Article by Eric Bye
Book By E. George “Peskunck” Larrabee Berwyn Heights, MD: Heritage Books, 2019, 207 pages, 8 ½” x 11” soft cover, 50 photos and 7 original drawings, $29.00
This is a book like few others, from an author like few oth-ers. For many years Peskunck Larrabee has been a known author and illustrator in the Northeast and beyond. He is the illustrator for the “Junior Blasts” column in Muzzle Blasts magazine, and he has contributed stories and artwork to Muzzleloader, Black Powder Times, and other publications dealing with American history and Native cultures. Because of his dedication to Native ways he was accepted into the Abenaki-Sokuakiiak Nation of Missis-quoi in a Sweat lodge ceremony some three decades ago. He has long been known and respected as an ambassador of Abenaki culture to modern inhabitants of the North-east.
The present book is a series of connected tales that can be read in more than one way, e.g. as a window into Abenaki history, culture, and lifeways, and as an introduction to the language spoken by the Western Abenaki. This suggests that the book deserves more than one reading to extract all it has to offer.
If the book is read purely for entertainment value, if can be slow or even challenging: like some native oral storytellers I have encountered, Peskunck seasons his tales with lots of Abenaki vocabulary in a different type font, and then he immediately translates the terms. This practice gives the tales the ring of authenticity, but it does not facilitate the quick, smooth reading that many of us are accustomed to. An excerpt from a creation tale illustrates the point:
Dodziui d’yanmôgik auani idak –There are those who say,-- pôbabahami gottliui Mikmôzak – especially among the Mi’kmak,-- that Elder Brother created the First People in a dazzle of blinding light and burst of thunder. This shocked and surprised the on-looking creatures, bowling many of them over. Ta dodziui d’yanmôgik – And there are those,-- gottliui Odanak ta Mazipskoiak – among the Odanak and Missisquoi, -- auani ida na Ntami Pemôuzouinnoak – who say that the First People – Kullos’kahp olitoab – Man from Nothing made, -- agma olitoab ali alakôsaônsmek alômiui nenizoak pemôuzimek ôgemakok – he made by chiseling into two living ash trees. – He ani-mated the two carvings, a man and a woman, by shoot-ing arrows just above them. (p.113)
This dual-language presentation requires the reader’s patience. Readers who persevere will be rewarded with some good stories, Abenaki cultural tidbits, and a worthy challenge in language learning. Clearly, some passages will appeal more to beginning Abenaki language students than to casual pleasure readers. As a lifelong language devotee, I find myself wishing for a more complete and systematic pronunciation guide, a bilingual glossary, and a grammar synopsis. I found it easy, for example, to understand the formation of plural nouns, but I didn’t learn some import-ant features like how to formulate verb tenses. This may not be a problem for other readers.
Some of the prose passages in this book are very well written. Numerous French terms add seasoning to the narration and stress the US-Canada cross-border nature of Western Abenaki. Readers should be reminded that the French is only the seasoning, not the main course; some of it is inaccurate. The crux of this book, after all, is Abenaki. The stories do not focus exclusively on superhuman ex-ploits, but rather on daily life, language, and culture, and I find this down-to-earth orientation refreshing.
Because this is a hybrid of storytelling and language instruction, readers may benefit from choosing one frame of mind – as pleasure reader or as language student – and maintaining that mindset through a complete reading. A subsequent reading in the other mindset will round out the experience. In both cases the reader should not neglect the author’s preface (pp.v – x), where much of the advice on grammar and pronunciation is offered.
The tales reflect Native customs and values. Topics include medicinal herbs, property rights, hunting, gathering, family ties, wildlife and woods lore, personal grooming practices, seasonings for foods, and a good deal more. These nuggets, along with the abundant illustrations are the strength of the book. An index functions as a unidirec-tional (English to Abenaki) glossary. The type is large and easy on the eyes, and the graphics are placed to comple-ment the text.
Peskunck Larrabee has worked for years to accumulate his knowledge of Abenaki culture and language. This devotion shaped his life, and the book encapsulates much of
Peskunck’s hard won knowledge and makes it available to readers. Many will be happy to learn that a second volume is also in the works.
A Visit with Chief Grey Lock and Other Abenaki Stories is available from the publisher (https://heritagebooks. com/collections/recent-publications; 800-876-6103) and some bookstores in the Northeast. You can also buy an autographed copy directly from the author (E. George “Peskunck” Larrabee, PO Box 223, Woodbury, VT 05681; 802-472-3065). The book can also be ordered online from Amazon Books. Shipping costs may vary according to purchaser’s zip code.