Oral Tradition as Complement

Bibliographic Data

ID2741498
AuthorsGordon M Day (corresponding author)
Year1972
Volume19
Issue2
Pages99
Publication date1972-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/481745
OpenAlexW2330994703
LanguageEN
Citations received10

American Indian historical traditions are commonly discounted as historical evidence. Some groups, however, transmitted traditions with great care, and these should be taken into account in our reconstruction of the past since our documents are usually partial and always ethnocentric. The Abenaki traditions of Rogers' Raid are used as an example of a case where history and tradition taken together form a more believable whole. My general topic is North American Indian oral traditions and their possible contribution to our reconstruction of the past. My specific topic is the phenomenon of complementation which occurs repeatedly in Abenaki traditions. Since Indian traditions about historical events had their origins with different witnesses than did our written records, they are at least potential sources of new information. This is important, since our written record is ethnocentric and since the white observers seldom knew what went on in the Indian camp. All through the period of discovery, exploration, and colonization they caught only glimpses of the Indian's attitudes, motivations, and understanding of the situation, and they were obviously not in a position to observe many events which were witnessed by Indian observers. When Indian traditions are evaluated with the same degree of care which would be used for a document and the dubious ones set aside, the remainder may be genuine and valuable contributions to our knowledge of the past. Since I have only stated the obvious, let me demonstrate. I commenced field work with the St. Francis Abenaki band in 1956. Superficially this band appeared to be almost totally acculturated. Their houses and clothes were Euro-Canadian. They had had the attention of Christian missionaries for three hundred years; they had commenced sending boys to Dartmouth College in 1773. They had not hunted and trapped for a living since about 1922; and the only reminder of their woodland economy

Biology · Complement (music) · Canadian Identity and History · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Genetics · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Philosophy

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