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Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620–1984
Spanning three centuries, this collection traces the historical evolution of legends, folktales, and traditions of four major native American groups from their earliest encounters with European settlers to the present. The book is based on some 240 folklore texts gathered from early colonial writings, newspapers, magazines, diaries, local histories, anthropology and folklore publications, a variety of unpublished manuscript sources, and field research with living Indians.
343 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 14, 2017
Folklore galore
With the onslaught of disease, conquest, conversion and loss of land, the Indian tribes of southern New England almost disappeared. If they managed to hold on--just barely--they underwent considerable language and culture change. When they emerged in the 1930s, with the general rise in consciousness and political action among Native Americans, they had lost a lot. By examining the folklore of Narragansett, Mohegan, Gay Head, and Mashpee Wampanoags, Simmons tries to show how original themes and images in folklore either lasted to modern times or changed with the absorption of English or African-American content. He examines stories and tales about shamans and witches, about buried treasure, about ghosts and the devil, giants and religion, trying to re-construct Indian world view from all these things. He uses as many sources as he can find: it must be an exhaustive collection from works written in the the mid-1600s up to the 1980s or interviews the author himself conducted with New England Indians. What emerges is the realization that Indian folklore survived best when Indian communities had social and political control over their own communities. If they were able to maintain group boundaries and keep Indian communalism as opposed to (white) individualism, folklore survived from the contact period, through colonial times, into 19th century and even 20th century America, when the Indians assumed a more pan-Indian identity. The more Indian communities merged into surrounding white ones, the less they could maintain `control' over their stories and legends. The author writes "...motifs and even entire categories of legends enter and disappear from the record in accordance with changes in the relationship between the local community and the larger social environment." (p.247) Basically, Simmons tracks the change in beliefs, the content of folklore over time as the Indians became more and more absorbed into larger American society.
SPIRIT OF THE NEW ENGLAND TRIBES is a magnificent collection of folklore, excellently organized and presented, a 5-star historical study for sure. I find it very difficult to review because unless you are a serious student of such, you will find the hundreds of tales and short excerpts far too much to digest. It is admirable scholarship and a `must have' for anyone studying the southern New England tribes, but it is not readable for the average person, hence my three star rating.
P.S. [Simmons' book was written before the rise of casinos, especially Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods: it would be interesting to know what he thinks of the impact this had on the preservation and retrieval of Indian culture.]
With the onslaught of disease, conquest, conversion and loss of land, the Indian tribes of southern New England almost disappeared. If they managed to hold on--just barely--they underwent considerable language and culture change. When they emerged in the 1930s, with the general rise in consciousness and political action among Native Americans, they had lost a lot. By examining the folklore of Narragansett, Mohegan, Gay Head, and Mashpee Wampanoags, Simmons tries to show how original themes and images in folklore either lasted to modern times or changed with the absorption of English or African-American content. He examines stories and tales about shamans and witches, about buried treasure, about ghosts and the devil, giants and religion, trying to re-construct Indian world view from all these things. He uses as many sources as he can find: it must be an exhaustive collection from works written in the the mid-1600s up to the 1980s or interviews the author himself conducted with New England Indians. What emerges is the realization that Indian folklore survived best when Indian communities had social and political control over their own communities. If they were able to maintain group boundaries and keep Indian communalism as opposed to (white) individualism, folklore survived from the contact period, through colonial times, into 19th century and even 20th century America, when the Indians assumed a more pan-Indian identity. The more Indian communities merged into surrounding white ones, the less they could maintain `control' over their stories and legends. The author writes "...motifs and even entire categories of legends enter and disappear from the record in accordance with changes in the relationship between the local community and the larger social environment." (p.247) Basically, Simmons tracks the change in beliefs, the content of folklore over time as the Indians became more and more absorbed into larger American society.
SPIRIT OF THE NEW ENGLAND TRIBES is a magnificent collection of folklore, excellently organized and presented, a 5-star historical study for sure. I find it very difficult to review because unless you are a serious student of such, you will find the hundreds of tales and short excerpts far too much to digest. It is admirable scholarship and a `must have' for anyone studying the southern New England tribes, but it is not readable for the average person, hence my three star rating.
P.S. [Simmons' book was written before the rise of casinos, especially Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods: it would be interesting to know what he thinks of the impact this had on the preservation and retrieval of Indian culture.]
March 15, 2019
William S. Simmons did an admirable job of collecting the folklore of four bands of Algonquin Indians and showed the various influences on how the stories have changed over the years. This is an important work for understanding the myths and legends of the Algonquin people.
Unfortunately, the narrative became dull after repeating the same stories in each chapter. Once can only read so many variations of the same story of Maushop the Giant or the Devil on Skates in back-to-back sequences.
There is value here but you have to really dig deep to find it.
Unfortunately, the narrative became dull after repeating the same stories in each chapter. Once can only read so many variations of the same story of Maushop the Giant or the Devil on Skates in back-to-back sequences.
There is value here but you have to really dig deep to find it.
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July 29, 2019read for seminar
November 16, 2016
Good reference book. Stories can get repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews