Indigenous literature -- Canada -- History and criticism, Canadian literature -- Indigenous authors -- History and criticism, Indigenous folk literature -- Canada -- History and criticism, Oral tradition -- Canada, Indigenous peoples in literature, Canadian literature -- Indigenous authors, Indigenous folk literature, Indigenous literature, Indigenous authors, Canadian literature, Oral tradition 

"This is the first critical study of the literature of Canada's native peoples, which at long last is commanding the attention it deserves. Focusing on the work of Indians and Métis, and beginning with an examination of the oral tradition from which their literature grew, and that continues today, it discusses both works generically classified as literature, and forms such as speeches that are significant for their eloquent expression of protest and alienation. Indeed, it is impossible to describe and quote from much of this material without conveying more than three centuries of political and social dissatisfaction.

Orations, sermons, petitions, letters, journals, autobiographies, historical and travel writings, and journalism are considered, as well as short stories, novels, poetry, drama, traditional tales, and essays. The Indian sensibility and imagination — reflected in modes of literary expression, figurative language and symbols, spiritual and religious concepts, the visionary element — are seen to have given birth to a rich literature and a unique aesthetic that are evident in the many quotations.

Ranging from the seventeenth century to the recent publications of Maria Campbell, Beatrice Culleton, Ruby Slipperjack, Basil H. Johnston, Daniel David Moses, Tomson Highway, and Thomas King, among many others, this is an illuminating and timely survey that will greatly interest, and inform, natives and non-natives alike."--Back cover. 

viii, 213 pages : portraits ; 23 cm. 

Includes index.