Description: Handsome Lake (1735-1815) was a religious reformer among the Iroquois, the prominent alliance of New York tribes. His 'Code', presented in this book in full, attempted to simplify the spiritual practices of the Iroquois, preaching temperance, a strict moral code, and self-determination. It also contains some startling prophecies: Handsome Lake believed the world would end (by fire) in the year 2100; he predicted the destruction of the environment, famines, a...
Description: This is a description of a Navajo shamanistic healing ceremony. It centers around a recitation of a cycle of myths about a Navajo culture hero, Dsilyídje Qaçàl. His journey takes him to the land of the gods and goddesses, where he learns powe
Description: The Library of Alexandria is an independent small business publishing house. We specialize in bringing back to live rare, historical and ancient books. This includes manuscripts such as: classical fiction, philosophy, science, religion, folkl
Description: This section is from the book Serbian Fairy Tales, by Elodie L. Muatovich. Also available from Amazon: Serbian Fairy Tales. Read more: http:/chestofbooks.com/fairy-tale/Serbian/The-Shepherd-And-The-King-s-Daughter-Part-2.html#.U-ipW-OSy8o#
Description: This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends i
Description: The Tsimshian are a tribe of Native Americans residing on the coast of British Columbia. This was the first set of Tsimshian texts with English translations that Boas published. The companion book, Tsimshian Texts (New Series), published in 1
Description: This short book about Yosemite Valley and its original inhabitants was written early in the 20th century. Of particular interest are the photographs, which are all in the public domain; while not as gorgeous as those taken in later years by A
Description: This is a short collection of texts from the Coos people of Oregon, collected by anthropologists a century ago. This includes origin myths and lore about what lies beyond the sky and death, tales of people who marry anthropomorphic animals, a
Description: This is one of the rarest types of ethnographic documents, one actually written by a native American. Mr. Nequatewa ably relates some of the mythological stories also covered by Voth. However, the bulk of this book--by far the most valuable s
Description: Among the many 'bad guys' in the history of sacred texts, the Friar Diego de Landa has to occupy a special circle in hell. In 1562, de Landa conducted an 'Auto de fé' in Maní where in addition to 5000 'idols,' he burned 27 books in Maya writing. This one act deprived future generations of a huge body of Mayan literature. He culturally impoverished the descendents of the Mayas, and left only four codices for scholars to puzzle over. The document translated ...
Description: This is one of the few ethnographic studies of the original religious practices of the Native American residents of San Diego county. Called Diegueño by Europeans after the mission which named the city, they today call themselves Kumeyaay, a
Description: The Navajo are a tribe of Native Americans who live in the southwestern United States. They speak the Navajo language, and many are members of the Navajo Nation, an independent government structure which manages the Navajo reservation in the
Description: In the cañon of the Chaco, in northern New Mexico, there are many ruins of ancient pueblos which are still in a fair state of preservation, in some of them entire apartments being yet, it is said, intact. One of the largest of these is called by the Navajos Kintyèl or Kintyèli, which signifies Broad-house. It figures frequently in their legends and is the scene of a very interesting rite-myth, which I have in my collection. I have reason to believe that this...
Description: Mission Indians, predominantly from present-day California (although members of the Shoshone also joined), were groups of Native Americans who were brought to live in the Spanish missions in California, and there baptized as Catholics, under
Description: This is a collection of papers by Constance Goddard Du Bois on the mythology of the Luiseño and Diegueño Indians of Southern California
Description: These two articles include myths of the Achomawi and Atsugewi, who lived in the north-eastern Sierra Nevada of California
Description: The Haida are a Canadian Native American group which lives on the Queen Charlotte Islands, just off the coast of British Columbia. This is the triangular archipelago which looks like it is a piece broken off of Alaska. This collection of Haid
Description: Three English versions of Zuñi origin myths have already been published. Cushing published his Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths (Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology) in 1891. The next published version is that contained in Mr