Since the 18th century, researchers and scientists have traveled the peninsula of Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. Many of them were of German origin and had been commissioned by the Russian government to perform specific tasks. Their exhaustive descriptions and detailed reports are still considered some of the most valuable documents on the ethnography of the indigenous peoples of that part of the world. These works inform us about living conditions and particular ways of natural resource use at various times, and provide us with valuable background information for current assessment. As the first profound anthropological descriptions of that region, the publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, undertaken in the first years of the 20th century, marked the beginning of a new era of research in Russia. They represented a shift of the already existing transnational research networks toward North America. Jochelson’s work The Koryak was an important milestone for Russian and North American anthropology that provides to this day a unique contribution to thoroughly understanding the cultures of the North Pacific rim.

In this volume you will find 24 Koryak folk tales of The Mice Girls, Of Whale Festivals, The Ermine People, Fox Woman, Fish Woman, Monster Man, Bumblebees, Shellfish-Girls plus many more. Unlike European folklore, these stories do not have the dramatic turns of Western folk-lore. There is no Cinderella nor a Puss in Boots. The struggle for survival is the perpetual theme, and no wonder, for the narrators dwell in a remote and hostile landscape. Because of their geographic location, Koryak Folklore has more in common with the lore of the Tlingit, Tsimshian, and other Northwest Coast Amerindians suggesting a broad cultural area stretching from current day Kamchatka across the Bering Strait into Alaska, Canada and Washington State. It is in these cultures that the mythology centres around the supernatural shaman Quikil (Big-Raven) who was the first man and protector of the Koryak and who features prominently in this volume. So, if you enjoy Native American folklore then this little known volume will be a welcome addition to your library. 10% of the net profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. NOTE: The name Koryak was from the exonym word 'Korak' meaning 'with the reindeer (kor)'. Koryaks practice a form of animist belief system especially through shamanism. The Koryak are indigenous to north-east Asia and live mainly on the northern part of the Kamchatka peninsula in what is now the Russian Federation. The Koryak Autonomous Region is just a little larger than the state of Arizona, but with a current population of fewer than 35,000. The Koryak were conquered by Cossack pioneer-adventurers in the end of the seventeenth century and more or less incorporated into the Russian empire by the middle of the eighteenth. The Tsar levied an annual fur tribute and demanded some transportation services, but otherwise left them alone. The Soviets collectivized their subsistence production, and Stalin's Terror saw many shamans and successful reindeer herders summarily executed. YESTERDAY'S BOOKS FOR TODAY'S CHARITIES 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities ============== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Folklore, fairy, tales, myths, legends, stories, children, bedtime, fables, Koryak, Kamchatka, shaman, big raven, kor, reindeer, Quikil, little,-bird-man, raven man, mice, mouse-girls, small, kamak, harpoon-line, kĭlu, bumblebees, eme'mqut's, ememqut, whale, festival, cannibal, fox woman, ermine people, shellfish girl, perches, magpie man, daughter, swallow, wife, gull woman, cormorant woman, yinia ñawġut, marriage, fish man, envious, monster man

The accomplishments and enduring influence of renowned anthropologist Dell Hymes are showcased in these essays by leading practitioners in the field. Hymes (1927–2009) is arguably best known for his pioneering work in ethnopoetics, a studied approach to Native verbal art that elucidates cultural significance and aesthetic form. As these essays amply demonstrate, nearly six decades later ethnopoetics and Hymes's focus on narrative inequality and voice provide a still valuable critical lens for current research in anthropology and folklore. Through ethnopoetics, so much can be understood in diverse cultural settings and situations: gleaning the voices of individual Koryak storytellers and aesthetic sensibilities from century-old wax cylinder recordings; understanding the similarities and differences between Apache life stories told 58 years apart; how Navajo punning and an expressive device illuminate the work of a Navajo poet; decolonizing Western Mono and Yokuts stories by bringing to the surface the performances behind the texts written down by scholars long ago; and keenly appreciating the potency of language revitalization projects among First Nations communities in the Yukon and northwestern California. Fascinating and topical, these essays not only honor a legacy but also point the way forward.

Roman Jakobson's writings range over the entire field of general linguistics, as well as embracing Slavic linguistics and literature theory. Jakobson has had a tremenduous influence on the development of linguistic theory. He was a founder of and prime mover in the Prague Linguistic Circle. On the basis of the new structuralist concepts, he set forth bold theories of general linguistics and illustrated them with brilliant demonstrations based on Slavic and other languages. Taking a leading role in the elucidation of the structural linguistic field of phonology, Jakobson used these insights to develop new trends in historical phonology. Altogether, his linguistics appears to incorporate the technical design of modern theoretical concepts, but at the same time transcends purely formal modeling through its interdisciplinary focus upon historical and poetic matters. Jakobson was enormously successful in presenting innovative theoretical insights and relating them to possible practical applications. Specifically, his work on the general processes of language acquisition and loss, on child language and aphasia, opened up entirely new methods for linguists and doctors alike. The series Selected Writings represents the whole range of Roman Jakobson's field of research.