Native American legends and myths--recommendations?

[Harriet Vane]

I am teaching an American Lit course next year, and I would like to include some Native American myths and legends. Can anyone recommend a trustworthy source for that?

[Harriet Vane]

Anyone?

[almondbutterandjelly]

I have not personally read it, but my brother was an English major in college and he gave me one of the books he used, presumably in an English class but maybe a different class.  It is called 

American Indian Myths and Legends, selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz.  Here is an amazon link:

 

http://www.amazon.com/American-Legends-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394740181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433180798&sr=8-1&keywords=american+indian+myths+and+legends

[justasque]

A source that speaks with Native American voices, is Oyate.  Their "resources" section contains much food for thought when choosing books with Native American content.  While you may not agree with all of their points, thinking them through is a valuable exercise.

[Harriet Vane]

Thanks!!!

[nutella08]

The National Mythology Exam/NME bibliography lists the following:

Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.

 

http://etclassics.org/uploads/assets/files/2015_NME_Bibliography.pdf

 

 

[jetzmama]

My kids have enjoyed Om-kas-toe, an historical fiction account of the Blackfeet tribe. The author, Ken Thomasma, has a series called Amazing Indian Children.  This is an intermediate book, probably upper elementary/middle school.   

 

Another one we all enjoyed as a read-aloud is a Sonlight book titled Walk the World's Rim by Betty Baker. Again, historical fiction, this time from the perspective of Native Americans first experiencing the invasion (not yet conquest) of the Spaniards.  For a reader, probably middle school, but there is meat enough to analyze for an early high school course. She has a few other titles to her name, though I don't know if they are related to Native Americans. 

[Lori D.]

To bookend your study, after starting out with Native American legends and myths, you might consider a more contemporary Native American work towards the end of the school year, to hear how this minority voice has struggled to stay alive and has been changed since European settlement of this continent.

 

While it has adult language and situations, the novel Ceremony (1977) by Leslie Silko is incredible, if you have mature teens taking this class. It is the story of a Native American man returning from Vietnam as a broken shell of a person from his experiences, esp. from the death of his cousin there, and his struggle to recover both identify of self, and cultural identity -- which Native Americans have had stripped from them for many decades. It includes very brief myths (created by the author, loosely based on existing myth characters), and descriptions of the cultural ties to the land, which help the protagonist recover himself. Absolutely beautifully written.

 

You might also look at something by N. Scott Momaday. Not had a chance to read it yet, but The Way to Rainy Day is a series of oral stories from the Kiowa, linked with a narrative and explanations by Momaday, creating a picture of the Kiowa way of life and explanation of the world as the Kiowa see it.