Abstract

This dissertation is a study of the oral narratives of a Lummi Coast Salish Indian elder named Joe Washington Sr., and how he used life stories to illuminate aspects of culture and experience for a variety of listeners, readers, audiences. Although the oral narratives transcribed and edited for this volume are autobiographical, they do not constitute an oral autobiography but a diverse repertoire of narratives used as teaching folklore and designed to educate, demonstrate, assert, influence and inspire various listeners. ;This study also explores the different perspectives of Indian and Western historian in conceptions of the past as well as how oral tradition and personal experience are entwined through a case study of one man's reflections, memoirs, teachings and vision tales. One of the important themes to emerge from this research is oral narration as social practice. Joe Washington's accounts were not simply those of an Indian elder reviewing his memoirs from the distance of age but a man constructing responses and explanations using the rich materials of oral tradition in order to illuminate and share important aspects of his experience. ;This is also a small contribution to the literature on Indian-anthropologist relationships. It addresses the struggle to collaborate fairly and ethically with native peoples who want their stories told and Western readers who need a translator in the stream of communication to render stories from another world meaningful