Stories Are Maps: 5 Mythtellers from Haida Gwaii - Part 1: Skaay

Stories are Maps, Songs Are Caches and Trails is the first part of a project designed to explore the traditional stories of five major oral mythtellers from Haida Gwaii, whose myths were transcribed in 1900-1901 by the linguist John Swanton. The book itself focuses on several myths from Skaay's Qquuna Cycle, which consists - to use one of Skaay's central images - of a series of boxes within boxes. The method of investigation used is polyphonic, that is, a variety of different voices and discourses (including academic monologues, fictional dialogues, narratives, poems, autobiographical accounts, and various quotations) combine in order to do justice not only to the complexity of the Haida myths but also to their inherent openness that allows a myriad of different readings, each of which depends on the concrete situation in which the myth is read or told (including social, historical and political conditions), the cultural background of the listener/reader and his or her familiarity with Haida culture, the predispositions and beliefs of the listener/reader, and much more. What is in the innermost box of Skaay's myths, will therefore be something different for each listener/reader.