Unwritten Stories of the Suruí Indians of Rondônia (ILAS Special Publication)

Unwritten Stories presents for the first time in writing traditional narratives of the Brazilian Surui people, a seven-hundred-member community of Tupi-Monde-speaking Indians. Some fifteen Surui elders respected in the community for their knowledgeable grasp of traditional narrative and the shared past of the Surui group collaborated with Betty Mindlin to develop this collection of narratives, which were tape-recorded by Mindlin and other researchers, including two members of the Surui. Unwritten Stories begins with creation tales familiar to the entire community down to the present day, which provide an explanation for observable phenomena. The second portion of the book presents elaborate accounts of the deeds of heroes. In the third and most specialized section of the book, shamans speak of their experiences and knowledge of the afterworld and other hidden aspects of the cosmos. Here Mindlin transcribes ritual chants as well as shamans' remembrances of initiation and the performance of ceremonies. As well as the intrinsic fascination of the stories it offers, Unwritten Stories is a vivid example of the current-day effort by traditional native communities to prolong the existence of their cultural legacy through writing and print. It will appeal both to folklorists and students of traditional narrative and to general readers interested in knowledge that has previously been kept within a small community in oral form.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fantasy, Nonfiction, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.