Folklore's Nature and the Sun's Myth

AN OUTGOING PRESIDENT SHOULD TAKE NOTE of the state of the discipline; a hometown boy should take note of his own state. I speak to you [tonight) in both roles. That we meet in Portland is for me a lucky, significant coincidence, for I was born, raised, and introduced to folklore in Portland, and most of my work in folklore is devoted to languages and cultures of the Oregon country.1 I shall try to address both contexts-folklore, Oregon-in a way that is meaningful to both. My first concern is a conception of the discipline; my second is a text. The interpretation of each has relevance to the future of the other, in Oregon, and in general.