Product Description
This revealing work introduces readers to the mythologies of Native Americans from the United States to the Arctic Circle-a rich, complex, and diverse body of lore, which remains less widely known than mythologies of other peoples and places.
In thematic chapters and encyclopedia-style entries, Handbook of Native American Mythology examines the characters and deities, rituals, sacred locations and objects, concepts, and stories that define mythological cultures of various indigenous peoples. By tracing the traditions as far back as possible and following their evolution from generation to generation, Handbook of Native American Mythology offers a unique perspective on Native American history, culture, and values. It also shows how central these traditions are to contemporary Native American life, including the continuing struggle for land rights, economic parity, and repatriation of cultural property.
With more than 40 photographs, illustrations, and maps, here is the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to the mythological heritage of Native North Americans available in one volume. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of myths drawn from the native cultures of North America--from the Inuit in the north to the Zuni, Hopi, and Cherokee in the south--each beautifully illustrated by Mohawk artist Fadden. "A good supply of tales written with simplicity and directness."--Booklist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

(sniff) If only I could make corn!
A story. Who knows what a story can mean? A story that I like can be heroic, strong, yet at the same time frail, encouraging and emotionally evoking, but the same story to you might just be the opposite. But whether a certain story falls in line between you and me, stories mean a great deal to us.

The same was with the Native Americans. Stories were not given space in the ear just for the story's sake, but because stories played an intricate role in the beliefs of the people. When the right person (like a chief or leader of the people) spoke of a tale and told a story, it was woven into them. The stories were so varied among them, since there was so many different tribes (popular imagination contrary to reality), that a story on how death came to be, or the creation of the world, or even how the oceans were formed, could be explained in so many different ways by them.

I liked this book. It was insightful, and the map at the beginning pages of the book (set back in the sixteen hundreds), along with the description portion that tells a few things about some of the tribal nations, are eye opening to how vast they were before the colonist arrival.

From reading this book it gave me a deeper respect for who they were and who they are, as well as it amazes me how God made one man so different form another.

I recommend this book to anyone who has interest and/or is intrigued by...no wait, I recommend it to everyone.

-Jake Smithers

great for children and adults
i am not a native american but my ansestors were so it is in my blood and i am very proud of it. i had this book when i was a child and i loved the stories and the ways of the [native] americans. this book is great for children, and i think that native american haritage is very important. ... Read more

Product Description
Magic.The world is full of magic.It's everywhere ..."When I was eight or nine - or maybe ten or eleven - I don't remember for sure now, Klopinum would share her stories with me."And thus it begins, the long-awaited successor to Anne Cameron's ground-breaking Daughters of Copper Woman. Magic in many incarnations - mischievous, terrifying, benevolent, erotic-suffuses the pages of this extraordinary collection, from the humourous tales of the trickster Raven through the feminist fable of the bearded woman to the myth of the lazy boy who was reared by whales and saved the world, climaxing with the epic story of the mythical superwoman Dzelarhons - First Mother, Frog Mother, Weeping Woman, guardian and teacher of her people.Praise for Daughters of Copper Woman:"... an enchanting, uplifting revelation."-Ottawa Citizen". . . startling mix of the exotic, the repellent, and the fantastic ... a unique book, a work thick with substance and extraordinary life."-Vancouver Sun"... the underlying vision, though tender, has the thrust and the strength of steel."-Quill & Quire ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well-written Native American tales
Despite the subtitle, this is not a typical folklorist collection of myths. Cameron modifies these stories and imbues them with her literary style and philosophy of life. She ably merges contemporary themes with the traditional tales of the Pacific coastal Indian of Canada - which is another refreshing aspect of this book, as most published Native American myths and legends focus on Plains and Southwest nations. The result of Cameron's masterful storytelling is a set of alluring, eerie and sometimes humorous stories. Particularly interesting is "The Bearded Woman," something of a feminist fable. Also fascinating is the central story "Dzelarhons," which is an epic spanning many generations and several different yet somehow related women named Dzelarhons. Among other things, this story serves as something of an allegory for history and human relations in general. ... Read more

Product Description
Brave Bear outwits four ghosts who are trying to scare him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wondeful illustrations of the ghosts in this first rate Lakota legend
I have liked Charles Reasoner's artwork for these Native American Lore & Legends series books, but "Brave Bear and the Ghosts: A Sioux Legend" is my new favorite because of the way he does the ghosts.You get a hint of it from the cover painting with Brave Bear on the left and a ghost riding a ghost horse on the right.But the ghosts are, for the most part, more purple than what you see.Reasoner's figures usually do not have mouths and for eyes just the little slits we would all associate with Snoopy in the "Peanuts" cartoons.This time, there are mouths for these figures, but mouths that suggest the space between the cranium and the jaw on a skull.The eyes are still little slits, but they have a dark circle around them.The shades of purple are also really cool.Too bad they are the villains in the story, retold by Gloria Dominic.

It is always winter in the land of ghosts and as they sit around talking about how much fun it is to scare people one of them tells of Brave Bear, a warrior and hunter who laughs in the face of death.The ghosts make a bet that the first ghost to scare Brave Bear will win the ghost horses of the others.But when they go after Brave Bear to win their bet he keeps making bets with them and winning their horses.This is fairly predictable, since Brave Bear is the hero of the tale.But what is great are all the clever ways that Brave Bear bests each of the ghosts.They are as cool as the illustrations of the ghosts, which is why this Sioux story has become one of my favorites.Plus, there is a punch line at the end that will appeal to young readers as well.

The back of the book talks about the Sioux, which is problematic because ever since "Dances With Wolves" most of us have learned that these people called themselves the Lakota (or Dakota or Nakota), and that the word "Sioux" is the Ojibwa word for "snake."That is covered in the back of this book, but then the book continues to use the derogatory term, but without justifying why (if kids can learn to call a brontosaurus an apatosaurus, they can learn to call the Sioux the Lakota).Is the point here that racism is okay if one Native American tribe hangs a derogatory name on another as opposed to having it done by the settlers? This book is going to be the first opportunity for many young readers to find out about this particular society, so this really should have been a Lakota (or Dakota or Nakota) legend.

The back of the book covers the homeland, food and clothing, and where the people called in this book the Sioux live today. Young readers will also find a Glossary of terms from "akicita" to "travios," and a list of important dates that begins with the 1700s when these people became expert horsemen and 1979 when the U.S. Supreme Court awarded them $105 million for the taking of their lands, which settled a legal action begun in 1923.This section is illustrated with historic photographs of these people and contemporary shots of artifacts. If the explanation for the name of the Sioux was not included here I would round down, but hopefully teachers and parents can rectify the decision made here. ... Read more

Product Description
The clever, beautiful maiden Sunflower promises to marry the man who can rid her fields of the wild animals that are eating the beans and corn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sunflower's Promise
This a very corrupted version of one of our folktales.The second half of the book covers a little bit of our history, the people, food, Zuni today.Some of the information is not accurate.For example on page 35, second paragraph, it states that the Zuni people still live on top of a mesa we fled to in the 1680s during an attack by the Spanish.I can assure you that we do not live on top of a mesa.Also, how can we live near the Rio Grande River close to the border of Arizona?Our reservation is 12 miles from the Arizona border and the Rio Grande River is about 150 miles to the east.There are several misspellings on page 36, first paragraph, the word we use for ourselves is "A:shiwi", not "Siwi."And we do not have a third gender different from men and women. There are also a couple of pictures that are not of Zuni.The caption for a picture on page 39 reads, "A Zuni woman baking bread traditionally in a horno in the San Ildefonso Pueblo in 1935."This picture is definitely not of Zuni.A lot of the information is written in past tense whereas we're continuing our way of life and the practice of our religion and culture.I would not recommend this book as a reliable source for information on Zuni, and most definitely not if a teacher were considering it for a source of information for the classroom. ... Read more

Product Description
Five Classic Native American books by Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa):Indian Boyhood, Indian Heroes And Great Chieftains, The Indian Today, The Past and Future of the First American, Old Indian Days, and The Soul Of The Indian:An Interpretation. According to Wikipedia, "Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 - January 8, 1939) was a Native American writer, physician, and reformer. He was of Santee Sioux and Anglo-American ancestry. Active in politics and issues on American Indian rights, he also helped found the Boy Scouts of America....He was named Hakadah at his birth on a reservation near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. In Dakota, Hakadah means the "pitiful last", as his mother Mary died at his birth. He was later named Ohíye S’a (Dakota for "wins often") after winning a rough game of lacrosse....In 1933, Eastman was the first to receive the Indian Achievement Award." ... Read more

Product Description
Hitakonanulaxk has done extensive research to recover the tales collected in this volume. The stories tell, among other things, of how Nanapush, the Grandfather of beings and men, created the Earth on the back of the Great Turtle, and how the Lenape people came to live along the Eastern seaboard of what is now the United States of America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Important Window into the Past
The Grandfathers Speak: Native American Folk Tales of the Lenape People is a marvelous small book: it preserves important historical and pre-colonization information about the people who lived in the core of the United States east coast Megalopolis (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware). The people the Europeans called Indians appear to have lived a relative peaceful life in harmony with nature for thousands of years.The outline of their history is dramatically altered for the worse as Europeans flooded the land. Unlike peoples of Europe and Asia the pressures of population growth were apparently not as great; therefore the stimulus for competitive technological development was apparently less.Advances in weapons, agriculture and medicine occurred at a much slower rate, nevertheless the Neolithic culture outlined in this book was much more advanced and civilized in many ways then it is portrayed in popular media (especially in mid-twentieth century).

I was surprised to learn details of the history of the Lenape people I had never learned of before: my eyes were opened to many more negative effects brought about by the arrival of the colonists.The Grandfathers Speak: Native American Folk Tales of the Lenape People has become an epiphany for me and has lead me to acquire and read several more books about theLenape people such as:

William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania: A Documentary History, 1683 by Albert Cook Myers

The Indians of New Jersey: Dickon Among the Lenapes by M. R. Harrington and Clarence Ellsworth (Illustrator)

I highly recommend this book to be included in a list of supplemental reading for students of American History.

excellent resource
This is an excellent resource for persons who are interested in the Lenape (Delaware) Indian people.The stories are clear and have the use of the Lenape language.

Wonderful Book!
My husband is one quarter Lenape and three quarters German. He grew up hearing a few stories from his Grandmother but she didn't know a lot of her own people's history. He's always been interested in knowing more about his heritage. We moved to New Jersey, near the Raritan River and imagine our suprise when we realized that he'd moved very near to one of the places his people once lived in. I got him this book for Christmas and we LOVED it. We read about Rainbow Crow and Nanapush. He read to me every night in bed, the stories of his people. We found much to be sad over but much more to be joyful for. Whenever we see a Crow now, we smile and we look at eacother. This is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the history and stories of the Lenape People. ... Read more

Product Description
Traditional stories and myths from the Native Americans. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Gift format is a great value. -Filled with breathtaking color photography. -Native American stories taken from tribes throughout the U.S. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Superb!
This book was beautiful.I am a native american whose decendents were of the Anasazi of Southwestern America.I was enthralled to read this charming book of tales.Please read it just to smile if not to comprehend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Intresting and Factual
I enjoyed reading this book and it opened my eyes however dull moments appeared occasionally. i would reccomend this book to others intrested in creation and alternate explanations for the world around us. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
200+ color illus. 10 1/4 x 11. ... Read more

Product Description
The animals and birds of the forest hold a contest to choose which will sing a song to greet the day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Iroquois legend to explain the sweet song of the Hermit Thrush
A long, long time ago the birds and animals made an agreement to live peacefully together by dividing the forest.The birds would live in the trees and the rest of the creatures would live on the ground.This worked well until the morning came, an which point all of the animals that were grateful for the sunrise and wanted to praise the day started screeching, squawking, growling, and bellowing.At the next meeting it was decided that while a song to give thanks for the day was a good idea the sound of their collective voices was not.So they decided to have a contest to see which animal had the song best suited for this great honor.

The title of this Iroquois legend, retold by Gloria Dominic with illustrations by Charles Reasoner, gives away to young readers which animal is going to come up with the sweetest sounding song.But how the Hermit Thrush comes up with the song and when he sings it will come as a surprise.One of the interesting things about ancient myths and legends is how they explain aspects of nature, such as the sweet song of the Hermit Thrush.As the quotation at the beginning of the book points out: "It may be thought that the memory of things may be lost with us.We nevertheless have methods of transmitting from father to son an account of all these things."Young students have a tendency to ask "why" a lot and this book will answer that question, even though they have never asked this specific variation on that constant theme.

As is the case with all of the books in this series the back of the volume looks at the history of the Iroquois.A map lays out the Iroquois homeland across what is now New York State as this section describes the culture and daily life of these Native Americans.There are photographs and drawings that show the food and clothing of the Iroquois, as well as a look at where the Iroquois live today.This is followed by a Glossary of terms from "buckskin" to "wampum," and a list of Important Dates from Columbus landing in the Americans in 1492 up to 1988-89 when the sacred wampum belts of the Six Nations were returned to them from a couple of museums.There is also a photography of a Hermit Thrush in the back so that you can judge how well of a job Reasoner did.One of his fortes as an artist is the authentic detail he provides for the people in these stories, but except for the grandmother who tells this story to her grandchildren as the framing device for "Song of the Hermit Thrush."But in this one the best watercolor paintings are ones where does the elk or any animal with lots of brown, because the variant shadings are quite compelling.

I have some concerns regarding the historical details provided in the back of these books, but they are only intended as an introduction to these cultures.A bibliography is provided specific to the Iroquois, so there are plenty of opportunities for young students and their teachers (or parents) to find out more.For more examples of Native American Lore & Legend you can check out these other books by Dominic and Reasoner: "First Woman and the Strawberry: A Cherokee Legend," "Coyote and the Grasshoppers: A Pomo Legend," "Brave Bear and the Ghosts: A Sioux Legend," "Sunflower's Promise: A Zuni Legend," and "Red Hawk and the Sky Sisters: A Shawnee Legend." ... Read more

Product Description
Tells the story of an argument between First Man and First Woman and how the first strawberry was created. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful Legend, Beautiful Illustrations + Tribal Info Too
The first part of the book is a heart-warming legend with vibrant illustrations; the second half could stand alone as a short history of the Cherokee tribe, important people & events, etc complete with photos, amap, etc.We bought it for the legend & the tribal info was afantastic surprise; it even includes a Cherokee syllabary chart.What agreat way to present literature, art, history, & anthropology! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Text Book, not Good Story Book
If you are looking for text book that outlines native american mythology and categorizes it by region, this is the book for you.A word of caution though, it is extremely wordy and overly scholarly.It almost seems like the author had a thesaurus next him.Honestly, it took 30 pages before it I had to put it down or fall asleep.I never would have guessed that stories passed down through oral tradition could be worded so dull!The stories are outlines, with little to no background, and the author does nothing to put them into perspective.But again, if you are looking for a text book that outlines the mythologies and categorizes them by region or ethnicity, this is the book for you.
Unfortunately I bought this one thinking I was going to get the stories and how they related to the times and the people.I was obviously disappointed in that regard.If you are looking for a book that focuses on the stories and people, American Indian Myths and Legends by Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library is a little more up the alley. ... Read more