Abstract. Abstract. The article is devoted to the book by Alexander Vaschenko The Pole Propping Up the World: Tradition and Today of Haida Gwaii. The possessions of the Gitksan, in which he sheds the light upon today’s life of Canadian Indians describing his journey to the land of the Haida people and the Gitksan tribes’ mainland settlements in July of 2009. In his travel notes he highlights the aboriginal cultures of the Pacific coast of North America in “today’s being”, reveals the tendencies of traditions’ conversions and at the same time traces out the remaining “basic” cultural elements.

Key words: Alexander Vaschenko, aboriginal cultures of North America, tradition, today’s being


Mesyanzhinova Alexandra Vadimovna,
Ph.D. in Culturology,
Senior Researcher at the Centre for Francophone Studies,
Russian Institute for Cultural Research (Moscow),
e-mail: alme8030@gmail.com