Peter Kalifornsky - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Peter Kalifornsky was a self-taught writer and ethnographer of Kenai

Kenai, Alaska

Kenai is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 7,464...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, who wrote traditional stories, poems, and language lessons in the Outer Inlet dialect (sometimes called the Kenai dialect) of Dena'ina, a language of the Athabaskan

Athabaskan languages

Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...

language group. Kalifornsky, a Dena'ina elder, participated in creating the written version of the Dena'ina language, and over 19 years worked to record as many sukdu or traditional stories as he could remember, translating them also into English. He also wrote original works in Dena'ina, including a number of autobiographical works.

Near the end of his life, he worked with linguist James Kari

James Kari

James Kari is a linguist and Professor Emeritus with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks , specializing in Athabascan languages of Alaska. In the past thirty-five years he has done extensive linguistic work in many Athabascan languages including Ahtna, Dena'ina,...

of the Alaska Native Language Center

Alaska Native Language Center

The Alaska Native Language Center, established in 1972 in Fairbanks, Alaska, is a research center focusing on the research and documentation of the Alaska's Native languages. It publishes grammars, dictionaries, folklore collections and research materials, as well as hosting an extensive archive of...

and anthropologist Alan Boraas

Alan Boraas

Alan S. Boraas is a professor of anthropology at Kenai Peninsula College in Alaska. He is known for his research into the culture, history, and archaeology of the peoples of the Cook Inlet area of Alaska, and in particular has worked closely with the Dena'ina people of the Kenai Peninsula...

of Kenai Peninsula College

Kenai Peninsula College

Kenai Peninsula College is a unit of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is one of four community campuses. The student body comprises almost 2,000 students at 4 locations.-Locations:...

to compile his collected works. Published in 1991, A Dena'ina Legacy — K'tl'egh'i Sukdu: The Collected Writings of Peter Kalifornsky contains 147 bilingual Dena'ina-English writings. Throughout most of the volume, the original Dena'ina appears on the left-hand page and the English translation appears opposite, on the right page.

Works by Peter Kalifornsky

This bibliography is based upon “Kalifornskyana,” the bibliography of Kalifornsky's works included in A Dena'ina Legacy. However, the bibliography has been reordered and citations are rendered in a different citation style. As with the original bibliography, materials not included in A Dena'ina Legacy are marked with a cross † — here placed after the date. A double-cross ‡ is used for one item from which most but not all materials are included in A Dena'ina Legacy.

Books

1977; revised 1981. Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga: The Kenai People’s Language. Ed. by James Kari. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 140 pages.
1984. K’tl’egh’i Sukdu: Remaining Stories. Ed. by Jane McGary and James Kari. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 124 pages.
1991. A Dena’ina Legacy — K’tl’egh’i Sukdu: The Collected Writings of Peter Kalifornsky. Ed. by James Kari and Alan Boraas. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Shorter works

1974. K’eła Sukdu, The Mouse Story. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 7 pages.
1974. Ch’enlahi Sukdu, The Gambling Story. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 11 pages.
1975. “The Lord’s Prayer.” Orthodox Alaska 5:51.
1975. “Qunshi Uquch’el’ani, Beluga Hunting.” In James Kari, ed., Dena’ina T’qit’ach’: The Way the Tanaina Are. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, pp. 16–18.
1976. [Dena’ina numbers.] [Page numbers handwritten in Dena’ina by Peter Kalifornsky on each page.] In Walt and Elsa Pederson, eds, A Small History of the Western Kenai. Chicago: Adams Press.
1977. “Low Bush Cranberry Story.” In Priscilla Russell Kari, Dena’ina K’et’una, Tanaina Plantlore. Anchorage: Adult Literacy Laboratory, p. 42.
1980.‡ Five Legends of the Dena’ina People. Told by Peter Kalifornsky, written and edited by June Lindgren Gagnon. Kenai, AK: Cook Inlet Native Association. 48 pages. [Note: four of these stories are included in A Dena'ina Legacy; the fifth story, "The Spirit of the Bear," was not written in Dena'ina by Kalifornsky.]
1980. “A View of the Effects of Exploration on Alaska Natives.” In Antoinette Shalkop, ed., Exploration in Alaska: Captain Cook Commemorative Lecture Series. Anchorage, AK: Cook Inlet Historical Society, pp. 197–199.
1981.† “The Potlatch Song of the Lonely Man,” modified version. In Lance Petersen, The Ballad of Kenai [play].
1982. Translator (English to Dena’ina), Qezdceghnen Ggagga, The Kustatan Bear Story by Maxim Chickalusion. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 33 pages.
1982. [Two gambling songs.] In James Kari, ed., Ch’enlahi, the Tep-Wi Hand Game of the Dena’ina. Kenai, AK: Kenai Borough School District, pp. 18–19.
1983. “Unhshcheyakda: My Great-Great-Grandfather.” In James Kari, Kalifornsky, The Californian from Cook Inlet. Alaska in Perspective 5(1): 8.
1983. “The Potlatch Song of the Lonely Man.” In Richard K. Nelson, The Athabaskans: People of the Boreal Forest. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Museum.
1985. “The Mouse Story,” “The Gambling Story,” “Crow and the One-Side Human,” “The Old Dena’ina Beliefs.” Alaska Quarterly Review 4(3–4): 173-181. [Special issue on Alaska Native Writers, Storytellers, and Orators.]
1990. “Two Cook Inlet Dena’ina Narratives About Russians.” In Richard Pierce, ed., Russia in North America, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Russian-America. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, pp. 36–40.

Unpublished works & manuscripts

1972. Notes on a 1972 Kenai potlatch. Unpublished manuscript, 4 pages.
1974.† Notebook #1 [writing practice]. Handwritten manuscript, 34 pages.
1974.† Schoolbook translations for State Operated Schools. Handwritten manuscript, 7 pages.
1974–1976.† Writings and lesson materials. Handwritten and typed manuscript, about 50 pages.
1974–1991.† Correspondence. Dena’ina and English. About 50 pages.
1979.† Kenai Tanaina literacy exercises. Manuscript, 6 pages.
1980.† A trip to California and New Mexico. Handwritten manuscript, 14 pages.
1985–1987. Dena’ina stories in manuscript. Typescript, 56 pages. (Retyped copies of 66 published stories from 1977 and 1984; Dena’ina only, no English translations).
1985–1987. New stories and texts. Typescript, 46 pages. [55 items mainly in Dena’ina, without English.]

Video

1984.† “Narrowing Down to One Best Path.” Videotaped poetry reading by Peter Kalifornsky and Gary Snyder, Kenai Peninsula College, April 9, 1984. [Includes Snyder’s comments on Peter Kalifornsky and Peter Kalifornsky reading a selection of his writings in Dena’ina and English.]

Interviews