Oral stories form a portal through which rich cultural and linguistic
information is passed from generation to generation. Tellings from
Our Elders, Volume 2, presents stories in the Skagit Valley
dialects of Lushootseed, the language of the indigenous people of the
southern and eastern shores of Puget Sound. Transcribed from recordings
made of the last generation of elders who learned Lushootseed as an
exclusive mother tongue, and published with line-by-line interlinear
glosses, this collection of nine traditional stories
(syeyehub) opens a doorway to cultural knowledge, specialized
vocabulary, and patterns of narrative stylistics typical of Coast
Salish storytelling.