Description
Talking on the Page: Editing Aboriginal Oral Texts contains six papers presented in 1996 during the Conference on Editorial Problems at the University of Toronto. The authors explore the issues surrounding the efforts by Native and non-native people to record oral traditions and history in visual form. The important work of Native scholars and anthropologists such as Basil Johnston (Ojibwe), Kimberly Blaeser (Chippewa), Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Tlingit) and Victor Masayesva (Hopi) are presented in this collection. Other presenters include J. Edward Chamberlin and Julie Cruikshank. Some readers will find the written comments of J. Edward Chamberlin offensive and are advised to begin reading his essay on the bottom of page 72. These presenters use their personal experiences in film, literature, and language to comment on the methods of preserving Native oral traditions in written form. The themes of sovereignty, language, and the importance of stories are addressed by these Native scholars in this important contribution to Native oral tradition and the written text.