We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
American Indian Myths and Legends (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)
Share Tweet
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About American Indian Myths And Legends
Product Description More than 160 tales from eighty tribal groups gives us a rich and lively panorama of the Native American mythic heritage. From across the continent comes tales of creation and love; heroes and war; animals, tricksters, and the end of the world. In addition to mining the best folkloric sources of the nineteenth century, the editors have also included a broad selection of contemporary Native American voices. With black-and-white illustrations throughout Selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library Review “We have nothing more universal than our folk myths, and in this book Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz have brought together what is probably the most comprehensive and diverse collection of American Indian Legends ever compiled. It is a worthy and welcomed addition to the literature of our native peoples” —Dee Brown “This fine, valuable new gathering of Turtle Island tales is truly alive, mysterious, and wonderful—overflowing, that is, with wonder, mystery and life.” —Peter Matthiessen "Lively and varied accounts of the creation of the world, cosmic battles, love and lust, trickster intrigues, animal interference, and things that whistle in the night fill this thematic anthology with passion, wisdom, and biting humor . . . This rich collection will serve scholars and satisfy general readers." —Library Journal From the Inside Flap Gathering 160 tales from 80 tribal groups to offer a rich and lively panarama of the Native American mythic heritage. 100 drawings. From the Back Cover Gathering 160 tales from 80 tribal groups to offer a rich and lively panarama of the Native American mythic heritage. 100 drawings. About the Author RICHARD ERDOES (1912–2008) was an artist, photographer, Native American rights activist, and author or editor of more than twenty books, including Lakota Woman and Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions. ALFONSO ORTIZ (1939–1997) was a Native American scholar, anthropologist, activist and author. His works include The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo Society and The Pueblo. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. CORN MOTHER [Penobscot] What the buffalo represented to the nomadic tribe of the Plains, corn was to the planting people of the East and the Southwest—the all-nourishing sacred food, the subject of innumerable legends and the central theme of many rituals. Derived from a wild grass called teosintl, corn was planted in Mexico’s Tehuacan Valley as early as 8,000 years ago. The oldest corn found north of the border was discovered in New Mexico’s Bat Cave. It is about 5,500 years old. The Hopi’s say: “Moing’iima makes corn. Everything grows on his body. He is short, about the height of a boy. He has a female partner. Every summer he becomes heavy, his body is full of vegetables: watermelon, corn, squash. They grow in his body. When the Hopi plant, they invariably ask him to make the crop flourish; then their things come up, whether vegetables or fruit. When he shaves his body, the seeds come out, and afterward his body is thin. He used to live on this earth and go with the Hopi. When things grow ripe, he becomes thin and is unhappy. He stays in the West.” Corn had equal significance for tribes in the East, as we see in this tale from a New England tribe. *** When Kloskurbeh, the All-maker, lived on earth, there were no people yet. But one day when the sun was high, a youth appeared and called him “Uncle, brother of my mother.” This young man was born from the foam of the waves, foam quickened by the wind and warmed by the sun. It was the motion of the wind, the moistness of water, and the sun’s warmth which gave him life—warmth above all, because warmth is life. And the young man lived with Kloskurbeh and became his chief helper. Now, after these two powerful being had created all manner of things, there came to them, as the sun was shining at hig
