Sky Woman and Windigo: Characters from Oral Storytelling in Contemporary Canadian Indigenous Literature
2018
Abstrakt
This paper discusses the use of Sky Woman and windigo in contemporary Canadian Indigenous literature. Outlining the significance of oral storytelling for contemporary Indigenous authors, it provides basic characteristics of the traditional figures of Sky Woman and windigo.
Three examples from recent texts are given to show how these characters are used in writing, acquiring attributes of contemporaneity but maintaining their role as teachers of humanity. Employing traditional characters is a way for the authors to reclaim literature and their Indigenous voice in it.