Kwakiutl String Figures placeholder

Kwakiutl String Figures

By Julia P. Averkieva
Edited by Mark A. Sherman
Categories: Indigenous Studies, Art & Performance Studies, Indigenous Art, History, Indigenous History, Regional & Cultural Studies, Canadian Studies, Art, Canadian History
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774804325, 232 pages, January 1992
Buy Direct
View Table of Contents

Table of contents

String Figures

Illustrations

Foreword by Bill Holm Preface

Introduction by Mark A. Sherman

Introduction by Julia Averkieva

String Figure Construction Methods

Appendix A. Kwakiutl Culture as Reflected in String Figures

Appendix B. Kwakiutl String Figures: Origins and Affinities

Appendix C. Analogous Figures: An Illustrated Cross Index

Bibliography

Index

Kwakiutl String Figures will interest students of comparative cultures and will delight all who have time (and string) on their hands.

Description

Julia Averkieva’s study represents the most comprehensive Native American string collection ever assembled from a single tribe. In addition to characterizing the social conditions that prompted string figure making among the Kwakiutl during the time of her field study, Averkieva noted step-by-step instructions for each figure and transcribed traditional accompanying chants. In editing and expanding Averkieva’s manuscript, Mark Sherman addresses string figure enthusiasts as well as cultural anthropologists. Sherman includes in his introduction a complete description of basic openings and string figure moves. For each Kwakiutl figure he has prepared clear illustrations based on Averkievazs original photographs and pencil sketches. In addition he has tested each figure for workability, clarifying instructions where necessary and recasting them in Rivers and Haddon’s standard terminology.