The Dall Sheep Dinner Guest: Inupiaq Narratives of Northwest Alaska

This collection of over eighty Inupiat of Alaska stories, compiled from six villages between 1966 and 1987, provides insight into the Iñupiaq worldview, human-animal relationships, and family life. It includes a new version of the Qayaq cycle and stories such as The Girl Who Had No Wish to Marry, The Goose Maiden, and The Last War with the Indians. Two introductory essays by Wanni W. Anderson provide historical background and a foundation for understanding gender, age, and regional differences.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 15 April 2023
Publisher: University Press of Colorado

This remarkable collection of over eighty stories showcases the rich storytelling tradition of the Inupiat of Alaska. Meticulously compiled from six villages in Northwest Alaska between 1966 and 1987, the stories are presented as part of a living tradition, complete with biographies, photographs, and introductory remarks by Native storytellers. Each story provides insight into the Iñupiaq worldview, human-animal relationships, and the organization of family life. The Dall Sheep Dinner Guest includes a new version of the Qayaq cycle, one of the best-known legends from the region, as well as stories such as The Fast Runner. A major contribution to the Native literature of Alaska, this collection includes two introductory essays by Wanni W. Anderson that provide historical background and a foundation for understanding gender, age, and regional differences and the narrative context of storytelling.

Stories include The Girl Who Had No Wish to Marry by Willie Goodwin, Sr., The Goose Maiden by Nora Norton, The Last War with the Indians by Wesley Woods, The Orphan with No Clothes by Emma Skin, The Qayaq Cycle by Nora Norton, and Raven Who Brought Back the Land by Robert Cleveland (selected Iñupiaq Storyteller by the Inupiat of Northwest Alaska). Additional storytellers include John Brown, Leslie Burnett, Flora Cleveland, Lois Cleveland, Maude Cleveland, Kitty Foster, Sarah Goode, Minnie Gray, Beatrice Mouse, Nellie Russell, and Andrew Skin.

ISBN-13: 9781646424108