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Mirror and Pattern: George Laird's World of Chemehuevi Mythology
Born in 1895, Carobeth Laird was married in 1916 to the brilliant but eccentric anthropologist John Peabody Harrington; in her memoir Encounter with an Angry God (Malki, 1975), she had told how they combed rural California for surviving speakers of little-known American Indian languages. In 1923 she divorced Harrington to marry George Laird, a Chemehuevi Indian from the lower Colorado River, with whom she lived a full life until his death in 1940.
Carobeth Laird s book The Chemehuevis (Malki, 1976), based on information provided by her husband, was the first description ever published of aboriginal Chemehuevi culture. In the present volume, Mrs. Laird presents the myths of the Chemehuevi, as transcribed from her husband s telling and accompanied by her own detailed analyses. These narratives of the days when animals were people , when Coyote and Wolf ordained the paths to be followed by the human species which was to come after them, is one of the richest collections of Native American traditional literature which has yet appeared. The book contains a glossary of Chemehuevi words and a bibliography.
Carobeth Laird, one of Malki s beloved authors, wrote with clarity and grace, and this book published after her death in 1983 remains one of the most comprehensive discussions of a southern California mythology. The myths are saturated with wonder and magic; they contain dream-like mutations and transitions, she writes in this powerful book. On the other hand, they mirror the natural world and its inhabitants with the greatest clarity and contain detailed descriptions of the manufacture of artifacts, of hunting, food gathering, social intercourse, and all the ordinary pursuits of mortals. These myths are the repository of the experience and spirituality of a people whose mode of thought is not inferior, but in many dimensions wholly alien, to the modern mentality. This book is, in many ways, her greatest monument.
Carobeth Laird s book The Chemehuevis (Malki, 1976), based on information provided by her husband, was the first description ever published of aboriginal Chemehuevi culture. In the present volume, Mrs. Laird presents the myths of the Chemehuevi, as transcribed from her husband s telling and accompanied by her own detailed analyses. These narratives of the days when animals were people , when Coyote and Wolf ordained the paths to be followed by the human species which was to come after them, is one of the richest collections of Native American traditional literature which has yet appeared. The book contains a glossary of Chemehuevi words and a bibliography.
Carobeth Laird, one of Malki s beloved authors, wrote with clarity and grace, and this book published after her death in 1983 remains one of the most comprehensive discussions of a southern California mythology. The myths are saturated with wonder and magic; they contain dream-like mutations and transitions, she writes in this powerful book. On the other hand, they mirror the natural world and its inhabitants with the greatest clarity and contain detailed descriptions of the manufacture of artifacts, of hunting, food gathering, social intercourse, and all the ordinary pursuits of mortals. These myths are the repository of the experience and spirituality of a people whose mode of thought is not inferior, but in many dimensions wholly alien, to the modern mentality. This book is, in many ways, her greatest monument.
374 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1984
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About the author
Carobeth Laird
8 books1 followerCarobeth (Tucker) Laird (July 20, 1895 - August 5, 1983) is known for her ethnographic studies of the Chemehuevi people of southeastern California and western Arizona. Her book, The Chemehuevi, was characterized by ethnographer Lowell John Bean (1985:5) as "one of the finest, most detailed ethnographies ever written."
Carobeth Tucker was born in Coleman, Texas. In 1915, she took a course in linguistics at San Diego Normal School that was taught by John P. Harrington, an extremely productive and eccentric linguist and ethnographer. Harrington was impressed by her natural linguistic abilities, and they were married the following year. She assisted him in his field work and learned ethnographic skills from him, but his eccentricities proved fatal to their relationship. Later in her life, Carobeth accounted her relationship with John P. Harrington in her book "Encounter with an Angry God." They were divorced in 1922. Later, Carobeth married George Laird, her principal Chemehuevi informant.
During the period prior to George Laird's death in 1940, Carobeth Laird collected extensive information on the Chemehuevi, particularly concerning language and mythology. She came to the attention of the scholarly world in the early 1970s, when she was "discovered" by students of Lowell Bean. Her ethnographic studies were published in two books, The Chemehuevi (1976) and Mirror and Pattern (1984), as well as several articles in the Journal of California Anthropology.
Carobeth Laird also published an account of her marriage with Harrington, Encounter with an Angry God (1975), which received some critical acclaim, and Limbo (1979), a description of her experiences in a nursing home.
(from Wikipedia)
Carobeth Tucker was born in Coleman, Texas. In 1915, she took a course in linguistics at San Diego Normal School that was taught by John P. Harrington, an extremely productive and eccentric linguist and ethnographer. Harrington was impressed by her natural linguistic abilities, and they were married the following year. She assisted him in his field work and learned ethnographic skills from him, but his eccentricities proved fatal to their relationship. Later in her life, Carobeth accounted her relationship with John P. Harrington in her book "Encounter with an Angry God." They were divorced in 1922. Later, Carobeth married George Laird, her principal Chemehuevi informant.
During the period prior to George Laird's death in 1940, Carobeth Laird collected extensive information on the Chemehuevi, particularly concerning language and mythology. She came to the attention of the scholarly world in the early 1970s, when she was "discovered" by students of Lowell Bean. Her ethnographic studies were published in two books, The Chemehuevi (1976) and Mirror and Pattern (1984), as well as several articles in the Journal of California Anthropology.
Carobeth Laird also published an account of her marriage with Harrington, Encounter with an Angry God (1975), which received some critical acclaim, and Limbo (1979), a description of her experiences in a nursing home.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 2, 2020
The follow-up to the author's previous book on Chemehuevi culture and stories. More detailed, more analytical. The story of Carobeth Laird, the author, is gripping. You should read her Encounter with an Angry God.
September 2, 2011
Carefully researched, written from the heart. And her name is Carobeth.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews