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"Readbacks" or Tradition? The Kluskap Stories among Modern Canadian Mi'kmaq

Hornborg, Anne-Christine LU orcid (2002) In European Review of Native American Studies 16(1). p.9-16
Abstract
When ethnographers in the 1950s and 1960s did fieldwork among the Canadian Mi’kmaq Indians, they were worried about the future of Mi’kmaq culture. Not many Mi’kmaq in the thirties had heard about their traditional culture hero Kluskap, and if they had, it was through books or the television series “The Adventures of Glooscap”.

Thirty years later, in 1989, the Mi’kmaq strongly rejected the plans to establish a superquarry at Kelly’s Mountain on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Their main reason was that the mountain with its cave is believed to be the dwelling place of Kluskap and the place from where he is expected to return to his people. Is the modern Mi’kmaq knowledge about Kluskap only their readbacks of texts by non-native... (More)
When ethnographers in the 1950s and 1960s did fieldwork among the Canadian Mi’kmaq Indians, they were worried about the future of Mi’kmaq culture. Not many Mi’kmaq in the thirties had heard about their traditional culture hero Kluskap, and if they had, it was through books or the television series “The Adventures of Glooscap”.

Thirty years later, in 1989, the Mi’kmaq strongly rejected the plans to establish a superquarry at Kelly’s Mountain on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Their main reason was that the mountain with its cave is believed to be the dwelling place of Kluskap and the place from where he is expected to return to his people. Is the modern Mi’kmaq knowledge about Kluskap only their readbacks of texts by non-native authors? This paper seeks to examine the Mi’kmaq relation to that Kluskap tradition which had been depicted by non-Native authors in television series, theatre plays, and books. How do the modern Mi’kmaq evaluate mainstream society’s texts about their culture hero? (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Canadian Mi'kmaq Indians, “Read-back”, inter-generational transmissions of essentialized tradition vs. constructionism, Kluskap tradition
in
European Review of Native American Studies
volume
16
issue
1
pages
9 - 16
publisher
Pallas
ISSN
0238-1486
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
id
565180e9-7bf1-4b54-bd9c-140a4438b4a7 (old id 154157)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:39:51
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:35:40
@article{565180e9-7bf1-4b54-bd9c-140a4438b4a7,
  abstract     = {{When ethnographers in the 1950s and 1960s did fieldwork among the Canadian Mi’kmaq Indians, they were worried about the future of Mi’kmaq culture. Not many Mi’kmaq in the thirties had heard about their traditional culture hero Kluskap, and if they had, it was through books or the television series “The Adventures of Glooscap”. <br/><br>
	Thirty years later, in 1989, the Mi’kmaq strongly rejected the plans to establish a superquarry at Kelly’s Mountain on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Their main reason was that the mountain with its cave is believed to be the dwelling place of Kluskap and the place from where he is expected to return to his people. Is the modern Mi’kmaq knowledge about Kluskap only their readbacks of texts by non-native authors? This paper seeks to examine the Mi’kmaq relation to that Kluskap tradition which had been depicted by non-Native authors in television series, theatre plays, and books. How do the modern Mi’kmaq evaluate mainstream society’s texts about their culture hero?}},
  author       = {{Hornborg, Anne-Christine}},
  issn         = {{0238-1486}},
  keywords     = {{Canadian Mi'kmaq Indians; “Read-back”; inter-generational transmissions of essentialized tradition vs. constructionism; Kluskap tradition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{9--16}},
  publisher    = {{Pallas}},
  series       = {{European Review of Native American Studies}},
  title        = {{"Readbacks" or Tradition? The Kluskap Stories among Modern Canadian Mi'kmaq}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2002}},
}