Tsimshian: North Pacific coast

Thompson: southern British Columbia

Maidu: Northeast California

Pima, Pueblo, Zuni: Southwest United States

Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Dakota, Pawnee, Sioux: Great Plains

Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnee: Southeast United States

Other tribes in the Americas represented by legends inhabited the vast woodland area, principally east of the Mississippi. Besides the Mi’qmak [Micmac], who lived in Nova Scotia and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, these include two large groups:

In the Iroquoian territory, chiefly from southwest Quebec and southeast Ontario to upper New York State and the eastern

Great Lakes: Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca.

In the central section, comprising south-central Canada and the northcentral area of the Ohio-Mississippi valley: Algonquin, Chippewa, Maskego, Menomini, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Tfmagami-Ojibwa.

Most of the above locations are to be understood in a general way, as habitats shifted in the course of time.

The Rip Van Winkle theme was popular in various Indian legends long before it was introduced by Washington Irving in 1819. Compared to some of the Indian “sleeps;’ Rip’s was only a cat-nap.

Transformers, tricksters, and culture heroes are frequently the protagonists of Indian legends. These strange beings, endowed with even stranger powers, were charlatans, cheats, mischief-makers, mountebanks, and wonder-workers, motivated by greed, lust, and vainglory, to whom altruism was unknown. Most of their services to the Indians were performed unintentionally, merely to gratify their whims or feed their intense egos. Their adventures and misadventures provide tribal folklore with a comic element.

All of the tricksters possessed, to a certain degree, wit that was not wisdom and an exaggerated and distorted sense of humor. Few possessed real wit and insight. Their characters varied so, noble and ignoble traits mingling, that in some trickster tales, culture heroes and tricksters merge. Some had a dual nature, human and animal, the animal predominating and always ready to come to the surface, to the misfortune of anyone or anything they encountered. Manabozho, transformer and trickster of the Central Woodland groups, and Raven, of the Northwest Coast, were outstanding examples.

In considering these Indian makers of magic and mischief, let us remember that Europe, too, had its share of legendary male and female tricksters, of whom Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur’s fairy half-sister, and the wizard Merlin are good examples. Women transformers often appear in Indian legends, and their treachery and tricks equal or surpass those of their English prototype. Wolf Woman, of the Pawnee, and Deer Woman, of the Teton, in the guise of beautiful maidens, seduced many young warriors, who died soon after.

Since the trickster and transformer Manabozho was known to the Iroquois, Ojibwa, Menomini, Ottawa, and Fox, among other tribes, by different names, the one given him throughout the legends in this book has been standardized. As a transformer, he was among the busiest. A glance at his “family tree,’ as told in Indian legends, is interesting: His grandmother was a daughter of the moon; her daughter was ravaged by the West Wind, and while dying gave birth to a flint (which the Menomini blame for her death), a wolf cub, and Manabozho, who was to become a scourge to both man and beast.

Raven too was known by a number of names, some of them unprintable.

The Tsirnshian, of the North Pacific Coast, called him Txam’sem (pronounced Tchemsem) * and also Giant. Raven and the term “Mocker;’ often used to describe him, are synonymous.

Old Man, in many Blackfoot legends and others, was a powerful transformer and trickster who usually practiced his magic at the expense of humans and animals alike. He set a record as a transformer by becoming an animal (a wolf) only once, though like all other transformers he was adept at disguises.

The twin gods of the Zuni, Withio of the Cheyenne, animal tricksters such as Coyote of the Southwest, Rabbit, and other, lesser tricksters, were, like their confreres, a combination of boastfulness, stupidity, and wisdom of a sort.

In their better moments, transformers often taught the tribes arts and crafts and hunting skills, which brings us to the noblest transformer of them all, Glooscap, hero-god of the Northeast Woodland groups, such as Micmac, Abenaki, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy. Some Glooscap tales smack of old Norse legends. Glooscap, genial giant, magician, transformer, lover of peace, and consistent doer-of-good, was credited with knowing and teaching every art needful to the North American Indians. He had a superb sense of humor but never used it to injure anyone or anything.

It is well to turn from transformers and tricksters, who lived only in the vivid imaginations of the Indian storytellers and their avid listeners, to real legendary figures.

Hiawatha? a great and modest chief of the Onondaga? was forced by them to go on an almost impossible mission to the Mohawk? who later adopted him. Called Hi-ant-wat-ha by the Iroquois? he was also known as “He Who Clears Rivers,’ among other titles? though that of Teacher best fits the man and his works. His achievements? recorded in history? were factual? epic? and legendary.

Hiawatha was a great statesman and? though he has become a legendary figure? should not be confused with tricksters such as Manabozho. Hiawatha achieved psychologically what legend credits him with doing by magic powers. Modern Iroquoian storytellers explain that his great “white stone canoe” was really made of white birch? and the reason for the “magic” emptying of the wampum-lined lake? told in “Hiawatha and the Iroquois Wampum,’ was the breaking of a beaver dam. When the beavers repaired the dam? the lake filled again. Given proper understanding? legend and logic can? at times? be synonymous.

After five years of effort? Hiawatha accomplished his mission when? around 1452? * he and Deganawida? a Huron later adopted by the Mohawk? founded the mighty Confederacy of the Iroquois? which began as the Five Nations. These became the Six Nations in 1722 with the admission of the Tuscarora? driven from the South by the whites. It took over a hundred years to build and weld the invincible Confederacy? one of the greatest po litical organizations ever achieved. The democratic laws on which the Great Peace was founded merit careful study, since the unprecedented handiwork of its two founders proved so outstanding that it was greatly admired by Benjamin Franklin and other erudite American colonists who were so much impressed and influenced by it that they used it as a basis for the Constitution of the United States of America.

The object of the League was to assure peace, prosperity, power, and equality for all its members. The Iroquois Confederacy was so powerful and its social order and system of government so far advanced in theory and practice from any that Europeans had known, that it became a magnet to the officially appointed ambassadors from the courts of the most enlightened European nations.

After an uninterrupted reign of over three centuries, the League of the Six Nations ceremoniously extinguished its council fire on January 19, 1777. It has recently, however, been rekindled, and will be kept burning as in the days of legend.

Another historical figure is the Pima chief, Morning Green, of Cas a Grande, in “How Turquoises Were Obtained,’ and “Women Enticed by Magic Song:’ Renowned in fact and fiction, he was regarded by the Pima as an historic personage and worker of miracles.

Most American Indian tribes had firm beliefs and strong taboos regarding certain legends. Some could be told only at certain seasons and special times, as when the moon was round, or when the forest was covered with the dark blanket of night, for fear that the telling would anger powerful spirits or call up ghosts. However, the readers who hold American Indian Legends in their hands are immune from even the most powerful spells and taboos. As they open this book, the Teller of Tales stands before them and begins, “When I was a boy, the old men told me…

The Greek influence predominates in many Indian legends, the Orpheus and Eurydice theme frequently occurring, as in “The White Stone Canoe;’ and the Achilles’ heel motif, as in “Kwasind” In “The Red Swan;’ the fate of the would-be lovers is reminiscent of that of Penelope’s suitors.

“The Magical Food, Belt, and Flute” appears to be partly of European origin, a combination of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Making the Princess Laugh” being easily seen in the ‘fabric of this tale. “Oochigeopch” is obviously a version of “Beauty and the Beast” “The Poor Turkey Girl” has been likened to a realistic version of “Cinderella:’ Wishes unintentionally or foolishly wasted are a recurrent theme in Indian legends as in European and Oriental tales.

Some tales of the Indians of the Southwest are of Spanish origin; and some legends of Negro origin were told in the Apache and other tribes, who believed they were entirely Indian.

“The Prince and the Peasant Girl;’ a Micmac legend, is based on a European tale. As to royalty among the American Indians, there were no “princesses” among the tribes of the Plains, Woodland, or Southwest, nor was the term ever used by them. Only the tribes of the North Pacific Coast had genuine princesses, also known as “noble girls;’ and their families, “noble families:’ When used in reference to women of other habitats the term “princess” is a misnomer, coined by newspaper men and press agents as a publicity stunt and for box-office appeal. In “The Princess and the Mouse” and “The Princess Who Rejected Her Cousin;’ however, since these are Tsimshian legends, the term is correct.

On the North Pacific Coast especially, many of the legends have a hint of Siberian folklore interwoven with other motifs. This is not surprising, considering the trek of the American Indian tribes across what is now Bering Strait to North America.

Fortunately, American myth and legend have become part of the living literature of the world and are being studied and compared by modern scientists with those of Europe and the Orient.

The many variants occurring in myths and legends have been well illustrated by an old Blackfoot who pulled up a ragweed, pointed to its stem and said, “All parts of this weed branch from the same stem. The branches go in different ways, but all have the same root. So it is with the different versions of myths and legends;’ Though there may be several variations of a legend, many will prove to be in substantial agreement. A number of Indian tribes, such as the San Carlos Apache, have many versions of the same legend. Or a legend may be composed of incidents common to several other stories. The Pueblo People regard some of their tales as being Mexican in origin.

“Brother Birch;’ a Blackfoot legend, is known in at least one other version in which the tree is scarred, not beautified, by Manabozho, because it interrupted his “playing with the wind;’

As told by the Tsimshian, “The Hunter and His Wooden Wife” has a happy ending; versions told by the Tlingit of Alaska, the Iroquois, and other tribes have sad endings. And “The Dog and the Stick,’ a Blackfoot legend, is a variant of “The Release of the Buffalo,’ a Comanche tale.

Some tales, many of them told by tribal Merry Makers, were of a simple naivete, conceived and told with only one purpose in mind, to entertain. In such tales, told in the spirit of fun, nothing is gained by trying to analyze them in search of subtle meanings-they do not exist.

Far-flung Indian legends, similar despite their wide distribution, might lead one to suppose they were carried thousands of miles by tribal nomads. Emissaries of some Indian “prophets” spread their creation myths throughout North America. Tribal alliances also added to the spread of myths. Few legends worth relating were confined to a single tribe. Tales of the Haida, of the Queen Charlotte Islands, were equally popular among the Tlingit of Alaska, and many Raven legends were known by the various groups of Eskimo. It is difficult to guess how the unusual themes of some legends were spread over vast distances. For instance, in “Kwanokasha;’ a Choctaw legend included here, one reads that this little man-spirit headed the trio who gave little children, lost in the forest, an 1. Q. test which had a marked similarity to the one given by high Tibetan lamas when testing and choosing a child as their new Dalai Lama!

Motifs often used in American Indian mythology and legend were many and varied. Some of those most commonly used follow:

Repetition, to create suspense or make clear what was happening.

A boy or girl, living with an old grandparent or uncle. These relatives either cherished and helped the children or were jealous and plotted against them.

Visits to stars, sky, supematurallands (underground or elsewhere), and the upper and lower world. In primitive mythology the transformation of humans into stars or star groups was a common motif, as was escape to or from stars. Sky windows and sky ropes often figure in such themes.

Transformation of humans into stars, mountains, rocks, trees, or other natural features, and into animals and everyday objects, by tricksters and enemies possessing magic power. Besides transformers, those with special powers became almost anything, including a tuft of down or a feather, as an escape device or to travel on the wind. At the end of the flight, they became human again.

Disguises of many kinds, such as trees, animals, or people, used by medicine men, transformers, tricksters, and the protagonists in the legends, who also used the skins of animals and humans in order to effect the change. They used their magic powers to assume the walk and voice of the person or animal, and the deception was nearly always successful.

Invisibility, and the use of shrouding mist and magic cloaks and caps.

Etiquette, which was very strict and demanding, and protocol meticulously observed.

Inexhaustible food supply, springing from hunger and starvation which many Indian tribes often experienced.

Contests and challenge games, with varying prizes-often the chief’s beautiful daughter-sometimes won by culture heroes and supernatural beings disguised, who easily defeated all human contestants by skill, abnormal strength, cunning, or magic. This involved shooting with bow and arrow, climbing, swimming, diving, harpooning, trapping, tree-pulling, wrestling, racing, and feats of magic.

Dreams sending someone on a dangerous quest from which he was unlikely to return, and unpopular or unwanted youths, sent to slay dangerous animals, persons, or monsters, in the hope that they would not survive the mission.

Numskull motifs (such as in “The Old Man’s Lessons to His Nephew” in this book), telling how someone does everything wrong, to his and everyone else’s confusion. These were popular with Indian audiences, who had a good sense of humor and saw themselves as the bumbling protagonist. One can detect a European slant in some of these tales, though usually the influence is not marked.

Strenuous personal programs in endurance and fortitude, since the Indian way of life was always hard. Legends often said, “He trained himself in the mountains, for he wished to become great:

Taboos, such as going northward or in some other direction. To disregard this meant grave difficulties or even death.

Resurrection, rejuvenation, and becoming beautiful. Enchanted objects pointing the way or giving advice. Pointing at people or animals to cause their death.

Reading people’s minds or knowing their thoughts, a feat which went .. ~. “luestioned.

Power of thought, of which the Indians were well aware. Some legendary figures had their wishes granted because they “kept their minds” on what they wished to achieve or obtain. In some legends, people were saved by “the power of thought” and the same power made impossible things possible.

Snapping door-traps, on the North Pacific Coast, where doors were many and massive.

Tall tales of superhuman men and superhuman feats (as in our “Kwasind”). They remind one of Paul Bunyan, legendary hero of American tall tales; of Baron Munchausen, German adventurer extraordinary; of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver, and of Shakespeare’s Falstaff … as well as of the modern Superman and Batman!

Human relationship, including love, marriage, and responsibility. Such legends could be called fairy tales for adults. (Some children’s fairy tales -of the Haida, for instance-would make a white man’s hair stand on end.)

Magic weapons; invisible, and specific weapons-as in “Kwasind.”

Prior to the arrival of the white man, the Indians, “spartans of the plains and forests;’ lived happy, healthy, and adventurous lives. They were brave, stoic, simple and complex, warlike and peaceful, loyal, and self-sacrificing for family and friends. The code of the Great Confederation of the Iroquois, followed by the hundreds of their chiefs, was to be brave, truthful, patient, unselfish, chivalrous, generous to a fault, helpful to their people in every way without accepting anything in return, and to work united for peace and in all things, calling upon the Creator to help them in their undertakings.

American Indian storytellers and their tales date from the time that the Indian was able to communicate intelligibly and intelligently. Many of the “modern” retellings of these legends, myths, and folk tales date from 1600 to 1760, when they were collected by the Jesuits. Since the early seventeenth century, legends have also been gathered by English, French, Dutch, and Spanish explorers and travelers, and set down as told by native storytellers. The tales have not materially changed, in reliable retellings, up to the twentieth century. This is remarkable, since setting down legends accurately was often difficult, chiefly because reliable interpreters were scarce. The early chroniclers had to be wary of would-be interpreters who ignored objectivity and sometimes embellished the tales passed down by the ancient storytellers or tried to build into them some of their own personality or beliefs.

In translations made by white men who had insufficient knowledge of the Indian language, some legends lost authenticity, meaning, and Indian flavor. Fortunately, the majority of such misleading tales have been discredited through study and comparison with legends set down in the Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology and other anthropological and scientific sources.

An amusing instance of taking liberties with translation occurred when the editor of this volume set down the legend of “The First Blackfish” for his book, Talking Stick Tales. The old Tlingit chief relating the tale said that the hunter rode on a sea lion’s back. Having previously heard the legend from a well-known Haida storyteller, the author suggested that it was not a sea lion but a gull. The Tlingit reluctantly replied: “What you heard about sea gull may be right; but because you write story for white people, maybe they believe it more if you say hunter went on back of sea lion-he much stronger than sea gull:’

American folklorists are greatly indebted to Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, a pioneer in the field, who collected many tales and legends during his thirty years’ stay with the Indians. His first book of Indian legends was published in 1839. Several of his best stories appear in this book. But it was probably Longfellow’s lengthy narrative poem (of rather un-Indian tempo), The Song of Hiawatha (1855), that first aroused public interest in the Indians of North America.

The authentic records of unlettered peoples are usually short-lived, reaching back only in the memories of their oldest men. Among the Indian tribes, traditions and folklore were handed down orally and entrusted to those who showed a special aptitude in remembering them. Regarded as tribal historians, these men in turn instructed the boys.

The Indians evinced little or no interest in recording unvarnished historical facts, hence they were often embellished by fantasy or embroidered with the supernatural, so that it was almost impossible to separate fancy from reality. The differences and distortions apparent in legend variants were often due to reinterpretations.

Many long, detailed, verbal accounts of legendary lore have been almost entirely lost because only certain chiefs, medicine men, and storytellers were privileged to recite and explain some classes of traditions, especially sacred ones. Tribal rites, customs, songs, and dances were often based on such legends and myths. Some folklore was preserved in the form of songs adapted for use on suitable occasions. The primary myths, regarded as having sacred association and significance, were highly respected and were usually told in hushed voices, after dark, by specially appointed story-tellers, many of whom embellished their tales with prayer, song, dance, and wonderful mimicry. Some legends are of the classical type and display real literary art in their composition.