The 'Fannie Hardy Eckstorm Collection': An ethnopoetic analysis Penobscot ways with story

The dissertation examines the Native American stories that comprise part of the Fannie Hardy Eckstorm Collection, held by the University of Maine, Orono. Recorded between 1917 and 1919, the collection includes 38 stories told by the Penobscot Clara Neptune. The stories have received no critical attention whatsoever; Fannie Hardy Eckstorm died in 1946, before she could realize her ambition to publish them. By moving this collection into the public domain, my intention is to inform current curriculum studies in Maine and elsewhere that are centered on revitalizing the study of Native America; the stories have salience for Native American studies at all levels.;The dissertation begins with a preliminary, interpretive review of the mythology of Maine and the Maritimes that considers how well these collections have served the region; it considers methods of collecting by comparing works within the corpus.;Verse analysis, as developed by Dell Hymes, is an approach that helps us to know texts in a certain way by considering linguistic and narrative structure and its functions in a social context; in this respect, the study joins the examination of the structure of language to its use.;Volume I of the study analyzes four stories in depth. The purpose of the verse analysis is to reveal structural and other patterns embedded in the narratives, in so doing inferring the fundamental intentions of the storyteller, Clara Neptune, while at the same time making her texts more accessible. In addition, at least one version of each story is analyzed; these texts, and corresponding verse analyses, comprise Volume II.;In addition, of the several stories that are treated in depth, the discussion considers connections to other myths, to regional history, and to aspects of Penobscot social life.;The conclusion is a summative consideration of aspects of Clara Neptune's artistry as storyteller. It looks at these in terms of how effectively verse analysis recovers something of the stories as performance. It considers the merits of verse analysis as a means of creating a wide and appreciative readership for these stories and others like them.