Dall Sheep Dinner Guest: Inupiaq Narratives of Northwest Alaska » (1)

Wanni W. Anderson has a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies Concentration, Brown University. Her teaching and research interests include ethnicity and identity, folklore, and nationalism. She has conducted extensive research on the Kobuk and Selawik Rivers in Northwest Alaska. She is a co-author of Kuuvangmiut Subsistence: Traditional Eskimo Life in the Latter Twentieth Century (1988).

The rich storytelling tradition of the Inupiaq Eskimos of Alaska is showcased in this remarkable collection of over eighty stories. Meticulously compiled from six villages in Northwest Alaska between 1966 and 1987, the stories are presented as part of a living tradition, complete with biographies, photos, and introductory remarks by Native storytellers. Each story provides insight into Inupiaq worldview, human-animal relationships, and the organization of family life.

The Dall Sheep Dinner Guest includes a new version of the Qayaq cycle, one of the best-known legends from the region, as well as epics such as "The Fast Runner." A major contribution to the Native literature of Alaska, this collection includes two introductory essays by Wanni W. Anderson that provide historical background and a foundation for understanding Inupiaq exclamations, gender, age, and regional differences, and the narrative context of storytelling.

Stories include:
The Qayaq Cycle by Nora Norton
The Last War With the Indians by Wesley Woods
The Orphan With No Clothes by Emma Skin
The Goose Maiden by Nora Norton
The Girl Who Had No Wish to Marry by Willie Goodwin, Sr.
Raven Who Brought Back the Land by Robert Cleveland
How the Caribou Lost Their Teeth by Nora Norton