Angela Sidney, (January 4, 1902 – July 17, 1991) was a Tagish storyteller. She co-authored two narratives of traditional Tagish legends and a historical document of Tagish place names for southern Yukon. For her linguistics and

ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

contributions, Sidney received the Order of Canada, becoming the first Native woman from the Yukon to be so honoured.

"Well, I have no money to leave for my grandchildren. My stories are my wealth!"

Biography

;Childhood Sidney was born near Carcross in 1902. She was given two names at birth, Ch'óonehte' Ma (in Tagish), Stóow (in Tlingit), and a third, Angela, by her godfather, when she was two weeks old. Her mother, Maria John (or Maria Tagish) (born ca. 1871), was of Tlingit ''Deisheetaan'' (Crow) clan ancestry. Her father, Tagish John (born ca. 1856), was Tagish Dakhl'awedi. Maria was left weak after epidemics killed the family's first four children. A brother, Johnny Johns, and a sister, Alice Dora, were Sidney's siblings from the couple's second family. Because her mother was not well, Sidney, eldest daughter, spent much of her time assisting her mother and listening to her stories. However, Sidney did receive some schooling in Carcross at the Anglican mission school prior to age ten. Her father's cousins,

Skookum Jim Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word that has historical use in the Pacific Northwest. It has a range of meanings, commonly associated with an English translation of "strong" or "monstrous". The word can mean "strong", "greatest", "powerful", "ultima ...

, Kate Carmack and Dawson Charlie, were credited with making the gold discovery that led to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896.

Adulthood

At age 14, Sidney married George Sidney (ca. 1888 - 1971). They had seven children, four of whom died young. George worked seasonally for White Pass and Yukon Route railroad, he later became chief at Carcross. Sidney loved to listen to her parents' stories, and those of her relatives. To ensure that the dances, language, stories, and traditions of her people were recorded for future generations, Sidney started teaching Tagish traditions to schoolchildren. She assisted linguists Victor Golla, Jeff Leer and John Ritter and anthropologists

Catharine McClellan Catharine "Kitty" McClellan (March 1, 1921 – March 3, 2009) was an American cultural anthropologist who is known for her documentation of the oral history and storytelling typical of Athabascan speaking, Tlingit and Tagish peoples of the Yukon T ...

and Julie Cruikshank with their research on Tagish language and traditions to ensure the Tagish language would not be lost. In teaching the craft of storytelling to her niece, Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, Sidney emphasized the need to be cognizant of the needs of the audience, preface the telling with a prayer, and seek forgiveness before offense is taken. Sidney died in 1991. She was survived by a daughter, Ida Calmegane.

Awards and honors

* 1986, Member of the Order of Canada * Sidney was the inspiration for the development of the Yukon International Storytelling Festival, created in 1988, when fellow storytellers learned that Sidney had to travel to Toronto in 1984 to be part of a storytelling festival.

Selected stories

* ''Getting married'' * ''The stolen woman'' * ''How people got flint'' * ''The old woman under the world'' * ''Moldy head'' * ''Fox helper'' * ''Wolf story'' * ''Potlatch story''

Partial bibliography

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidney, Angela 1902 births 1991 deaths Canadian storytellers Women storytellers First Nations women writers Writers from Yukon Members of the Order of Canada People from Carcross, Yukon Tagish people 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century First Nations writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers Canadian women short story writers