Storytelling in the Arctic
Abstract If myths offered the Northwest Coast a means of advancing one’s social position, among Eskimos they served the purpose of killing time. Before the days of satellite TV, stories were needed, if for no other reason than to help fill the endless winter night. At its best, this eminently practi...
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Format: | Book Part |
Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressNew York, NY
2002
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195146226.003.0005 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/51989239/isbn-9780195146226-book-part-5.pdf |
Summary: | Abstract If myths offered the Northwest Coast a means of advancing one’s social position, among Eskimos they served the purpose of killing time. Before the days of satellite TV, stories were needed, if for no other reason than to help fill the endless winter night. At its best, this eminently practical approach to storytelling gave rise to a secular entertainment industry unexcelled by any other native American culture. Only among the Pueblos and perhaps the Iroquois was the art of fiction so highly developed, and only in the Southwest did music play so great a role. |
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