OPINIONS & NOTESThe work <strong>of</strong> Claude Lévi-Strauss, that giant<strong>of</strong> contemporary structuralist thought, is rootedin the studies <strong>of</strong> Franz Boas — the prolificpioneering student <strong>of</strong> the West Coast tribes.In turn Lévi-Strauss's The Way <strong>of</strong> the Maskshas been widely read. These conjunctions maysuggest a cultural climate in which semipopular,lavishly illustrated studies <strong>of</strong> North-West Indian art and ceremony proliferate. Abubbling stream <strong>of</strong> books from Douglas & Mc-Intyre certainly supports the demands <strong>of</strong> amulti-disciplinary, intellectual inquiry which, atthe same time, has at its heart the need to restoredignity to the everyday and the primitive— that is to the first or originating cultures.Among current titles the most comprehensiveis The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation inNorthwest Coast Indian Art (Douglas & Mc-Intyre, $1595), a reprint <strong>of</strong> the catalogue <strong>of</strong>a 1980 exhibition at the <strong>British</strong> <strong>Columbia</strong>Provincial Museum. Although its photographsare frequently dulled and slightly blurred (incontrast to the crisp reproduction in The Box<strong>of</strong> Daylight, which is something <strong>of</strong> a companionvolume), the essays clearly and simplydifferentiate the styles <strong>of</strong> the principal tribes.The book's strongest feature is its showingcontemporary Indian art in the context <strong>of</strong> itstradition. Other works in this un<strong>of</strong>ficial"series" <strong>of</strong> large-format books are focused ona particular artist, a particular resource, anda particular ceremony. Bill Holm continues hisevocative explorations <strong>of</strong> West Coast art inSmoky-Top: The Art and Times <strong>of</strong> WillieaSeaweed (Douglas & Mclntyre, $29.95),catalogue <strong>of</strong> the work <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the most productiveand celebrated <strong>of</strong> Kwakiutl carvers.The book constantly reminds us <strong>of</strong> the structuralistview that any human activity is humanthinking. That thought, and thereforecivilization and intelligence, is not necessarilywritten, is given convincing support by Holm'sshowing how carving and masks take theirform from "convoluted and extremely detailednarrative tales" describing the ancestry <strong>of</strong> eachsocial unit. Seaweed's masks are essential tothe dramatization <strong>of</strong> these tales, to the definition<strong>of</strong> rank and privilege. Holm makes hisown contribution to revealing the complexmythic world by evocatively setting Seaweed'swork in the firelight and smoke and sounds <strong>of</strong>the dance ceremonies, as well as in the labyrinthineenvironment <strong>of</strong> sea and forest andnaturally carved rock, and in the twentiethcenturyhistory <strong>of</strong> the West Coast tribes. Holmwrites more than a catalogue; it is a lovingbiography <strong>of</strong> an impressive artist. In hismeditation on the setting <strong>of</strong> Seaweed's artHolm shows the intricate relationship to landand sea in Kwakiutl technology. A still fullerunderstanding <strong>of</strong> the relationship lies in HilaryStewart's study <strong>of</strong> Seaweed's primary rawmaterial, Cedar: Tree <strong>of</strong> Life to the NorthwestCoast Indians (Douglas & Mclntyre,$24.95). Again, Indian work in cedar, mostobviously the totem poles, but also the thousands<strong>of</strong> practical items which were made fromcedar, is a substitute for the written documentation<strong>of</strong> the community; Stewart reads thatmaterial history with skilful perception. Herunwritten premise is that we comprehend anyartefact better if we know how it is made.Thus, her book combines an encyclopedia <strong>of</strong>cedar, in chapters on the wood, bark, withers,and roots, from whistle to canoe, from towelto fish nets, with meticulous illustrations onhow-to-do-it (Stewart has tried, herself, tomake many <strong>of</strong> the things she describes ). Thisbook conveys a deep feeling for ecologicalconnections, a recognition that the cedar is aculture and a world in itself, which mustinclude, as Stewart's last chapter shows, thevital spirit <strong>of</strong> the cedar as well. So careful areStewart's step-by-step instructions that thereader feels like a privileged insider. So toowith Ulli Steltzer's photo essay A Haida Potlatch(Douglas & Mclntyre, $16.95), a record<strong>of</strong> Robert Davidson's potlatch, November 6and 7, 1981. Although the photographs areentirely in black and white, and <strong>of</strong>ten toodark to show details, the book reveals thestages in preparing and presenting a precious,and <strong>of</strong>ten misunderstood, ritual, and thefunny human side <strong>of</strong> ceremonial seriousness.Comments by dozens <strong>of</strong> the participants increaseour understanding <strong>of</strong> the photographs.Perhaps we are most grateful, here, for therecognition expressed by Dorothy Grant that"tradition... is a continuous process," thatthe potlatch has maintained its ancient roots,and yet can adapt to a school auditorium inMasset, a sign <strong>of</strong> a culture at once living andreviving. The most eloquently worded evidence<strong>of</strong> the tradition that is continuous processis the handsome The Raven Steals theLight (Douglas & Mclntyre, $24.95). Twodedicated artists, Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst,re-tell nine <strong>of</strong> the Haida tales <strong>of</strong> Raven,complemented by Reid's shadowy and hauntingpencil drawings. These are, simply, thebest versions <strong>of</strong> Indian tales I have read: theyare colloquial yet poetic,, precise yet spillingoutside their boundaries, accumulating andthen blending into one another. The writers,like Raven, are intelligent yet irreverent. Asis fitting in the oral tradition, each story201
OPINIONS & NOTESbubbles with a contemporary twist or context,so that the sundappled creek with whichRaven falls in love is "in this century. . .driven underground by the clear-cut logging<strong>of</strong> her watershed." In such collisions, werecognize that "the purpose <strong>of</strong> myths... isnot merely to relate experiences, but to lead tosignificant changes in the structure <strong>of</strong> things."Bringhurst and Reid share this passion in atruly extraordinary, liberating collection <strong>of</strong>entertainments.Enthusiasm for the short story in Canada hasresulted in a recent burgeoning <strong>of</strong> anthologiesand commentary. Among several collectionsare such regional and thematic enterprises asTales from the Canadian Rockies, ed. BrianPatton (Hurtig, $19.95) an d More SaskatchewanGold, ed. Ge<strong>of</strong>frey Ursell (Coteau,$4.95). What "Gold" indicates is the enormousvitality <strong>of</strong> short story writing in Saskatchewan— there seem more writers persquare mile, and more sheer enthusiasm forwriting than in any other place in the country.In the 31 stories collected here are mostly"realistic" works, but at the heart is the talltale-tellingimpulse that perhaps explainswhere the enthusiasm (the delight in story)comes from. There is Ken Mitchell's jauntyengagement with exaggeration; and there isAnne Szumigalski's "A Dog Experiences Difficultiesin his Search for Self-Knowledge," aproto-existentialist fable <strong>of</strong> devotion andunderstanding (with a hint <strong>of</strong> parody)."Rockies" is a different kind <strong>of</strong> book, one thatgathers snippets <strong>of</strong> fiction, poetry, and documentaryrecord, finding "story" in adventureand experience as well as in invention andplot: Birney's "David" is here, along withmemoirs <strong>of</strong> mountain guides, grizzlies, backpacks,and cold swims. It's a book for thosewho love the outdoors. Fred Cogswell's TheAtlantic Anthology (vol. 1, Prose; Ragweed,$12.95) i s an excellent classroom selection <strong>of</strong>27 writers from Haliburton and Basil Kingthrough MacPhail, McSween, MacLennan,and MacLeod to D. A. Richards and AnnCopeland. King's "The Ghost's Story" is afascinating rediscovery ; and amidst the moreconventional tales <strong>of</strong> initiation and loss are thewonderworks <strong>of</strong> Susan Kerslake and HelenPorter. They need to be known more, andAtlantic writing needs to be more widely recognizedacross the country for the quality andvariety it amply possesses.Less conventional is Shoes & Shit (Aya,$16.00), ed. Ge<strong>of</strong>f Hancock and Rikki Ducornet,an international collection whichassembles stories and fragments all having todo with the two title motifs. "Processes," weare asked to imagine them. Also "symbiotic" :"footsie" and "poopsie" even. There is whimsyhere, some affection, some absurdity, andsome dross. Atwood's "Liking Men" perhapsepitomizes the quality <strong>of</strong> mind and kind <strong>of</strong>tension that has led the editors on theirmarch: a story about the desire to like men,it takes the narrator on an associational trekfrom innocent feet to threatening jackboots —it's the connection between love and fear thatAtwood repeatedly finds words for, the balancebetween the sexes so precariously perchedon a fulcrum <strong>of</strong> power. Atwood also appears(with "Polarities") in Rosemary Sullivan'sexcellent anthology Stories by Canadian Women(Oxford, $10.95), as do 28 other writersfrom Crawford, Wilson, Hebert, and Roy toGloria Sawai, Joy Kogawa, Louise Maheux-Forcier, and Dionne Brand. The anthology isat once a tribute to forms <strong>of</strong> ethnic impact onCanadian prose in English and French, anaffirmation <strong>of</strong> the continuous contribution <strong>of</strong>women to Canadian literature (it usefullyreprints S. F. Harrison and S. J. Duncan),and a declaration <strong>of</strong> concerns female. It isabout life and words, action and thought,words in action and the mind alive. One mightquarrel with the choice here and there (theWilson is weak, for one) and one might wantother writers represented (Ann Copeland?Helen Porter? Susan Kerslake?). But this isgood value.Some <strong>of</strong> the finest <strong>of</strong> recent critical commentson English-Canadian short fiction areto be found in Ranam (no. 16, 1983), a reviewfrom Strasbourg. Papers from a symposiumlargely concerned with narrative strategy,the collection looks at Laurence,Hodgins, Munro, Gallant, W T icbe (Coral AnnHowells' article is <strong>of</strong> special interest), Lowry,Carr, and MacLeod. The primarily Frenchand German critics together discover a surety<strong>of</strong> technique among Canadian writers: Canadiancritics might pr<strong>of</strong>itably learn from them.The appearance <strong>of</strong> this issue — like that <strong>of</strong>the Canadian poetry issue <strong>of</strong> Trends (5, no.10; Wilfion Books, 30 p.), the Paisley College<strong>of</strong> Technology Literary Magazine — is furthertangible evidence <strong>of</strong> the new Canadian culturalpresence abroad.202
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