Description
Two Houses Half-Buried in Sand: Oral Traditions of the Hul'qumi'num Coast Salish of Kruper Island and Vancouver Island is a fascinating collecting of 60 oral narrative stories collected by Beryl Mildred Cryer and published between 1929 and 1935 in the Victoria Daily Colonist's Sunday magazine. The English woman drew on the knowledge of her neighbour Mary Rice for an introduction into Hul'qumi'num Coast Salish cultural traditions and narratives. Although not a trained anthropologist, Beryl Cryer dutifully recorded her conversations with Mary Rice and other storytellers such as Tommy Pielle, Ts'umsitun, Quon-As, Qwulsteynum, Joe Wyse, Jennie Wyse, Wilkes James, Johnny Seletze, Rosalie Seletze, and others from the community. The stories make a unique collection because the collector included women's voices as well as men. The stories include origin stories, place names, family history stories, ceremonies, traditional narratives and historical accounts. The book was edited by Kevin Arnett and includes archival photographs of many of the storytellers and their villages.