User:JaPhiDiMi/To The American Indian

Overview
To The American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman is a autobiographical book written by Lucy Thompson or Che-ne-wah Weitch-ah-wah, a Yurok woman. It is a collection of stories about the Yurok people of Northern California. It was written with the intention to preserve the Yurok peoples culture. During the creation of this book her people, the Yurok native american's, were on the brink of collapse. Lucy Thompson became the first California Native American woman to publish a book after the first publication in 1916. It was written in Wiyot Territory, which is now known as Myrtletown, outside the city of Eureka, California. The book received the American Book Award decades later in 1992.

..

Thompson provides an autobiographical view of the intricacies of life within the Yurok Tribe at the dawn of the twentieth century. She also describes Yurok practices that effectively maintained the region’s ecological and social stability.

Chapters (Possible area for improvement by future editors, including summations of themes found in each chapter.)

Preface


 * 1) General History; Bill McGarvey's Store
 * 2) Creation of the World
 * 3) The Wandering Tribe
 * 4) Traditions of the Ancient White People
 * 5) Time and Names
 * 6) Death and the Spirit Land
 * 7) Through the Pearly Gates of Heaven
 * 8) Burial Customs
 * 9) The Indian Devil
 * 10) The White Deer Skin Dance
 * 11) The Lodge Dance
 * 12) Our Christ
 * 13) The Sampson of the Klamath Indians
 * 14) The Deluge of the Klamath Indians
 * 15) The High Priests
 * 16) Laws of the Fish Dam
 * 17) The Ancient Houses
 * 18) War of the Klamath Indians
 * 19) The Marriage Laws
 * 20) The Two Famous Athletes
 * 21) Pec-wan Colonel
 * 22) A Narrative of the Humboldt Indians
 * 23) Romance of a Wild Indian
 * 24) The Prophet that Failed
 * 25) Teachings of the Klamath Indians on Child Birth
 * 26) The Wild Indian of Pec-wan
 * 27) How the Rich Tried to be a Talth
 * 28) The Slaves
 * 29) The Wild Indian of Mo-reck
 * 30) How a Cor-tep Girl had her Wish Granted
 * 31) Our Tobacco
 * 32) Our Mermaids
 * 33) Fairy Tales

Publication

First published in Eureka, California by Cummins Print Shop in 1916, it was republished in 1991 by Julian Lang, a tribal scholar as well as a traditional singer and dancer of the Karuk tribe. The 1991 edition includes a foreword by Peter E. Palmquist. The primary differences between editions is spelling and grammatical fluidity.

Reception

There has been some critical response to the choice of Lang's republication. Some Yurok members feel it is a job that should have been performed by a Yurok college graduate ."'Negative comments had four foci: Palmquist is not an expert on northwestern California Indians; Lang is a Karuk, not a Yurok; the book contains many photographs of non-Yurok; and many of the newly-added illustrations have been poorly or incorrectly labelled.' Arnold R. Pilling"

(Sandbox for To The American Indian) is... (A space to compile thoughts, sources, and drafts)

"during March of 1992, I had a chance to talk to a few Yurok about the new edition of To the American Indian. Negative comments had four foci: Palmquist is not an expert on northwestern California Indians; Lang is a Kamk, not a Yurok; the book contains many photographs of non-Yurok; and many of the newly-added illustrations have been poorly or incorrectly labelled. The choice of Lang as the second present�day introducer of Thompson's book is a some�what complex issue. Some Yurok criticize the choice of Lang, stating that this book is about the Yurok. It was suggested that the volume would have been much better introduced by one of the several college-graduate Yurok."

(Ivy, possibly go through this paragraph, paraphrase it, and source it to make it a follow-up to what I have above.)