E-mail: nshishelov@rambler.ru
Moscow, Russian Federation
Independent researcher
In comparison with other areas of North America, extremely few war conflicts in Central and Western Subarctic are mentioned in the written sources of colonial period. However, numerous war legends have appeared in Subarctic Athabaskan oral narrative folklore. This article is based on the analysis of folklore texts which were recorded by explorers, fur-traders, missionaries, ethnologists and linguists during the period from the late 18th century up to the present days. The article deals with the most common folklore motifs and plots, related to the war, which are found in various folklore genres. A number of folklore texts can be used as a basis for the reconstruction of the Athabaskan war traditions and the war history of the Subarctic area. The Indian oral tradition often proves and complement the rare evidences by the early authors. The author gives attention to the possible causes and ways of mythologizing of historical events. The cycles of war-heroic tales were found in folklore of some Athabaskan groups. In the author’s opinion, the formation of this narrative massive was a cultural reaction to the war expansion of the Cree Indians (Algonquian stock) in the 18th century. This material may be of interest for further research in comparison with the heroic narrative folklore of other ethnic groups.
Abel K. M. (2005) Drum songs: Glimpses of Dene history. Montreal; Toronto. In English.
Alderete J. D., Mcllwraith T. A. (2007) Catalogue of the Tahltan stories of Rose Dennis. Vancouver. In English.
Andrews T., T’Seleie J. and B. at al. (2000) Rakekee Gok’e Godi: Places we take care of. Report of the Sahtu Heritage Places and Sites Joint Working Group. In English.
Basso E. B. (1978) The enemy of every tribe: “Bushman” images in Northern Athapaskan narratives. American Ethnologist. 1978. Vol. 5. No. 4. Pp. 690–709. In English.
Bowra C. M. (2002) Geroicheskaya poeziya [Heroic poetry]. Moscow. In Russian. Transl. from English (1952).
Golovanov I. A. (2008) Problema zhanrovoy differentsiatsii neskazochnoy prozy: kommunikativnyi aspekt [Problem of genre differentiation of non-fairy-tale prose: the communicative aspect]. Vestnik ChGU [Herald of Chelyabinsk State University]. 2008. No. 36. Pp. 26–33. In Russian.
Helm J. (2000) The people of Denendeh. Iowa. In English.
Kradin N. N. (2004) Politicheskaia antropologiia [Political anthropology]. Moscow. In Russian.
Kurbanov M. M. (2008) K voprosu o spetsifike i klassifikatsii zhanrov neskazochnoi prozy fol’klora [To the question of specification and classification of genres of non-fairy-tale folklore prose]. Izvestiia DGPU [Bulletin of Dagestan State Pedagogical University]. 2008. No. 2. Pp. 111–116. In Russian.
Meletinskiy E. M. (2004) Proiskhozhdenie geroicheskogo eposa. Rannie formy i arkhaicheskie pamyatniki [Origin of the heroic epics. Early forms and archaic monuments]. Moscow. In Russian.
Nekliudov S. Iu. (2015) Epos v mirovoy literature [The epics in world literature]. Shagi. 2015. No. 1. Pp. 7–22. In Russian.
Ridington R. and J. (2013) Where happiness dwells. A history of the Dane-zaa first nations. Vancouver. In English.
Shishelov N. S. (2017) Voina Zheltykh Nozhei i Sobach’ikh Reber (ok. 1786–1829 gg.) [The War between the Yellowknife and Dogrib (ca. 1786–1829)]. Parabellum novum. Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal [War history journal “Parabellum novum”]. 2017. No. 6 (39). Pp. 103–130. In Russian.
Shishelov N. S. (2017) Dikhai — “mogikane” zapoliar’ia Aliaski [Di’haii — the “Mohicans” of the Circumpolar Alaska]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 2017. No. 6.
Pp. 128–145. In Russian.
Slobodin R. (1975) Without fire: A Kutchin tale of warfare, survival, and vengeance. In: Proceedings: Northern Athapaskan Conference, 1971. Vol. 1. Ottawa. Pp. 259–301.
Street S. R. (1994) Report of investigation for the Nenana War Battle Site, site AA-11127J, Ahtna Inc., Report on file at the B. I. A. ANCSA Office. Anchorage.