Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane: The World of the Schitsu'umsh

The Schitsu’umsh landscape of lake and mountains is described with a richness that emphasizes its essential material and spiritual qualities. The historical trauma of the Schitsu’umsh, stemming from their nineteenth-century contacts with Euro-American culture, is given dramatic weight. Nonetheless, examples of adaptation and continuity in traditional cultural expression, rather than destruction and discontinuity, are the most conspicuous features of this vivid ethnographic portrait. Drawing on pivotal oral traditions, Frey mirrors the Schitsu’umsh world view in his organization and presentation of ethnographic material. He uses first-person accounts by his Native consultants to convey crucial cultural perspectives and practices. Because of its unusual methodology, is likely to become a model for future work with Native American peoples, within the Plateau region and beyond.