Research Catalog

Title

"So Wise were our Elders" : mythic narratives of the Kamsá / John Holmes McDowell.

Author

McDowell, John Holmes, 1946-

Publication

Lexington, Ky. : University of Kentucky Press, 1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

ix, 285 pages; 25 cm

Summary

• "So wise were our elders!" Thus exclaims Mariano Chicunque, himself an elder, expressing in a single phrase the thrust of the mythic narrative tradition he simultaneously presents and represents in his storytelling.
• A remarkable body of mythology is documented for the first time in this volume. John Holmes McDowell's study revolves around thirty-two mythic narratives of the Kamsa Indians who live in the Sibundoy Valley of the Colombian Andes, collected by the author from several renowned Kamsa story-tellers. Each myth is given in the native language with parallel English translations that seek to capture the flavor of the original performances.
• Textual annotation and commentary assess the grounding of the myths in the language and culture of the Kamsa indigenous community.
• Introductory chapters describe the process of transcription and translation and highlight important characteristics of the collection. McDowell stresses the collaborative nature of the enterprise, which benefits from the shared vision of the ethnographer and of indigenous consultants who were involved in every step of the process. The narratives are portrayed as a residual mythology in transit toward folktale but still evocative of a traditional cosmos.
• The myths are much more than inert "literary" objects, and under McDowell's scrupulous analysis they emerge as a storehouse of narrative potential whose performances still have meaning in Kamsa' society and culture today.

Subject

• Camsa Indians > Religion
• Camsa language > Texts
• Camsa language > Grammar

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• 1. The Making of a Mythology -- 2. Kamsa Mythic Narrative -- 3. Prelude. (m1) kaka tempo (The Raw Time) -- 4. The Wangetsmuna Cycle. (m2) wangetsmunabiama (About Wangetsmuna). (m3) wangetsmunabiana (About Wangetsmuna) -- 5. Tales of the Ancestors. (m4) shatxemungabiana (About the Red Dwarfs). (m5) buyesh ndwenobe parlo (The Tale of the River Master). (m6) shbwayungabiama (About the Hunters). (m7) saina kotxebiana (About the Wild Pigs). (m8) ngwayejemabiana (About the Poor Scabby One). (m9) binyeabiana (About the Wind). (m10) binyeabiana (About the Wind). (m11) uta xexonatemabe parlo (The Tale of the Two Little Children). (m12) bngabe taitabe parlo (The Tale of Our Father). (m13) jwisio (The Judgment) -- 6. Tricksters and Suitors. (m14) koneshbiana (About the Rabbit). (m15) iyendonabiama (About the Squirrel). (m16) mamaxbe parlo (The Tale of the Weasel). (m17) mashangola. (m18) koskongobiama (About the Owl). (m19) shloftxebiama (About the Sparrow). (m20) murselakobiana (About the Bat).
• (m21) gavilanbiama (About the Hawk). (m22) tobiaxbe parlo (The Tale of the Young Woman). (m23) tsubkwatkwatjobiama (About the Rainbow). (m24) osobiama (About the Bear). (m25) alegra osobiama (About the Lively Bear). (m26) juan oso (John the Bear) -- 7. Tales of the Spirit Realm. (m27) ngwebubebiama (About the Water Birds). (m28) welajbiama (About the Witch). (m29) tondor weiajbiama (About the Earthen Witch). (m30) wamben taitabe parlo (The Tale of the Father-in-Law). (m31) salteadorbiama (About the Robber). (m32) la mina de oro (The Gold Mine) -- 8. Aftermyth.

ISBN

0813118263 (alk. paper) :

LCCN

93005083

OCLC

• 28293557
• ocm28293557

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries