Library-quality hardcover book with dust-jacket. This book is a collection of short stories in Naskapi that features the "historical account" traditional Algonquian storytelling genre, tipachimuna (stories). The book features some eyewitness accounts of tragic and exciting events on the land and sea, as well as first-person accounts of the storyteller's own adventures and skill as a hunter and provider. This is the sixth book in a series prepared for reading in Naskapi and in English by the Naskapi Development Corporation. John Peastitute (1896-1981) was a Naskapi Elder who was a well respected as a story-keeper and storyteller. His repertoire of both tipachimuna and atiyuhkinich was extensive, and his performances engaging. The tape recordings of his stories that have survived to be preserved, processed and studied are a precious legacy. The "Whale Hunt" collection is second book in this series of true historical accounts of Naskapi life told by a Naskapi speaker.

Chahkapas: A Naskapi Legend shares the story of Chahkapas, a heroic figure in First Nations storytelling, who performs feats of strength and skill in spite of his diminutive size. The book shares this traditional legend as originally recorded in the Naskapi community in northern Quebec in 1967 when it was narrated by John Peastitute, a Naskapi Elder and accomplished storyteller. Transcribed in the Naskapi language and syllabic orthography, the book offers a literary resource for the Naskapi language community, and the English translation enables those unfamiliar with the language, or the story, to discover this important legend. The book also contains extensive analysis of stories about Chahkapas, notes about the provenance of the recordings, a biography of the storyteller, and a history of the Naskapi people. Lavish illustrations from Elizabeth Jancewicz-an artist raised in the Naskapi community-provide a sensitive and accurate graphical account of the legend, which has also been approved by Naskapi speakers themselves.

This is a story about Kachimayichasuw, beings in the Naskapi world view that may remind one of the many stories of gnomes, fairies or leprechauns found in European cultural traditions. Or, possibly the word refers to someone completely different. The story in this book is a tipachimun, or a retelling of an eyewitness account about those sneaking mischief-makers who are said to throw rocks at tents and steal supplies, and are invisible to everyone except the kakusapahtahk, the 'one who performs the shaking tent ceremony'.