So They Understand

Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2002 So They Understand William Schneider Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons Recommended Citation Schneider, W. S. (2002). So they understand: Cultural issues in oral history. Logan: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page i . so they understand . Cultural Issues in Oral History Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page ii Photo by Karen Brewster, July, 1996. “In between the lines is something special going on in their minds, and that has got to be brought to light, so they understand just exactly what is said.” —Chief Peter John, June, 1999 Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page iii . so they understand . Cultural Issues in Oral History William Schneider Documentation, Representation, Preservation, and Interpretation Illustrated with Stories from South Africa, Alaska, and the Yukon Utah State University Press Logan, Utah Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page iv Copyright © 2002 William Schneider All Rights Reserved Utah State University Press Logan, Utah All royalties, after expenses, from the sale of this book will be donated to support the Alaska Native Studies Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Cover design: Richard Howe. Front cover illustrations: Top left, Chief Peter John; photo by Karen Brewster. Top right, left to right, Christian Tritt, Sarah Frank, Dan Frank, Abraham Christian. Right, Mamabola elders, left to right, M. Mogashoa, J. M. V. Mogashoa, R. Chueu. Bottom left, Herschel Island Cultural Study participants, left to right, Renie Arey, Murielle Nagy, Dora Malegana, Jean Tardiff, Kathleen Hansen, and Sarah Meyook; photo courtesy of the Yukon Heritage Branch and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Back cover illustrations: Top right, Howard Luke; photo by Bill Burke. Bottom left, Phegello “Zakes” Letshela in front of the National Library of South Africa. Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schneider, William. So they understand : cultural issues in oral history / William Schneider. p. cm. “Documentation, representation, preservation, and interpretation, illustrated with stories from South Africa, Alaska, and the Yukon.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87421-550-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Oral tradition. 2. Oral history. I. Title. GR72 .S35 2002 Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page v Contents Acknowledgments vii Part I: How Stories Work 1. Introduction 3 2. A Career Full of Stories 19 3. What’s in a Story 37 4. Sorting Out Oral Tradition and Oral History 53 Part II: Types of Stories 5. Personal Narratives: Shared One to Another 71 6. Gathering to Tell Stories: The Neglected Genre 81 in Oral History 7. In Search of the Story: Interviewers and Their Narrators 95 8. Life Histories: The Constructed Genre 109 Part III: Issues Raised by Stories 9. The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth 125 10. Issues of Representation 137 11. Intellectual Property Rights and the Public: 149 Unfinished Business 12. The Public Record 161 Appendices 169 Notes 175 References 181 Index 193 Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page vi Illustrations Chief Peter John ii Map of South Africa 2 Map of Alaska 2 Turak Newman and Ida Edwards 17 Moses Cruikshank 17 Waldo Bodfish 18 Howard Luke 18 Kathy Ahgeak and Walter Akpik 32 Horace Ahsogeak with David Libbey 32 Bill Schneider with Frederica de Laguna 33 University of the North, South Africa 34 Phegello “Zakes” Letshela 35 Sello Hatang, Verne Harris, and Ethel Kriger 36 Julie Cruikshank, Catherine McClellan, and Angela Sidney 67 Tishu Ulen 80 The Tanana Chiefs 93 Alfred Starr 94 The Artists behind the Work 107 Mamabola leaders 108 Murielle Nagy and Herschel Island Study participants 108 Harry Brower Sr. and Karen Brewster 122 Millie Gray’s father’s boat building operation 144 Elaine Abraham in Fhoki Kayamori home 145 Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page vii Acknowledgments Compiling acknowledgments is a reminder that for me, it is the people and their contributions that make this work possible and reward- ing. In the spirit of ubuntu, I want to recognize the following people. Earlier drafts of this work were read by Margaret Blackman, John Miles Foley, Ray Barnhardt, Jim Magdanz, Don Ritchie, Thoko Hlatywayo, Murielle Nagy, Zakes Letshela, Verne Harris, Linda Johnson, David Krupa, and students in my classes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Thank you to all of them for useful comments; I know that this work is better because of their reviews. I appreciate help received from Sello Hatang in locating materi- als on Nelson Mandela, Ethel Kriger for discussions of ubuntu and other traditional phrases, Thoko Hlatywayo for numerous conversa- tions to clarify meanings of interviews conducted at the University of the North, and Ken Frank for identification of people from Venetie village in Interior Alaska. I had good editorial help from Sue Mitchell here in Fairbanks and on-going support from John Alley at Utah State University Press. I can’t think of a more supportive editor. I also appreciate Jennifer Collier’s help as I worked through contracting details. I appreciate assistance I had from Bill Burke, Dave Libbey, Karen Brewster, Bob Betts, Dave Nelson, Richard Veazey, Kim Armstrong, Shannon Olson, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Yukon Heritage, Linda Johnson, Roger Kaye, Murielle Nagy, and Molly Lee in identify- ing and obtaining photos. I realize that this work would not have been possible without the support of the Rasmuson Library permanent staff, in particular Robyn Russell, who has managed the oral history collection with a library professional’s attention to detail and accountability. Appendix B is her work. The library permitted me to take a sabbatical leave during the 1997 year, and a Fulbright Scholarship gave me the chance to work in South Africa and to learn more about oral narrative. Paul Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page viii McCarthy, library director, supported my travel back to South Africa this past summer, and an earlier trip was supported by the National Archives of South Africa and the University of Witwatersrand. These trips deepened my understanding of South Africans and the way oral narrative plays a part in their lives. Many of the advancements in the way we do oral history record- ings and the way we represent them electronically through the com- puter came from talented people who helped make the Project Jukebox dream come true. I want to acknowledge Felix Vogt, Dan Grahek, Mary Larson, David Krupa, Karen Brewster, Jarrod Decker, Bill Burke, Marla Bryson, and Cal White. Karen has been our key per- son tracking developments in electronic delivery of oral history on the Web, and her attention to ethical and legal issues is reflected in appendix C, a document she prepared. Finally, thanks to my family—my wife, Sidney, and my daughter, Willa—for their support. And for patience over my lifetime, thanks to my mother, Harriet. who recently said, “I’m saying prayers it will get done in my lifetime . I get older and older.” Thank you all. Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page 1 partHow Stories one Work Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page 2 Understand.book.v1 9/30/02 11:11 AM Page 3 oneIntroduction The setting is northern South Africa at graduation ceremonies for the University of the North (UNIN) in the fall of 1997. The university’s red brick buildings stand out against the parched fields and modest homes. Beyond the fence and entry gates, cows and donkeys graze. This is an economically poor part of the country, and this university was designed and built during the years of apartheid to educate the people of the region.1 Little did the authorities know that this place would become a center for resistance to the government, a place where many of today’s leaders would gather to rally support for change. During those years police intervention was common and students were jailed. UNIN has not recovered from the revolution; students still agitate for change; boycott and protest are often the first and only course of action. The chancellor of the university is Nelson Mandela, who at that time was the president of South Africa. President Mandela has come to the campus to meet with the administration and faculty, to confer the degrees at graduation, and to address the graduates and their fam- ilies. He is a tall, dignified looking man, and his warmth and interest in the people is evident. As he makes his way down the aisle to the stage, he stops frequently to greet and reach out to the older people and the young children. On the stage, he looks out into the audito- rium of excited guests, elders, parents, and young children. He shakes hands with each graduate and offers his personal congratulations. But now, he has completed his formal remarks, removed his read- ing glasses and begins a story. I am situated with other faculty behind him on the stage, and it is a bit hard to hear his comments, so in this recalling, I rely on a video made of the speech by the UNIN Media Department. The audio quality is poor so I will quote as best I can and edit heavily where it is not possible to distinguish his words.

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