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Order FormAnd Now You Know: 50 Native American Legends
Before the printing press dominated the world
of formal communication, families, communities, and cultures al over the
world relied solely on the oral tradition to pass along revered knowledge.
Much valued cultural content, particularly spiritual or historical beleifs
and practices, was transmitted through legends or stories shared between
generations. This responsibility rested with formally acknowledged storytellers,
as well as elders.This practice was very much the case with Aboriginal
tribes in North America.
This collection of North American Aboriginal cultural stories represents
only a small componenet of the vast store of oral literatures, and underscores
the magnitude of its scope across various Native American and Canadian
Indian tribes.
Legends contained in this volume have been drawn from a diverse store
of written sources, documented in the bibliography. Through the years
that we have been associated with the University of Calgary, we have visited
most of the traditional tribal communities represented in this book. We
have taught university courses in several First Nations communnities including
Blackfoot, Chipewyan, Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Stoney (Nakoda Sioux),
and Tsuu T'ina (Sarcee).
From time immemorial, Native Americans of all backgrounds have been oriented
to the arts, whcih comprised an important cultural component. Each particular
art form reflected the cultural makeup and phyisal resources of the region
in which a tribe lived. Plains Indians, for example, relied heavily on
rock art, consisting of paintings and carvings done on rocks. This art
form is recognizable today in the form of pictographs and petrogyphs.
A full explanation of the nature and function of this art form is offered
in Appendix C.
The essence of each traditional Indigenous story contained in this volume
has been preserved, although individual legends have in most cases been
abbreviated from their original sources, and written in language that
may readily be understood by and shared with children. It is also our
hope that through this means would be students of Indigenous ways may
learn a great deal about Aboriginal culture and philosophy and, hopefully,
enhance their respect for AmeriIndian ways.
Contents:
Origin Stories
Origin of Buffalo: A Sioux Legend
Origin of Buffalo Hunting: A Madan Legend
Origin of Cherokee Rose: A Cherokee Legend
Origin of Corn: A Pueblo Legend
Origin of Family Crests: A West Coast Legend
Origin of Fire and Light: A Klamath Legend
Origin of Fire: A Salish Legend
Origin of Human Hands: A Chumash Legend
Origin of the North Star (Star Boy): A Blackfeet Legend
Origin of Obsidian Arrowheads: A Shasta Legend
Origin of Orion's Belt: A Sioux Legend
Origin of Raven's Cry: A Kwakwaka'waka Legend
Origin of the Rocky Mountains: A Cree Legend
Origin of Stone Woman: A Dakota Legend
Origin of Turtle Island: A Wyandot Legend
Origin of Turtles: A Mi'kmaq Legend
Origin of Wild Rice: An Ojibway Legend
How Stories
How Birds Can be Teachers: A Pawnee Legend
How Loon Became a Seabird: A Mik'maq Legend
How to Call Moose: A Wahanaki Legend
How Yellow Mouse Fooled Owl: A Cree Legend
How Porcupine Got Quills: A Chippewan Legend
How Spotted Eagle Earned His Feather: A Mohawk Legend
How Whale Kept His Promise: A Haida Legend
Why Stories
Why Badger is Humble: An Interior Salish Legend
Why Beaver is Respected: A Dene Legend
Why Buzzards are Bald: An Algonquian Legend
Why Coyote Looks at His Stomach: An Okanagan Legend
Why Coyote's Eyes are Red: A Shuswap Legend
Why Dogs Bark: A Kiowa Legend
Why Eagle Went Hungry: A Sioux Legend
Why Eagles Are Respected: An Iroquois Legend
Why Fawn Has Spots: A Dakota Legend
Why Moose Hasw Loose Skin: A Swampy Cree Legend
Why Porcupine is Respected: A Tsimshian Legend
Why Possum is Shy: A Creek Legend
Why Rabbit Turns White in Winter: A Cree Legend
Why Wolverine Has Short Legs: A Cree Legend
Ten Tricky Trickster Tales
Copycat Coyote and Rattlesnake: A Sia Legend
Coyote and Magpie Go Hunting: A Thompson Legend
Coyote and Quail: A Pima Legend
Raven and the Magpies: A Tlinger Legend
Coyote and Water Serpent: A Hopi Legend
Coyote and Wild Turkey: An Algonquian Legend
Napi, Skunk, and Prairie Dogs: A Blackfoot Legend
Raven Burns a Canoe: A West Coast Legend
Raven Learns a Lesson: A Tsimshian Legend
The Trickster and Eagle: An Assiniboine Legend
Appendices
Appendix A: A Note on Terminology
Appendix B: Interpreting Legends
Appendix C: Native American Rock Art: Pictographs and Petroglyphs
Appendix D: About the Authors
Bibliography
978-1-059-384-6, 2009, 9x6, pb 152 pg., 50 bxw sketches, $16.95
