Eden Robinson - The Sasquatch at Home: Traditional Protocols & Modern Storytelling

The cover shows a close-up colour photograph of a woman's face as she pulls down the skin on the left side of her face with her left hand. Her dark brown eyes face the camera directly and every detail of her skin is visible. The title features in white at the bottom left half of the cover in large white letters. The authors name is in the middle, slightly to the right. The subtitle is at the top of the cover, slightly to the right.

Wow, I said when I heard the story.
What does my name mean?
Big lady.
Um, what else does it mean?
Ma-ma-oo paused. Biiiiiig lady.
I paused.... Implied in my name, Wiwltx ... is a high rank as it was obtained through marriage and only given to women of noble birth. I was disappointed in my name, and it had nothing to do with rank: I had story-envy.

A helicopter chops though the low clouds, thumping like a grouse when close, then fadinghollow taps as it traces the tower lines west into the rugged mountains. Logging roads seam the quiltwork patterns of regrowth along the steep sides of the Coast Range that frames the deep waters of the Douglas Channel. Towards the ocean, in The Kitlope Heritage Conservancy, the old-growth forest remains untouched. Beneath the evergreen canopy, the dense moss muffles sound and rain leaks through in heavy drips.

Published by

The University of Alberta Press

Ring House 2

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E1

and

Canadian Literature Centre/

Centre de littrature canadienne

35 Humanities Centre

University of Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E5

Copyright 2011 Eden Robinson

Introduction Copyright

2011 Paula Simons

ISBN 978088864

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Robinson, Eden

The Sasquatch at home : traditional protocols & modern storytelling / Eden Robinson ; introduction by Paula Simons.

(Henry Kreisel memorial lecture series)

Co-published by: Canadian Literature Centre/Centre de littrature canadienne.

Electronic monograph in ePub format.

Issued also in print format, ISBN 9780888645593.

1. Robinson, Eden. 2. Robinson, Eden Family. 3. Authors, Canadian (English) 20th centuryBiography. 4. Haisla IndiansBritish ColumbiaKitimatBiography. 5. Storytelling British Columbia. I. Canadian Literature Centre II. Title. III. Series: Henry Kreisel lecture series ; 4

PS8585.O35143Z78 2011C813.54C20119003961

All rights reserved.

First edition, rst printing, 2011. First electronic edition, 2012.

Digital Conversion by Transforma Pvt. Ltd.

Copyediting by Peter Midgley.

Cover design by Alan Brownoff.

No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free: 1-800-893-5777.

The Canadian Literature Centre acknowledges the support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for the Henry Kreisel Lecture delivered by Eden Robinson in March 2010 at the University of Alberta.

The University of Alberta Press gratefully acknowledges the support received for its publishing program from The Canada Council for the Arts. The University of Alberta Press also gratefully acknowledges the nancial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for its publishing activities.

THE KREISEL LECTURES constitute one of the most cherished programs of the Canadian Literature Centre, established in 2006 in the wake of a leadership gift by Edmontons noted bibliophile, Dr. Eric Schloss. Published within the Kreisel Series, these public annual lectures set out to ensure Professor Henry Kreisels legacy, offering a forum for open, inclusive critical thinking.

Author, University Professor and Officer of the Order of Canada, Henry Kreisel was born in Vienna into a Jewish family in 1922. Henry Kreisel left his homeland for England in 1938 and was interned, in Canada, for eighteen months during the Second World War. After studying at the University of Toronto, he began teaching in 1947 at the University of Alberta and served as Chair of English from 1961 until 1970. He served as Vice-President (Academic) from 1970 to 1975, and was named University Professor in 1975the highest scholarly award bestowed on its faculty members by the University of Alberta. Professor Kreisel was an inspiring and beloved teacher who taught generations of students to love literature and was one of the first people to bring the experience of the immigrant to modern Canadian literature. He died in Edmonton in 1991. His works include two novels, The Rich Man (1948) and The Betrayal (1964), and a collection of short stories, The Almost Meeting (1981). His internment diary, alongside critical essays on his writing, appears in Another Country: Writings By and About Henry Kreisel (1985).

LES CONFRENCES KREISEL figurent parmi les programmes les plus chers du Centre de littrature canadienne, cr en 2006 grce au don directeur du bibliophile illustre dEdmonton, le docteur Eric Schloss. Publies dans le cadre de la Srie Kreisel, ces confrences publiques et annuelles se consacrent perptuer la mmoire de Monsieur le Professeur Henry Kreisel, offrant un forum ouvert et inclusif pour la pense critique.

Auteur, professeur universitaire et Officier de lOrdre du Canada, Henry Kreisel nat Vienne dune famille juive en 1922. En 1938, il quitte son pays natal pour lAngleterre et est intern pour une dure de dix-huit mois, au Canada, lors de la Deuxime Guerre mondiale. Aprs ses tudes lUniversit de Toronto, il devient professeur lUniversit de lAlberta en 1947, et partir de 1961 jusqu 1970, il y dirige le dpartement danglais. De 1970 1975, il est vice-recteur (universitaire), et il est nomm professeur hors rang en 1975la plus haute distinction scientifique dcerne par lUniversit de lAlberta un membre de son professorat. Professeur ador, il transmet lamour de la littrature plusieurs gnrations dtudiants et il est parmi les premiers crivains modernes du Canada aborder lexprience immigrante. Il dcde Edmonton en 1991. Parmi ses uvres, on citera les romans, The Rich Man (1948) et The Betrayal (1964), et un recueil de nouvelles intitul, The Almost Meeting (1981). Son journal dinternement, accompagn darticles critiques sur son uvre, parat dans Another Country: Writings By and About Henry Kreisel (1985).

I AM TRULY PROUD and happy to have been invited to introduce Eden Robinsonand to talk to you about two of my favourite western Canadian writers.

First, though, I want to take a moment to thank Eric and Elexis Schloss for their leadership role in making the Canadian Literature Centre and the Kreisel Lectures possible. The Schlosses have, over the years, supported dozens of local worthy charities with their time and their money. But they arent the kind of philanthropists who just write cheques or organize parties. They have a strong guiding vision of the kind of inclusive, cultured community theyd like to see Edmonton become, and of the national leadership role theyd like to see this city and its academic and arts institutions assume. I know that for Eric Schloss, in particular, the Canadian Literature Centre/le Centre de littrature canadienne, has been a very passionate personal dreamand a dream that has come true. Id like to salute the Schlosses, not only for their generosity, but for the moral and cultural leadership they consistently offer to our whole community.