Indian Myths and Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America : A Translation of Franz Boas' 1895 Edition of Indianische Sagen Von der Nord-Pacifischen Kuste Amerikas

Franz Boas (1858-1942), geographer, linguist, physical anthropologist and ethnologist, is considered the father of modern North American anthropology.

The 1895 German publication of

Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas

gathered together in a single volume his earliest research in British Columbia, consisting of 250 B.C. First Nations myths and legends which had been previously serialized in German periodicals between 1891 and 1895.

In 1973, the B.C. Indian Language Project first commissioned this peer-reviewed translation from Dietrich Bertz of Victoria, who completed his revised draft in 1977, incorporating the introduction by Professor Claude Lévi-Strauss. Then began the Project's immense task of researching, footnoting and annotating the text, which was to continue intermittently for over twenty years.

This volume of First Nations myths and legends is an extraordinarily important document in the history of North American anthropology.

Franz Boas greatly influenced American anthropology, particularly in his development of the theoretical framework known as cultural relativism, which argued against the evolutionary scale leading from savagery to Culture, laid out by his 19th-century predecessors. He believed that cultures (plural) are too complex to be evaluated according to the broad theorizing characteristic of evolutionary "laws" of developing culture (singular). Instead, Boas sought to understand the development of societies through their particular histories.

As a student of Native American languages, Boas emphasized the importance of linguistic analysis from internal linguistic structure, and pointed out that language was a fundamental aspect of culture. Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, includes his earliest research in British Columbia concerning Indigenous myths and legends.

Born in Victoria in 1943, Randy Bouchard has undertaken ethnographic, linguistic, and ethnohistorical research with numerous First Nations throughout British Columbia. His work has been ongoing since 1968. Beginning in 1971 and continuing today, he has worked closely with socio-cultural anthropologist Dr. Dorothy Kennedy. In 1972 Bouchard and Kennedy founded the BC Indian Language Project, dedicated to the documentation and preservation of BC's First Nations languages, cultures, and histories.

Bouchard and Kennedy's comprehensive study of the Indigenous people of the Desolation Sound area, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands, was published in 1983. They are also co-editors of Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, published in 2002.

Bouchard and Kennedy continue to contribute to the establishment of Aboriginal rights and title claims, having recently shown that the Squamish and the Lil'wat First Nations both have Aboriginal rights and title interests in the Whistler area, making them First Nations co-hosts of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The Lil'wat World of Charlie Mack, published in February 2010, is Kennedy and Bouchard's tribute to one of their First Nations collaborators.

Dorothy Kennedy was born in Victoria, BC in 1951. She has a Masters degree from the University of Victoria and a Doctorate in Anthropology from Oxford University. Together with Randy Bouchard, she founded the BC Indian Language Project in 1972, dedicated to the documentation and preservation of BC's First Nations languages, cultures, and histories. Kennedy and Bouchard's comprehensive study of the Native people of the Desolation Sound area, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands, was published by Talonbooks in 1983. They are also co-editors of Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, the acclaimed annotated translation of Franz Boas' landmark anthropological study, Indianischen Sagen.

As Bouchard and Kennedy Research Consultants they continue to contribute to the establishment of Aboriginal rights and title claims, having recently shown that the Squamish and Lil'wat both have Aboriginal rights and title interests in the Whistler area, making them First Nations co-hosts of the 2010 Olympic Games. A tribute to one of their First Nations collaborators is the newly released The Lil'wat World of Charlie Mack.