Native American Folklore

Einhorn, a rhetorical scholar, explores the rich history of the Native American oral tradition, focusing on stories, orations, prayers, and songs. Because American Indians existed without written language for many generations, their culture was strongly dependent on an oral tradition for continuity and preservation. Not surprisingly, they spent many hours perfecting the art of oral communication and learning methods for committing their messages to memory. Einhorn thoroughly examines the important aspects of this unique oral tradition from a rhetorical perspective, covering individual speakers, nations, and time periods.

The present book, Indian Story and Song from North America (1900), was inspired by enthusiasm for Native American music generated at the Congress of Musicians held in connection with the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha, July 1898.

Set primarily in the legendary past when animals had the power of speech and established human custom through their adventures (and misadventures), these informative and entertaining myths add immeasurably to the unique record of Western Shoshone oral tradition.

Opler conducted field work among the Chiricahuas in the American Southwest, as he had earlier among the Jicarillas. The result is a definitive collection of their myths. They range from an account of the world destroyed by water to descriptions of puberty rites and wonderful contests. The exploits of culture heroes involve the slaying of monsters and the assistance of Coyote. A large part of the book is devoted to the irrepressible Coyote, whose antics make cautionary tales for the young, tales that also allow harmless expression of the taboo. Other striking stories present supernatural beings and 'foolish people.'

This original & informative collection features animal figures from thirty Hopi tales. Field Mouse, Coyote the Trickster, Cicada & his flute, Medicine Man Badger, the Chipmunk Girls & Antelope Kids, & other manifestations of serpents, insects, & birds appear in these ancient folk tales, traditionally told in mid-winter, when the nights are long & cold & all the crops are in. Highly entertaining, the narratives reveal attitudes toward important aspects of Hopi culture, such as courtship, relations between the sexes, friendship, courage, industry, healing, & the treatment of children. The editor has compiled & meticulously edited Hopi & English versions of the tales in this bilingual edition. An introduction by a distinguished folklore scholar examines the cultural relevance of Hopi oral narratives & draws upon recent scholarly perspectives on folktales to place the tales within a wider, comparative context.

Included are Nebraska folk customs as well as studies of the origins of American cowboy and folk songs and of the use of dialect in folklore. Its wit and honesty will appeal to readers everywhere.

These collected myths and tales of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest - the Klamath, Nez Perce, Tillamook, Modoc, Shastan, Chinook, Flathead, Clatsop, and other tribes - were first published in 1910. Here are their stories concerning the creation of the universe, the theft of fire and daylight, the death and rebirth of salmon, and, especially, the formation of such geographical features as The Dalles, the Columbia River, the Yukon River, and Mounts Shasta, Hood, Rainier, Baker, and Adams.