Norman. Trickster and the Fainting Birds

Carrying on with this week of Wesakachak stories, I have a lovely book by Howard Norman (he also wrote a Glooskap book that I posted about previously). You'll find seven Wesakachak stories here: Trickster and the Fainting Birds.

The stories are: Trickster and the Best Hermit, Trickster and the Shut-Eye Dancers, Trickster Tells Whiskey Jack the Truth, Trickster and the Walking Contest, Trickster and the Clacking Sleeves, Trickster and the Night-Tailed Weasels, and Trickster and the Fainting Birds.

Norman gathered these stories from Cree storytellers starting back in the 1970s, stories about Wistchahik, Wesucechak, Wichikapache, etc. the specific name being based on the Cree community where the storyteller was from. In this book, he has just used "Trickster" as the name for the hero of the stories. Be sure to read the introduction where Norman explains how he worked with Cree storyteller Albert Sandy, learning about the ways of Wistchahik, and there are also story notes in the back.

The lovely illustrations are by Tom Pohrt. Here is Trickster in his fish-head-and-bones coat in the story of Trickster and the Clacking Sleeves:

You can find out more about Howard Norman and his work at Wikipedia, and there are more of his books at the Internet Archive, all just a click away! 

Trickster and the Fainting Birds

by Howard Norman