Tale
An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians
Walter Edmund Roth · 1915
Synopsis
The book gathers what the Warao, Arawak, Caribs and Makushi of the Guianas believe and tell: the heroes of the tribes, the creation of man, plants and animals, the wonderful tree born in one night from the seed sown by a sorcerer, the spirits of the bush, the mountains, the waters and the sky, omens and talismans, the taboos that bear on game and food, the medicine-man and the kanaima, an invisible avenger. More than a hundred tales accompany these observations.
Context
The work appeared in 1915 in the thirtieth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, in Washington, running to nearly three hundred pages. Its author, a magistrate in charge of interior districts, brought together in it years of observations and of tales gathered on his tours, which he constantly compares with the beliefs of other peoples of America. His expeditions later yielded two other monographs, acclaimed like this one, and he translated the accounts of German and Dutch travellers, among them Richard Schomburgk.
Who it is for
A massive volume, organised by theme, in English and not translated. To be consulted rather than read from cover to cover.
Prizes and reception
Published by the Smithsonian Institution, in a learned report, it earned its author new scientific recognition, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
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