The Curtain Within

Haida Social and Mythical Discourse

Bibliographic Data

ID8082501
AuthorsMarianne Boelscher (corresponding author)
Year1989
Publication date1989-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueCurtain Within (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of British Columbia (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.59962/9780774856768
OpenAlexW4386180321
Open LibraryOL44249006M
ISBN9780774856768
LanguageEN
Citations received10

The Curtain Within explores the management of social roles and symbols to achieve various goals by people living in a modern Haida community. Moiety and lineage, social rank, the rules of entitlement to inherited property, and the mode of thought encoded in mythology still have force in Haida society. Political action did not and does not take place within the context of formal political institutions; instead it exists through the management of the symbols of social relationships and of entitlement to tangible and intangible property. Drawing on models of practice theory and discursive action, Marianne Boelscher presents sets of data to illustrate collective and individual strategies for the management of symbols for social and political ends. She shows that the intentional ambiguity in the rhetoric surrounding group memberships and boundaries -- rank, kinship categories, marital alliances, names, and crests -- permits these symbols to be continuously renegotiated in discourse to meet these goals. The book is based on data collected by the author during extensive fieldwork with the Masset Haida during the late 1970s and early 1980s and on the evaluation of earlier ethnographic and ethnohistoric sources. The study shows that Haida cultural values and their expression in discourse have survived decades of oppression through white society. By providing the Haida perspective, the book enhances our understanding of important social issues, such as Haida land claims, that have vexed the Haida and Canadian nations for generations

African history and culture analysis · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · British Columbia · Haida Indians · Indians of North America · Kinship · northwest, pacific · Queen Charlotte Islands · Religion and mythology · Social life and customs

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