Description
Book SynopsisHighlights the large array of Indigenous linguistic and cultural groups of the US Southeast. The traditional and modern Native literature genres showcased include stories that speakers perceive to be in the past, genres that have developed alongside these stories, and modern story types that have sometimes supplanted traditional tales.
Trade Review“Marcia Haag displays intimate awareness while skillfully articulating the complexities of Native American survivance in the southeastern U.S. . . . Throughout the seventy-seven works, there is a straightforward style embellished with poetic cadences and colloquialisms. These works offer a rare glimpse into a South too often overlooked or forgotten. . . . Care has been taken to record these gems in a context that respects their individuality and enhances awareness within and outside of their respective tribal communities.”—Douglas Suano Bootes,
World Literature Today “This book is a pleasure to read. The strong aesthetic appeal of southeastern Native narrative is apparent in the contributors’ fine renderings of the tales, and their commentaries show the importance of the stories in the lives and expectations of southeastern narrators and audiences past and present.”—Margaret Holmes Williamson, author of
Powhatan Lords of Life and Death: Command and Consent in Seventeenth-Century Virginia “This collection, which covers a greater diversity of tribes than most studies of [the Southeast], will be an asset to specialists, students, and those with a general interest in southern studies. Its presentation of storytelling with scholarly context is especially valuable.”—Lindsey Claire Smith, editor of
American Indian Quarterly Table of ContentsIntroduction
Marcia Haag
Choctaw
Essay
Mississippi Choctaw Oral Literature
Tom Mould
Creation Myths
The Choctaw Creation Legend
Isaac Pistonabee. 1901
The Creation of Three Races
Harley Vaughn. 1996
Shukhanumpa: Animal Stories
Why Terrapins Never Get Fat
Olman Comby. 1928.
Contemporary Humorous Stories
The Dog who Spoke Choctaw
Jake York. 1997
Running Water
Lillie Gibson. 1997
The Man and the Turkey
Henry Williams. 1997
Supernatural Legends and Encounters
The Little Man
Terry Ben. 1996
Pansh Falaya (Long Hair)
Cynthia Clegg. 1997
Prophecy Stories
New Inventions and Lost Traditions
Billy Amos. 1999
Cars and Changing Values. In Choctaw and English.
Odie Mae Anderson. 1997
The Third Removal
Estelline Tubby. 1996
Essay
Where Oral Tradition and Literacy Collide: James L. McDonald’s Spectre Essay of 1830
Phillip Carroll Morgan
Letter from J.L. McDonald to Peter Pitchlynn
J.L. McDonald. 1830
Essay
Modern Oklahoma Choctaw Stories
Marcia Haag
Modern Oklahoma Choctaw Stories
Boarding School Runaways
Paula Carney. 2008
How I Almost Killed a Hog by Scaring It
Abe Frazier. 2008.
The Miracle
Bill Nowlin. 2006.
Neva the Hunter
Lois Pugh. 2004.
Creek
Essay
Creek (Muskogee) Literature
Jack B. Martin
Traditional Tales
The Story of Corn
Taylor Postoak, Second Chief of the Muskokees. 1882
The Boy who Turned Into a Snake
I. Field. 1937
Family Versions of Traditional Tales
Rabbit Steals Fire
Earnest Gouge. 1915
Girl Abducted by Lion
Earnest Gouge. 1915
Stories of Real People
Autobiography of James Hill
James Hill. 1939
Traditional Song
Estvmvn Estomen Follatskis In Creek and English.
Transcribed by Gloria McCarty.
Chickasaw
Essay
Chickasaw Oral Literature
Joshua D. Hinson (Lokosh)
Chikashsha Naaikbi’ Anoli’ ‘Creation-Origin Stories’
Chikashsha Naiikbi’ Anoli’ Chickasaw Creation Story In Chickasaw and English
Juanita Byars. 1995
How the Day and Night were Divided
Translated by the Chickasaw Language Committee. 2012
Shikonno’pa “Possum Stories”
Why Turtle Has a Cracked Shell
Weldon Fulsom. 2011
Iksa Nannanooli: Clan Stories
Wildcat Man Meets Bigfoot
Zeno McCurtain. 1921
Humorous Stories
Fala Shiiki Tawwa’a ‘The Crow and the Buzzard’
John Puller, retold by Stan Smith. 2011
Essay
Interpretation Is a Tricky Business: The Challenges of Interpreting Chickasaw Oral Narratives
Joshua D. Hinson (Lokosh)
Selections from Katihshtchi Ittish Oppolo’ Okla Imalattook `How the People Got Poison’
Glenda Galvan. Translated by Jo Ann Ellis and Jerry Imotichey. 2012.
Yuchi
Essay
Yuchi Stories
Mary S. Linn
Mythical Time Stories
The Red-Mouthed Lizard and the Hunters
Maxey Simms. 1928
How the Yuchi Kill the Red-Mouthed Lizard
Andy Johnson. 1928
Wind and Iron
Maxey Simms. 1928
Animal Tales
The First Woman to Leave a Lazy Husband
Collected by Jeremiah Curtin. 1883
Rabbit and Turkeys In Yuchi and English
Ida Clinton Riley. 1993
Stories of the Supernatural
Spirit Stories
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Brown. 1883
Cherokee
Essay
Cherokee Literature
Christopher B.Teuton
Galgogv’i: New and Old Lies
The Rabbit and the Image
Dalala. 1961
Rabbit and Possum Look for Wives
Sequoyah Guess. 2010
How the Possum Lost His Beautiful Tail
Kathi Littlejohn. 1998
Thunder and the Uk’ten’
Siquanid’. 1961
How the White Man Was Made
Hastings Shade. 2010
Ulvsgedi: Stories of the Wondrous
The Owl at the Window
Hastings Shade. 2010
Crossing Safely
Sammy Still. 2010
Santeetlah Ghost Story
Edna Chekelelee. 1998
The Little People and the Nunnehi
Robert Bushyhead. 1998
The Spirit of an Ancestor
Hastings Shade. 2010.
Kanoheda: Philosophy, History, and Memoir
The Language and the Fire
Sequoyah Guess, Hastings Shade, Woody Hansen, and Christopher B. Teuton. 2010
A Cherokee Vision of Eloh’ (excerpt)
Sakiya Sanders. Translated by Wesley Proctor. 1981
The Cherokee Migration Story
Sequoyah Guess. 2010
The Trail of Tears
Freeman Owle. 1998
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People (excerpt)
Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis. 2000
Who Is Cherokee?
Harry Oosahwee (Adawi). 2010
Essay
Who Is Cherokee? Federal Recognition, Culture, and Rhetorical Sovereignty
Kimberly Roppolo Wieser
Koasati
Essay
Koasati (Coushatta) Literature
Linda Langley
Traditional Stories
The Bear Hunter and the Alligator’s Gift
Isabel Celestine Robinson. circa 1960
How the Owl Got Skinny Legs
Ronnie Abney. 2009
Getting Fire from the Bear
Crystal Williams. 2013
Modern Stories and Memoirs
How We Survived Long Ago
Doris Robinson Celestine Battise and Jamison “Jimmy” Poncho. 2009
Hunting in the Olden Days, and Tomatoes
Dan Sylestine. 2009 and 2012
Grandmother and the Nail
Bertney Langley. 2012
Another Story about Grandmother and a Nail
Barbara Langley. 2012
Grandmother and the Gift Card
Lorenda Poncho. 2013
Grandmother and the Turtle
Claudine Ceslestine Hasting. 2012
On My Way to the Meeting. Ittanahkafa Aayallis In Koasati and English
Janice Battise Sylestine. 2010
Photograph of Koasati authors
Literature of smaller tribes of the Southeastern United States (Atakapa-Ishak, Catawba, and Houma)
Essay
Introduction to Atakapa, Catawba, and Houma Stories
William Sconzert-Hall
Atakapa-Ishak
Interpretation of the Creation Myth
Shaman Shawn Papillion
Ostitat – The One who Sits Above All: the Making of the Earth
Shaman Shawn Papillion. 2013
Catawba
Interpretation of a Folktale
Beckee Garris
How the Chipmunk Got its Stripes
Re-told by Beckee Garris. 2013
Houma
The Importance of Folktales
MorningDove Verret Hopkins and William Sconzert-Hall
How the Rabbit Lost His Tail
MorningDove Verret Hopkins. 2012
How the Turtle Broke His Shell.
MorningDove Verret Hopkins 2013
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
Index
