Far North Tales: Stories from the Peoples of the Arctic Circle captures and preserves the wonderful tales of Siberia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada, and offers readers glimpses into the cultures and customs of the people who created them.
Gathering more than 30 tales from the Arctic and Subarctic regions?many of them unavailable in contemporary publications and, thus, virtually unknown to readers today?the book provides a sampling of stories grouped by type or theme. There are tales of daily life; creation stories; tales of tricksters and fools; spirits, shamans, and shapeshifters; animals; and heroes and heroines. The ethnic source and country of origin is provided for each tale, as are notes on the tale itself. Background on the geography, history, and cultures of the native peoples round out a book that is a perfect resource for educators and storytellers alike.
This collection of tales represents and preserves the oral heritage of Arctic and Subarctic ethnic groups, so that their stories are no longer in danger of becoming lost to future generations.
From time immemorial, stories have conveyed what matters most to human cultures. Sadly, many tales from indigenous groups of the far north (Arctic and Subarctic) are now disappearing with diminishing and/or assimilating indigenous populations. This is especially true of Siberian groups. This work translates the tales of Arctic cultures and makes them available to storytellers, folklorists, libraries and students.
· Offers a diverse selection of northern tales, including widely known tales, little-known tales, and tales? Notably Siberian stories? Previously unknown in English
· Preserves, in English, the spiritual legacy of tales and peoples that, in some cases, are in danger of disappearing
· Provides information about the cultures of various northern ethnic groups and links the stories to those cultures in meaningful ways
· More than 30 tales from the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Siberia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada
· Brief cultural histories of the ethnic groups Inuit, Saami, Yupik, Siberian and northern European Russian, Dene, Innu, and Alaskan Inupiat
· Photographs contributed by Canadian photographer Paul Northcott, teacher Joyce Hill, St. Petersburg's Zina Sergeevna Nikitina, and the Department of Russian Folklore at Moscow State University
· A glossary of terms used in the stories from various Arctic languages
· An index of stories, cultures, and cultural objects, historical events, folktale characters, festivals and celebrations, beliefs and traditions, and more
