American Indian Myths and Legends (Pantheon Fairy Tales & Fantasies) (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

by Alfonso Ortiz

Paperback, 1990

Status

Available

Call number

E98.F6 A47

Publication

Pantheon Books (1990), Edition: First Edition, 544 pages

Description

Indian (Native American) myths and legends of creation, sun, moon, stars, heroes, monsters, warriors, love, lust, Coyote the trickster, animals, ghosts, and the end of the world.

User reviews

LibraryThing member iayork
166 Quickies: Sorting through many of the American Indian Myths (As if there was a homogenized group called American Indians) Richard Erdoes and Alfonzo Ortiz selected 166 short, one or two page, stories. These stories look like the pre-curser to the urban legends today.

The myths are artificially
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separated into ten subjects and lose the continuity of being divided by particular ethnic group; thus we never get a feel for the bigger picture of where the stories come from.

You need a great sense of humor as many of the stories are very kinky such as "TEETH IN THE WRONG PLACE" (PONCA-OTOE), which is exactly what it implies.

There seems to be only three Zuni tales out of the 166. I wonder if there is a reason for this.
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LibraryThing member eilonwy_anne
A wonderful resource, full of well-collected tales. The tales themselves are translated or transcribed clearly, and of course having the information about the tribe from which they were collected is useful. My only problem with it was one many others may not share: for my purposes, the organization
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by theme or type of tale wasn't helpful, and I would have loved a geographical index, since many of the tribes named are small ones I had to look up individually to place on a map.
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LibraryThing member gazzy
If you love American Indians then this is a must, o.k. if you like myths.
LibraryThing member johnemersonsfoot
It's not easy to find an accurate compilation of this type. There's a legion of white guys lined up to sell "ancient native earth wisdom", with the actual people who have tales to tell lost in the noise. From what I've been led to believe, this one's among the best out there.
LibraryThing member edundatscheck
This book details many of the traditional native american folktales with some more obsure stories. All will delight.
LibraryThing member ffox
This is a great anthology that contains numerous myths. Most are then followed by a short description of how the myth is portrayed/different in other cultures (different characters, techniques, locales, etc). The text is clearly meant to be a resource and is not necessarily a children's book
LibraryThing member iayork
Japanese Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library) : I have yet to encounter one of the Pantheon folklore series that was not a good read. This is no exception. My regret is that they have not published more and that some of their folklore books seem out of print. I enjoyed this book and I am
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happy to recommend it. I have one other book on the subject (purchased over ten years ago) and this one complements the first.
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LibraryThing member Czrbr
Book Description: Pantheon New York 1984. 528 pgs. including index, bibliography, appendix. Illustrated with b&w illustrations. Pages clean & tight.

Bought new at Smithsonian, Natural History Museum
LibraryThing member DugsBooks
Great bedtime stories
LibraryThing member DavidRainey
This is an excellant collection of the oral myths and legends of the Native American people. It is well organized with the various legends having common elements. The only way I found to truly enjoy the book was to get out of the Western Thinking mode as it applies to myths and legends. These
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stories do not necessarily have a moral behind it, and quite often no real begining or end. They often are just a partial episode that could reflect on centuries into a tribes traditions.

It is interesting to note the similarities of tales from peoples on opposite sides of the continent. It seems that life itself becomes legend, as chance encounters with new animals or tribes from distant lands give rise to the creation of a story.

All in all, a great book which should be in everyone's library.
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LibraryThing member Ashabani
I liked the story, the scabby one lights the sky. IT was about how the sun and earth came to be.
LibraryThing member -sunny-
I'll have to check this out of the library again. I got maybe 1/5 through this thing, but then had to return it to the library, seeing as I have a bunch of other books that need finishing. This book is valuable in light of the cultures it helps bring to life, and the stories themselves are good,
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but they aren't always shining examples of narrative.
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LibraryThing member Michael.Bradham
Stories about earlier times when humans and animals related differently.
LibraryThing member David.A.Rainey
This is an excellant collection of the oral myths and legends of the Native American people. It is well organized with the various legends having common elements. The only way I found to truly enjoy the book was to get out of the Western Thinking mode as it applies to myths and legends. These
Show More
stories do not necessarily have a moral behind it, and quite often no real begining or end. They often are just a partial episode that could centuries into a tribes traditions.

It is interesting to note the similarities of tales from peoples on opposite sides of the continent. It seems that life itself becomes legend, as chance encounters with new animals or tribes from distant lands give rise to the creation of a story.

All in all, a great book which should be in everyone's library.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
A very well done over view of Native American Myths across the United States (With a few stories south and north of the border).

What I found most amazing is just how similar in themes the stories are to the fairy tales of Europe - basically - don't do this or else.

I especially liked the stories
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where animals and people were equal, and could talk to each other.

I suspect that this is a good introduction into Native stories, but for a series scholar in the subject, probably not deep enough.
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LibraryThing member uufnn
Dorris Alexander "Dee" Brown, author of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," said of this work, "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
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legends ever compiled. It is a worthy and welcome addition to the literature of our native peoples."
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1984

Physical description

544 p.; 9.08 inches

ISBN

0965222012 / 9780965222013
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