Heroes and Heroines

Over uncounted generations the Tlingits and Haida of Southeast Alaska developed a spoken literature as robust and distinctive as their unique graphic style, and passed it from the old to the young to insure the continuity of the culture. Even today when the people gather, now under lamplight rather than the flickering glow from the central pit, the ancient Myths and legends are told and retold, and they still reinforce the unity of the lineage, the clan and the culture. It's a long way from Southeast Alaska to classical Greece and Rome, but there are striking similarities between the heroes and the heroines of the two cultures. For this book, the author, Mary Beck, a student of both cultures, has selected nine of the ancient Tlingit-Haida legends and drawn parallels between their protagonists and those well known to the heirs of Greco-Roman culture.