American Indian Myths and Legends (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) (original 1984; edition 1984)

by Richard Erdoes (Co-Editor, Compiler & Introduction), Alfonso Ortiz (Co-Editor, Compiler & Introduction), Algonquin (Glooscape and the Baby), White Mountain Apache (The Origin of Curing Ceremonies), Blackfoot (The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog) — 163 more, Blackfoot (The Sacred Weed), Blood-Piegan (How Men and Women Got Together), Cheyenne (Arrow Boy), Cheyenne (The Great Medicine Dance), Cheyenne (The Old Woman of the Spring), Cochiti (Salt Woman is Refused Food), Navajo Myth (Creation of First Man and First Woman), Okanogan (Creation of the Animal People), Penobscot (Corn Mother), Pima (The Well-Baked Man), Seneca (The Powerful Boy), Brule Sioux (How Granfather Peyote Came to the Indian People), Brule Sioux (Stone Boy), Brule Sioux (The Vision Quest), Brule Sioux (The White Buffalo Woman), White River Sioux (Rabbit Boy), Souther Ute (Blood Clot), Acoma (Emerging into the Upper World), Apache (The Jicarilla Genesis), Caddo (The Voice, The Flood, and the Turtle), Cherokee (Earth Making), Cheyenne (Great Medicine Makes a Beautiful Country), Crow (Old Man Coyote Makes the World), Hopi (White Dawn of the Hopi), Modoc (People Brought in a Basket), Modoc (When Grizzlies Walked Upright), Northern California Coast (The Earth Dragon), Osage (Children of the Sun), Pima (Blood Clot), Brule Sioux (How the Sioux Came to Be), Snohomish (Pushing Up the Sky), Yakima (Creation of the Yakima World), Yuma (The Good Twin and the Evil Twin), Cherokee (Daughter of the Sun), Cherokee (Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun), Cheyenne (Sun Teaches Veeho a Lesson), Dieguenos (The Story of the Creation), Hopi (The Hopi Boy and the Sun), Inuit (Moon Rapes His Sister Sun), Ojibway (The Foolish Girls), Ojibway (A Gust of Wind), Brule Sioux (Sun Creation), Snoqualmie (Playing a Trick on the Moon), Tewa (Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden), Toltec (The Scabby One Lights the Sky), Tsimshian (The Theft of Light), Tsimshian (Walks-All-Over-The Sky), Wasco (Coyote Places the Stars), Western Rockies (Three-Legged Rabit Fights the Sun), Winnebago (Little Brother Snares the Sun), Zuni (Coyote Steals the Sun and the Moon), Cheyenne (Chase of the Severed Head), CheyenneThe Quillwork Girl and HEr Seven Star Brothers (The Quillwork Girl and Her Seven Star Brothers), Northern Cheyenne (The Life and Death of Sweet Medicine), Chinook (The First Ship), Flathead (Coyote Kills the Giant), Hopi (Son of Light Kills the Monster), Iroquois (The Flying Head), Iroquois (Hiawatha the Unifier), Maliseet (Glooscap Fights the Water Monster), Metis (Little-Man-With-Hair-All-Over), Micmac (Glooscap Fights the Water Monster), Miwok (The Coming of Thunder), Passamaquoddy (Glooscap Fights the Water Monster), Sioux (A Legend of Devil's Tower), Brule Sioux (Unceglia's Seventh Spot), Brule Sioux (Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird), Tlingit (How Mosquitoes Came to Be), Wintu (Rolling Head), Cheyenne (Where the Girl Saved Her Brother), Oneida (The Warrior Maiden), Pawnee (The Cheyenne Blanket), Brule Sioux (Little Mouse Counting Coup), Brule Sioux (Tatanka's Iyotake's Dancing Horse), Brule Sioux (Two Bullets and Two Arrows), White River Sioux (Brave Woman Counts Coup), White River Sioux (Chief Roman Nose Loses His Medicine), White River Sioux (Siege of Courthouse Rock), White River Sioux (Spotted Eagle and Black Crow), Aleut (The FIght for a Wife), Cherokee (Why Mole Lives Underground), Cochiti (A Contest for Wives), Cochiti (The Industrious Daughter Who Would Not Marry), Coos (The Woman Who Married a Merman), Crow (Coyote's Strawberry), Karok (The Greedy Father), Lummi (Kulshan and His Two Wives), Maidu (Tolowim Woman and Butterfly Man), Multnomah (A Legend of Multnomah Falls), Nez Perce (Coyote and the Mallard Ducks), Ponca-Otoe (Teeth in the Wrong Places), Iseleta Pueblo (The Man Who Married the Moon), Sia (Men and Women Try Living Apart), Brule Sioux (The Legend of the Flute), Tewa (The Husband's Promise), Tewa (The Stolen Wife), Tiwa (Apache Chief Punishes His Wife), Tiwa (The Faithful Wife and the Woman Warrior), Zuni (The Serpent of the Sea), Zuni (Teaching Mudheads How to Copulate), Alsea (Coyote and the Two Frog Women), Algonquian (Adventures of Great Rabbit), Algonquian (Glooscap Grants Three Wishes), White Mountatain Apache (Coyote Fights a Lump of Pitch), White Mountatain Apache (Coyote Gets Rich Off the White Men), White Mountatain Apache (Coyote Steals Sun's Tobacco), White Mountatain Apach (Turkey Makes the Corn and Coyote Plants It), Athapascan (The Raven), Cheyenne (Coyote Dances with a Star), Northern Cheyenne (Doing a Trick with Eyeballs), Kalapuya (Coyote Takes Water from the Frog People), Karok (How Coyote Got His Cunning), Kwakiutl (Always-Living-at-the-Coast), Nez Perce (How Beaver Stole Fire from the Pines), Pima (The Bluebird and Coyote), Shasta (How People Got Arrowheads), Brule Sioux (Coyote and Wasichu), Brule Sioux (Iktome and the Ignorant Girl), Brule Sioux (Iktome Has a Bad Dream), Brule Sioux (Iktime Sleeps with His Wife by Mistake), White River Sioux (Coyote, Iktome, and the Rock), White River Sioux (What's This? My Balls for Your Dinner?), Tewa (Coyote's Rabbit Chase), Tewa (How to Scare a Bear), Cheyenne (The Great Race), Cochiti (The Neglectful Mother), Haida (The Bear and His Indian Wife), Haida (Origin of the Gnawing Beaver), Hopi (The Revenge of Blue Corn Ear Maiden), Iroquois (Why the Owl Has Big Eyes), Kwakiutl (Wakiash and the First Totem Pole), Papago (Butterflies), Passamaquoddy (The Owl Husband), Pomo (The Girl Who Married a Rattlesnake), Brule Sioux (The Dogs Hold an Election), Brule Sioux (How the Crow Came to be Black), Brule Sioux (The Snake Brothers), Tewa (A Fish Story), Tsimshian (The Meeting of the Wild Animals), Cheyenne (The Double-Faced Ghost), Chinook (Blue Jay Visits Ghost Town), Hopi (A Journey to the Skeleton House), Papago (The Transformed Grandmother), Pequod (Big Eater's Wife), Pima (The Transformed Grandmother), Isleta Pueblo (The Skeleton Who Fell Down Piece by Piece), Serrano (The Land of the Dead), Brule Sioux (The Ghost Wife), Brule Sioux (The Man Who Was Afraid of Nothing), Brule Sioux (Two Ghostly Lovers), Tewa (The Origin of the Hopi Snake), Zuni (The Spirit Wife), Blackfoot (Woman Chooses Death), Caddo (Coyote and the Origin of Death), Cheyenne (The Gnawing), Northern Cheyenne (The Death of Head Chief and Young Mule), Haida (The Flood), Kiowa (The Buffalo Go), Papago (Montezuma and the Great Flood), Pima (The Seer Who Would Not See), Brule Sioux (The Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee), White River Sioux (The End of the World), Wasco (The Elk Spirit of Lost Lake)

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JungSocietySeattle's review

"The 160 tales in this magnificent volume represent the richest record to date of a vital living legacy - the glorious folkloric traditions of the native American peoples. They also represent the combined talents of an eminent anthropologist and a master storyteller and artist, who have brought together both the best of folkloric sources of the last century and an exciting bounty of unpublished tales recorded by the authors from living storytellers. They sweep us across the entire North American continent - from the ancient Iroquois civilization of the Northeast, across the war-torn plains of the Cheyenne and Sioux, and up the rugged Northwest lands of the seafaring Aleut and Kwakiutl - drawing on the mythic heritage of over eighty tribal groups. The reach of the storytellers' vision is breathtaking, and illuminates a fantastic spectrum of traditional beliefs. Creation tales recount how our watery world was fashioned from primordial mud on the back of a turtle, its mountains and valleys the relics of ancient inhabitants. The first people spring to life from a sunbeam, a stone, or a drop of blood, and bring with them the vital corn, fire, or buffalo. Great heroes and heroines count coup for bravery on the battlefield, face hair-raising monsters, and make ghostly journeys to the spirit world. The scoundrel Coyote and his kin turn one hilarious trick after another, while poignant legends of love and sacrifice dramatize universal human predicaments. Rendering the tales with authority and authenticity, Erdoes and Ortiz infuse ancient images with compelling contemporary voices, and show how each generation shapes and re-creates its folkloric heritage anew. This is a book that will take its place with the masterworks of the field, to be read and relished for years to come." - Source: Publisher

JungSocietySeattle | Oct 1, 2024 |

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JungSocietySeattle | Oct 1, 2024 |

This magnificent collection gathers 160 tales from 80 tribal gathers to offer a rich and lively panorama of the Native American mythic heritage. From all across the continent come tales of creation and love, of heroes and war, of animals, tricksters, and the end of the world. Alfonso Ortiz, an eminent anthropologist, and Richard Erdoes, an artist and master storyteller, Indian voices in the best folkloric sources of the nineteenth century to make this the most comprehensive and authentic volume of American Indian myths available anywhere.

Spore_Initiative | Jul 20, 2024 |

I have had this book for many years and just recently realized I didn't have it listed on my booklist. This is a wonderful /interesting collection of over 160 myths and legends. I have reread many of the stories and each time enjoyed them. I remember reading some of the stories to my children . Some serious stories, others funny. (

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loraineo | Jun 11, 2023 |

This collection is composed of stories from a wide variety of tribes. They're organized based on common themes (including but not limited to creation, war, and trickery), but each is different & interesting in its own way. Some are more humorous, some are more serious, but I enjoyed them all. (

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brp6kk | Jan 9, 2022 |

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 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 serious scholar in the subject, probably not deep enough. (

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TheDivineOomba | Dec 31, 2017 |

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 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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David.A.Rainey | Dec 24, 2015 |

Stories about earlier times when humans and animals related differently. (

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Michael.Bradham | Oct 6, 2014 |

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, but they aren't always shining examples of narrative. (

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-sunny- | Jul 15, 2014 |

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 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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DavidRainey | Jun 15, 2013 |

I liked the story, the scabby one lights the sky. IT was about how the sun and earth came to be.

Ashabani | Jun 11, 2013 |

A very readable (not bogged down in technicalities and footnotes) collection of Native American folklore/mythology. Read about half so far (

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Georges_T._Dodds | Mar 30, 2013 |

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 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.

iayork | Aug 9, 2009 |

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 (

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ffox | Apr 12, 2009 |

This book details many of the traditional native american folktales with some more obsure stories. All will delight. (

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edundatscheck | Oct 11, 2008 |

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 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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eilonwy_anne | Dec 18, 2007 |

Great bedtime stories (

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DugsBooks | Oct 30, 2007 |

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. (

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johnemersonsfoot | Jun 23, 2007 |

If you love American Indians then this is a must, o.k. if you like myths. (

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gazzy | Mar 1, 2007 |

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 legends ever compiled. It is a worthy and welcome addition to the literature of our native peoples."

uufnn | Mar 7, 2019 |

Native folklore

ccsdss | Feb 23, 2016 |

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 happy to recommend it. I have one other book on the subject (purchased over ten years ago) and this one complements the first.

iayork | Aug 9, 2009 |

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11950556

JosieRivers | Dec 28, 2014 |

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

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Czrbr | Jun 7, 2010 |

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