Tales of the North American Indians

NEARLY three centuries have passed since the first American Indian tales were recorded by Europeans. The Jesuit Fathers in their Relations beginning with 1633 report tales current among the tribes with whom they had come into contact. From them we have at this early date rather good versions of the Iroquois creation myth (No. v of this collection), of "The Sun Snarer" (No. xv) and of "The Empounded Water" (No. xxii). These tales have the same form when collected in the twentieth century as they had in the early seventeenth. Though tales were reported sporadically during the next two centuries by travellers and explorers, it was not till the second quarter of the nineteenth century that any considerable body of this folk-lore became available. Through the labors of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the legends of the Ojibwa and their neighbors were reported at some length. Unfortunately, the scientific value of his work is marred by the manner in which he has reshaped the stories to suit his own literary taste. Several of his tales, indeed, are distorted almost beyond recognition. Nevertheless, he introduced to the civilized world a considerable body of Indian legend. Among these tales was the myth of Manabozho (No. iv), though he caused great confusion by adapting to his myth the name of the Iroquois hero, Hiawatha. Through the poem of Longfellow, the details of this myth have become a part of American literature. Another mythical tale known anew through the work of Schoolcraft was "The Sun Snarer" (No. xv), already mentioned as reported by the Jesuits. He also tells a number of trickster incidents (for example, Nos. xxiv, xxv, and xxvi). His work serves as a landmark in the history of the recording of American Indian tales.