Twenty-five Lenape/Delaware folktales are presented in this engaging volume, edited by John Bierhorst. The tales themselves were retold and recorded at various times throughout the twentieth century from Lenape storytellers in Oklahoma, upstate New York and Ontario. Photographs of some of these storytellers are interspersed throughout, with biographical details accompanying them. The book opens with an introduction about the Lenape people and their history, as well as a discussion of their lore, and the sources—both written and oral/recorded—that we have for it. The tales are divided into six thematic sub-sections, and are followed by a glossary and pronunciation guide, notes and a list of references. Selections include:

Origins:

How the First Stories Came Out of the Earth, in which a man discovers a hole in the ground, and is told by the "grandfather" inside that those wishing to hear stories should gather round.

Snow Boy, a pourquoi tale about an odd little boy who would suck other people's fingers, making them stiff and black and cold. Eventually he told the people that his name was snow and ice, and that his coming would help them to hunt, by revealing the animals' tracks in winter.

The Giant Squirrel, a tale about that ancient time when all the animals were huge, and how the squirrel angered the Creator by killing a man. Shrunk down to his current size, the squirrel became food for man.

How the Big House Got Started, which tells of how the traditional Lenape religion, the Big House, came to be. Set in a time when the Lenape were moving west due to the encroachment of European settlers, it tells of a witch hunt and craze, followed by a period or repentance and renewal, after an old man went into the woods and had a vision.

Lost Children:

The Sun and the Corn Bread, in which the sun visits a woman and asks for bread, eventually carving away something (some kind of life energy) that should have gone to her unborn children. As a result, her subsequent children die.

The Boy Who Became a Flock of Quail, which explains how a little boy, left on his own, sings himself into a quail. As a result, the Lenape do not like to hunt quail.

The Lost Boy, in which a young boy is swept away in a river, and his grieving parents, aided by a wise man with mysterious powers, learn that he now lives with a mermaid under the water.

The Girl Who Joined the Thunders, about a young girl who marries a snake man and lives with him underwater until she grows afraid and escapes. After briefly returning to her people, she goes to live with the Thunders, who helped to cleanse her when she first escaped.

Rock-shut-up, about a young boy who is abandoned by his aunt and uncle, left in a hole in the ground that the uncle covers with a rock. Rescued and raised by a bear, he grows older, until eventually human hunters discover his existence.

Boy Heroes:

The Big Fish and the Sun, in which a terrible fish, born of a young girl, begins to prey on the people. Eventually, when the chiefs offer a reward to whomever can slay the fish, two poor young boys visit the Sun and ask his help in accomplishing this task. He instructs them to use the ash from his fire—his fire itself being far too powerful—to defeat this foe.

Ball Player, in which the youngest of a series of brothers, who likes nothing better than to play with his ball—the skull of a bobcat—and who must rescue his brothers and sister-in-law, kidnapped and slain by Red-Feather-on-the-Head and his terrible yakwahe (the great naked bear).

The White Deer, in which a young boy has a series of adventures involving the white deer—a ganyo gowa, or master of game, which controls the other deer and animals.

Three Boys on a Vision Quest, a cautionary tale in which three youths, sent on a vision quest, are granted wishes by a manëtu, a spirit or spirit power. The different outcomes of the three wishes offer a teaching tale. As notes in the introduction to this tale, some Lenape stories have explicit morals, although they are described as "corrections."

The Trickster:

Jack Babysits, in which the eponymous Jack (sometimes called Crazy Jack) accidentally kills the baby he is meant to be watching.

Crazy Jack Puts His Nose to the Ground, in which Crazy Jack interprets instructions given to him in a literal sense, rather than in the correct figurative one, digging a little hole in the ground, in which to insert his nose.

Wehixamukes Story, in which Wehixamukes (the traditional Lenape name for their trickster), has a series of misadventures due to his literal interpretation of everything said to him. He is a figure of great power, and able to do extraordinary things, but must be directed correctly.

More Wehixamukes, in which Wehixamukes has more misadventures due to his literalism, and is eventually killed, to the grief of his companions.

Six Stories About Wehixamukes, a cycle of tales in which Wehixamukes alerts the enemy to the Lenape's presence, but then defeats them single-handedly. This cycle also includes the story of how he killed two of his own people, due to his literalism, and offers another version of his death story, hammered into the ground by a tree.

Tales of Prophecy:

The Twelve Little Women, in which twelve little women, who made their home in the caves located in the cliffs at the mouth of the Delaware River, were driven away by one insolent young man, who taunted them and then slew their serpent and burned their house. Leaving, they warned the people the people that they would have taught them many things, things that would have helped them in a hundred years, when invaders would arrive to drive them from their land. This story can also be found in Bierhorst's 1998 collection, The Deetkatoo: Native American Stories About Little People.

The First Land Sale, which details the first time the Lenape sold land, and how the were cheated and deceived in the process by the European settlers.

Why the World Doesn't End, in which the world is fated to cone to an end when a certain old woman completes making her basket, and how that end is continually delayed by the mice who make a hole in it every night.

Dog Stories:

The Wolves and the Dogs, in which wolves and dogs become estranged from one another after a dog sets out to fetch fire for all from the Lenape, only to be subverted by affection, and become a pet instead.

The Boy Who Had Dog Power, in which an abandoned boy and the dog he rescues become great friends, and the boy is given the power to turn into a dog as a result of that friendship. Eventually reuniting with his people, the boy becomes a great hunter, but is brought low by the envy of other men, who discover his secret and kill his dog companion.

Why Dogs Sniff Each Other, a humorous tale in which all the dogs attending a dog's council must leave their kukunëmëwoo (testicles) in basket at the door. When the council is interrupted and everyone must flee, some dogs take the wrong kukunëmëwoo. This is why dogs sniff each other: they are trying to figure out who has their kukunëmëwoo.

How a Dog Earned the Right to Eat from the Table, in which a dog saves his man from a rattlesnake, and earns the right to eat at the table with him.

I enjoyed reading the twenty-five tales in The White Deer and Other Stories Told by the Lenape. I haven't read much folklore from this Native American people, who were the indigenous inhabits of my current home state of New Jersey, so most of these stories were new to me. The only one which was familiar to me was The Twelve Little Women, and only because I had read the subsequent Bierhorst collection. In any case, I found these stories very interesting and appreciated the back matter. I already have another, more recent collection of Lenape tales, The Grandfathers Speak: Native American Folk Tales of the Lenape People on request at the library! Recommended to folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone interested in the Lenape/Delaware people. ( )