Seneca myths and folk tales

CONTENTS

			Page

Foreword			ix

Introduction			xvii


I.	FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS IN SENECA FOLK LORE		1

	Basic Premises		3

	Gods, Major Spirits and Folk-Beasts		5

	Nature Beings		10

	Magic Beasts and Birds		16

	Magical Man-like Beings		18


II.	THEMES AND MATERIALS		23

	Stereotyped Objects and Incidents		27

	Components of the Cosmological Myth		33


III.	THE ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH THE LEGENDS WERE TOLD		37


IV.	WHEN THE WORLD WAS NEW		57

	1.	How the World Began	59

	2.	The Brothers who Climbed into the Sky	74

	3.	The Death Panther	78

	4.	The Great Bear Constellation	81

	5.	The Seven Brothers of the Star Cluster	83

	6.	The Seven Star Dancers	86

	7.	The Coming of Spring	88

	8.	The Coming of Death	92


V.	BOYS WHO DEFIED MAGIC AND OVERCAME IT		95

	9.	Origin of Folk Stories	97

	10.	The Forbidden Arrow and the Quilt of Men’s Eyes	101

	11.	Corn Grinder, the Grandson	108

	12.	He-Goes-to-Listen	116

	13.	Hatondas, the Listener, Finds a Wife	122

	14.	The Origin of the Chestnut Tree	128

	15.	Divided Body Rescues a Girl	133

	16.	The Origin of the Buffalo Society	137

	17.	The Boy who could not Understand	Clyx.com