Here are three just released books on Native American myths and
stories:
WHITE WOLF WOMAN AND OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN TRANSFORMATION MYTHS,
collected and retold by Teresa Pijoan. August House Publishers,
Inc., P.O. Box 3223, Little Rock, AK 72203. Notes. 167 pp.,
$8.95 paper. 0-87483-200-4
REVIEW
Pijoan, a native of Bernalillo, NM, has been collecting myths
from different cultures since she was seven years old, growing up
on the San Juan Pueblo where her father was the tribal doctor. In
this compact collection, she retells forty myths from thirty
tribes.
Transformation myths, she says in her introduction, bring out
"the common spirit shared by human beings and animals... mak[ing]
them equal partners in the natural world. The spirit world and
'this world' are close, and all Indian people respect the ceremo-
nies that link the two."
The book has four sections, grouped by animal type: Snakes,
Wolves, Bears, and Other Animals. I was surprised to find no
Coyote myths, as I view him as the supreme foil. This may be due
to his ability to make people mad - a negative transformation.
My favorite myth is that of the coming of the white man told
by the Comanche, of their encounter with strange beasts that split
in two - one that grazed, the other that ate cooked meat. The
Comanche provide the meat-eating half with provisions and follow
them as they leave. When the creatures stop for the night, the
Comanches steal the grazing beasts, leaving the other half to learn
to walk.
These tales are a delight, and just the right length for
reading to children at bedtime.
August House specializes in storytelling collections.
AMERICAN INDIANS' KITCHEN TABLE STORIES: CONTEMPORARY CONVERSATIONS
WITH CHEROKEE, SIOUX, HOPI, OSAGE, NAVAJO, ZUNI, AND MEMBERS OF
OTHER NATIONS by Keith Cunningham. August House Publishers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 3223, Little Rock, AK 72203. Notes, bibliography, index
of storytellers, index of places where stories were collected. 240
pp., $14.95 paper. 0-87483-202-0
REVIEW
Cunningham, a professor of English and Folklore at Northern
Arizona University, has interviewed Native Americans from several
tribes in a modern context. Beginning with a history of the
collection of narrative stories by Anglos, from John Wesley
Powell's Bureau of American Ethnology to a text of Navajo folk
narratives published by the Navajo Community College, he then
begins a discussion of the first of his interviews, conducted with
the help of his wife, Kathy.
In over 200 interviews conducted over a period of five years,
he exhibits Native American attitudes toward TV, VCRs, and other
forms of technology. The strain of adapting to the Anglo world and
preserving their culture shows in odd ways. They wear arrowheads
to protect them from witchcraft under T-shirts for heavy metal
bands.
Seven chapters detail the conversations: Learning to Listen,
Zuni Medicine, Tracking Contemporary Legends, Conversations With
Kuiceyetsa, Navajo Humor, Going Back and Forth Between Cultures,
and a chapter discussing The Untranslatable - the meaning of
certain inflections, silences, and actions as each story is told.
Cunningham has collected powerful evocations that link the
ancient and modern worlds of Native Americans.
ANNIKADEL: THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE AS TOLD BY THE ACHUMAWI
INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA by Istet Woiche (William Hulsey), recorded
and edited by C. Hart Merriam, M.D. University of Arizona Press,
1230 N. Park Avenue, Suite #102, Tucson, AZ 85719. Index. 166
pp., $11.95 paper. 0-8165-1283-3
REVIEW
This reprint of the 1928 edition recounts the creation story
of the Achumawi tribe of northern California's Pit River region,
between Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta. Istet Woiche was the Speaker
and Keeper of the Laws, History, and Chronology of his tribe.
Woiche was given the name William Hulsey because it is disrespect-
ful to call an Achumawi member by his native name.
Before there was the Earth, there was a vast, dark ocean,
inhabited by two supreme deities called Annikadel and his grandfa-
ther, Tikado Hedache. Annikadel dwelt in the sky and looked over
lesser divinities, who were half-human and half-animal, such as
Kwahn, the Silver Fox-man. There were also many Evil Spirits, such
as Rattlesnake (Howtah).
These spirits were transformed into mammals, birds, reptiles,
and fishes, as well as natural objects, when the Earth was created
out of the ocean foam. Thus begins the story of the First People.
Woiche introduces us to these deities, tells us of their
travels and relationships, how the Sun and Moon and the North and
South Stars were created and set in motion, and culminates with the
Great Change - the end of the First People by a flood, and the
coming of the human Real People.
The reprinting of this classic makes it accessible to another
generation of Real People.