Books in Oxford myths and legends series series

"Native American Stories" is a collection of myths drawn from the native cultures of North America--from the Inuit in the north to the Zuni, Hopi and Cherokee in the south. A common thread throughout these stories is the native view of the world as family--Earth as our Mother, Sun as our Father and the animals as our brother and sisters. The stories foster an ethic of stewardship by clearly showing that we are entrusted with a very special misson--to maintain the natural balance, to take care of our Mother, to be Keepers of the Earth. Each story is beautifully illustrated by Mohawk artist John Kaionhes Fadden.The stories in this collection, which come from "Keepers of the Earth"--a book that unites western scientific methods and Native AMerican traditional stories--can be called "lesson stories." All come from native oral traditions. They have been chosen because the lessons they teach are relatively easy for nonnative people to understand. Some of these stories have more than one lesson to teach. As Joseph Campbell explains in "The Power of Myth," the same stories mean different things to us at different times in our lives, and as we grow, those stories grow with us. The story of Gluscabi and the game animals is one such story. While using this story in workshops, my coauthor Michael Caduto and I have asked people ho many lessons are taught by this one tale. No group ever comes up with fewer than a dozen. -- Joseph Bruchac, from the introduction