Twana Narratives Native Historical Accounts of a Coast Salish Culture

The Twana speech community of Coast Salish Indians lived, before1860, in nine villages in western Washington. Twana Narrativespresents first-person, insider accounts of Twana history, society, andreligion, as told by natives Frank and Henry Allen to anthropologistWilliam Elmendorf between 1934 and 1940. The Allens were born in theHood Canal area in the mid-nineteenth century and were fluent in bothEnglish and Twana. The vigorous language of the eighty narratives,while predominantly in English, is freely interspersed with key nativeterms denoting personal names, genealogical connections, and spiritpowers and rituals. The texts, unique for the region and the period,reveal a strong sense of the local diversity within the larger Salisharea and of the intricate interrelationships between villagecommunities.