Description
Handbook of Native American Mythology is one of the titles in the Oxford University Press series, Handbooks of World Mythology. Librarians Dawn Bastian and Judy Michell have compiled a general introduction to the traditional legends and stories of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. The reference work offers readers an introduction to the scope and nature of these traditional stories or legends, the cultural regions of North America, and sections about the importance of myths, and sources. The main body of the book is the alphabetical, encyclopedia-style entries that describe the characters, rituals, sacred locations and objects, concepts, and stories of Native North America. Entries include such topics as afterlife, Aurora Borealis, bear, butterfly, corn, Coyote, Earth Mother, ghosts, Glooskap, Manabozho, owl, Potlatch, rabbit, rainbow, Raven, seasons, thunderers, tobacco, Trickster, White Buffalo Woman, whirlwind, Windigo, and the Woman Who Fell from the Sky. The book also includes an annotated bibliography of print and non-print resources, glossary, and extensive index. More than 40 photographs and illustrations accompany the entries. The highly readable reference work provides readers with an introduction to traditional Native American stories and provides the historical and cultural contexts for these enduring stories and teachings.