AMERICAN INDIAN WHY STORIES - 22 Native American stories and legends from America's Northwest E-Book

Anon E. Mouse

• Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

These 22 “Why” stories from the Blackfeet, Chippewa, and Cree tribes were handed down from father to son, with little variation, through countless generations. These 22 stories were used to teach the young ones about the environment in which they lived but also the lessons of life. But the time of the tribal story-teller has passed, and only here and there is to be found a patriarch who loves the legends from the old days. This book is an attempt to ensure that these memories are forever on record and never lost to future generations.

Herein you will find the stories of:
Why The Chipmunk's Back Is Striped
How The Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers
Why The Kingfisher Always Wears A War-Bonnet
Why The Curlew's Bill Is Long And Crooked
Old-Man Remakes The World
Why Blackfeet Never Kill Mice
How The Otter Skin Became Great "Medicine"
Old-Man Steals The Sun's Leggings
Old-Man And His Conscience
Old-Man's Treachery
Why The Night-Hawk's Wings Are Beautiful
Why The Mountain-Lion Is Long And Lean
The Fire-Leggings
The Moon And The Great Snake
Why The Deer Has No Gall
Why The Indians Whip The Buffalo-Berries From The Bushes
Old-Man And The Fox
Why The Birch-Tree Wears The Slashes In Its Bark
Mistakes Of Old-Man
How The Man Found His Mate
Dreams
Retrospection

This volume was written and recorded in a time when the great Northwest was rapidly becoming a settled country. With the passing of the traditional ways of the Indian, much of the America’s aboriginal folk-lore, rich in its fairy-like characters, and its relation to the lives of its native people, has been lost.

There is a wide difference between folk-lore of the so-called Old World and that of America. The folk-stories of our European ancestors, transmitted orally through countless generations, show many evidences of distortion and of change in material particulars; but the American Indian seems to have been too fond of nature and too proud of tradition to have forgotten or changed the teachings of his forefathers. Like Polynesian folklore, they have changed little and have a childlike in simplicity, beginning with creation itself, and reaching to the whys and wherefores of nature's moods and eccentricities, these tales impress as being well worth saving.

10% of the net sale will be donated to Charities.
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TAGS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, children’s stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, fables, cultural, setting, American Indian, native American, why stories, Blackfeet, Chippewa, Cree, tribes, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Great Falls, Helena, Lewis and Clark, Flathead, Custer, Beaverhead, Deerlodge, Fort Peck, Wolf point, I15, I90, i94, why the chipmunk's back is striped, ducks, fine feathers, kingfisher, wears, war-bonnet, curlew's bill, long, crooked, old-man, remake, world, blackfeet,  never kill, mice, otter skin, great medicine, old-man, steal, sun's leggings, conscience, treachery, night-hawk's wings. Beautiful, mountain-lion, long, lean, fire-leggings, moon, great snake, deer, no gall, whip, buffalo-berries, old-man, fox, birch-tree, slashes, bark, mistakes, how the man found his mate, dreams, retrospection

Leseprobe

American Indian Why Stories

Sparks From War Eagle's Lodge-Fire

By

Frank B. Linderman

[CO SKEE SEE CO COT]

Originally Published

[1915]

* * * * * * *

Resurrected by

ABELA PUBLISHING, LONDON

[2018]

American Indian Why Stories

Typographical arrangement of this edition

© Abela Publishing 2018

This book may not be reproduced in its current format in any manner in any media, or transmitted by any means whatsoever, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, or mechanical ( including photocopy, file or video recording, internet web sites, blogs, wikis, or any other information storage and retrieval system) except as permitted by law without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Abela Publishing,

London

United Kingdom

2018

ISBN-13: 978-X-XXXXXX-XX-X

email

[email protected]

Website

Abela Publishing

Dedication

I dedicate this little book to my friend Charles M. Russell - the cowboy artist,

George Bird Grinnell - the Indian's friend, and

to all others who have known and loved old Montana, for I hold them all as kin who have builded fires where nature wears no make-up on her skin.

Acknowledgements

Abela Publishing acknowledges the work that

Frank b. Linderman

did in compiling this unique collection of

Old Indian Legends

in a time well before any electronic media was in use.

* * * * * * *

33% of the net profit from the sale of this book

will be donated to charities.

Preface

THE great Northwest -- that wonderful frontier that called to itself a world's hardiest spirits -- is rapidly becoming a settled country; and before the light of civilizing influences, the blanket-Indian has trailed the buffalo over the divide that time has set between the pioneer and the crowd. With his passing we have lost much of the aboriginal folk-lore, rich in its fairy-like characters, and its relation to the lives of a most warlike people.

There is a wide difference between folk-lore of the so-called Old World and that of America. Transmitted orally through countless generations, the folk-stories of our ancestors show many evidences of distortion and of change in material particulars; but the Indian seems to have been too fond of nature and too proud of tradition to have forgotten or changed the teachings of his forefathers. Childlike in simplicity, beginning with creation itself, and reaching to the whys and wherefores of nature's moods and eccentricities, these tales impress me as being well worth saving.

The Indian has always been a lover of nature and a close observer of her many moods. The habits of the birds and animals, the voices of the winds and waters, the flickering of the shadows, and the mystic radiance of the moonlight -- all appealed to him. Gradually, he formulated within himself fanciful reasons for the myriad manifestations of the Mighty Mother and her many children; and a poet by instinct, he framed odd stories with which to convey his explanations to others. And these stories were handed down from father to son, with little variation, through countless generations, until the white man slaughtered the buffalo, took to himself the open country, and left the red man little better than a beggar. But the tribal story-teller has passed, and only here and there is to be found a patriarch who loves the legends of other days.

Old-man, or Napa, as he is called by the tribes of Blackfeet, is the strangest character in Indian folk-lore. Sometimes he appears as a god or creator, and again as a fool, a thief, or a clown. But to the Indian, Napa is not the Deity; he occupies a somewhat subordinate position, possessing many attributes which have sometimes caused him to be confounded with Manitou, himself. In all of this there is a curious echo of the teachings of the ancient Aryans, whose belief it was that this earth was not the direct handiwork of the Almighty, but of a mere member of a hierarchy of subordinate gods. The Indian possesses the highest veneration for the Great God, who has become familiar to the readers of Indian literature as Manitou. No idle tales are told of Him, nor would any Indian mention Him irreverently. But with Napa it is entirely different; he appears entitled to no reverence; he is a strange mixture of the fallible human and the powerful under-god. He made many mistakes; was seldom to be trusted; and his works and pranks run from the sublime to the ridiculous. In fact, there are many stories in which Napa figures that will not bear telling at all.

I propose to tell what I know of these legends, keeping as near as possible to the Indian's style of story-telling, and using only tales told me by the older men of the Blackfeet, Chippewa, and Cree tribes.

Contents

Introduction

Why The Chipmunk's Back Is Striped

How The Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers

Why The Kingfisher Always Wears A War-Bonnet

Why The Curlew's Bill Is Long And Crooked

Old-Man Remakes The World

Why Blackfeet Never Kill Mice

How The Otter Skin Became Great "Medicine"

Old-Man Steals The Sun's Leggings

Old-Man And His Conscience

Old-Man's Treachery

Why The Night-Hawk's Wings Are Beautiful

Why The Mountain-Lion Is Long And Lean

The Fire-Leggings

The Moon And The Great Snake

Why The Deer Has No Gall

Why The Indians Whip The Buffalo-Berries From The Bushes

Old-Man And The Fox

Why The Birch-Tree Wears The Slashes In Its Bark

Mistakes Of Old-Man

How The Man Found His Mate

Dreams

Retrospection

Introduction

IT was the moon when leaves were falling, for Napa had finished painting them for their dance with the North wind. Just over the ragged mountain range the big moon hung in an almost starless sky, and in shadowy outline every peak lay upon the plain like a giant pattern. Slowly the light spread and as slowly the shadows stole away until the October moon looked down on the great Indian camp -- a hundred lodges, each as perfect in design as the tusks of a young silver-tip, and all looking ghostly white in the still of the autumn night.

Back from the camp, keeping within the ever-moving shadows, a buffalo-wolf skulked to a hill overlooking the scene, where he stopped to look and listen, his body silhouetted against the sky. A dog howled occasionally, and the weird sound of a tom-tom accompanying the voice of a singer in the Indian village reached the wolf's ears, but caused him no alarm; for not until a great herd of ponies, under the eyes of the night-herder, drifted too close, did he steal away.

Near the centre of the camp was the big painted lodge of War Eagle, the medicine-man, and inside had gathered his grandchildren, to whom he was telling the stories of the creation and of the strange doings of Napa, the creator. Being a friend of the old historian, I entered unhindered, and with the children listened until the hour grew late, and on the lodge-wall the dying fire made warning shadows dance.

* * * * * * *

Why The Chipmunk's Back Is Striped

WHAT a splendid lodge it was, and how grand War Eagle looked leaning against his back-rest in the firelight! From the tripod that supported the back-rest were suspended his weapons and his medicine-bundle, each showing the wonderful skill of the maker. The quiver that held the arrows was combined with a case for the bow, and colored quills of the porcupine had been deftly used to make it a thing of beauty. All about the lodge hung the strangely painted linings, and the firelight added richness to both color and design. War Eagle's hair was white, for he had known many snows; but his eyes were keen and bright as a boy's, as he gazed in pride at his grandchildren across the lodge-fire. He was wise, and had been in many battles, for his was a warlike tribe. He knew all about the world and the people in it. He was deeply religious, and every Indian child loved him for his goodness and brave deeds.