Robert Bringhurst, winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence and former Guggenheim Fellow in poetry, trained initially in the sciences at MIT but has made his career in the humanities. He is also an officer of the Order of Canada and the recipient of two honourary doctorates.
Being in Being contains three masterpieces by legendary Haida mythteller Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay. The shortest recounts the high points of the legend of his family. The second, Raven Travelling, is the longest and most complex version of the story of the Raven ever recorded on the Northwest Coast. The third is The Qquuna Cycle, a narrative poem of nearly 5,500 lines, one of the true masterpieces of North American literature.
Robert Bringhurst’s eloquent and vivid translations of these works are supplemented by explanatory notes that supply the needed background information. Halftones, black and white.