Research Catalog

Title

Âh-âyîtaw isi ê-kî-kiskêyihtahkik maskihkiy = They knew both sides of medicine : Cree tales of curing and cursing / told by Alice Ahenakew ; edited, translated and with a glossary by H.C. Wolfart & Freda Ahenakew.

Author

Ahenakew, Alice, 1912-

Publication

Winnipeg : University of Manitoba Press, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Ahenakew, Freda, 1932-2011
• Wolfart, H. Christoph
• Ahenakew, Freda, 1932-2011.
• Algonquian Text Society

Description

viii, 314 p. : 1 map, 2 ports.; 24 cm.

Summary

"Born in 1912, Mrs. Alice Ahenakew grew up in a traditional Cree community in north-central Saskatchewan. As a young woman, she married Andrew Ahenakew, a member of the prominent Saskatchewan family, who later became a well-known Anglican priest and Cree healer." "Mrs. Ahenakew's personal reminiscences include stories of her childhood, courtship and marriage, as well as an account of the 1918 influenza epidemic and encounters with a windigo. The centrepiece of this book is the fascinating account of the bear vision to which the Rev. Andrew Ahenakew owed his healing powers. Mrs. Ahenakew concludes with the story of an old woman's curse and its terrifying results." "This book presents Mrs. Ahenakew's original Cree text along with a full English translation. It also includes an introduction discussing the historical background of the narrative and its style and rhetorical structure, as well as a complete Cree-English glossary."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Publications of the Algonquian Text Society, 0829-755X

Uniform Title

Publications of the Algonquian Text Society

Alternative Title

They knew both sides of medicine

Subject

• Ahenakew, Alice
• Ahenakew, Alice, 1912-
• Indians, North American
• Medicine, Traditional
• Cree language > Texts
• Cree Indians > Religion
• Cree Indians > Medicine
• Cree Indians > Rites and ceremonies
• Cree language > Dictionaries > English
• Cree Indians > Biography
• Magic
• Saskatchewan

Genre/Form

Personal Narrative

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Language (note)

• Text in English and Cree.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Case Histories of Living Practice / H. C. Wolfart -- I. Anglican Priest and Cree Healer. 1. Coping with a Windigo and the Great Epidemic. 2. Courtship and Marriage. 3. A Tour of England. 4. The Priest's Bear Medicine -- II. Strange New World. 5. Good Times in a Hard Life. 6. A Throw-away Society. 7. An Ungodly Smell. 8. Facing the Other -- III. Powers of Good and Evil. 9. Escaping a Windigo and Starvation. 10. Seeking Refuge. 11. A Dreadful Curse (First Telling). 12. A Dreadful Curse (Second Telling).

ISBN

0887556493

OCLC

• 43275655
• SCSB-12702459

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library