American Indian Mythology

by Alice Marriott, Carol K. Rachlin

Book by Alice Marriott, Carol K. Rachlin

Genres: Mythology, Native American, Nonfiction, History

225 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Miss Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

اسطوره‌های سرخپوستان این کتاب، اغلب قصه‌های ساده‌ای هستند که پدیده‌های جهان را توضیح می‌دهند و گاهی می‌شود مفهومی جهان‌شمول را در آن‌ها پیدا کرد. مثلاً در یکی از اسطوره‌‌های پیدایش ذرت، از پهلوی مادربزرگ به عنوان «زن» ذرت می‌ریزد که این خودش معنایی از باروری و زایش است. و ذرت به‌عنوان غذای گیاهی که از زمین می‌روید، به مفهوم مادر زمین هم اشاره دارد.

سادگی اسطوره‌های کتاب دل‌پذیر است و شاید هنوز خیلی از آن‌ها مثل قصه‌های شبانه به دور آتش، میان سرخپوستان نقل شود.

[Mahir Şanlı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farklı kabilelerin inanış ve mitlerini bulabileceğiniz zengin içerikli bir kitap olmuş. Tavsiye ederim.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, informative book and a must for anyone wanting to learn more about American Indian mythology. The two authors: Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin are anthropologists. The first 15 pages is an explanation of what they are looking for as anthropologists where instead of just collecting folk tales, they must "know first the history, as distinguished from the lore, of a given culture" along with a quick history lesson of the colonization. These read a bit like a text book but once you're in a few pages, there's a flow that makes it easily understandable. The "stories" are divided into 4 parts: The World Beyond Ours, The World Around Us, The World We Live In Now and The World We Go to.

Before each story, there's the tribe where it originates and a brief history on the story and how it relates to the tribe's history and culture. This is is invaluable and informative. Were they agricultural, hunters, in the mesas, in the Plains - all these play important parts. At the end of the book, the authors explained how there are compilations of these mythologies elsewhere however, as anthropologists "the compilers' main purpose has been to rely on original field research for the versions used here." And just as each work in introduced with context, it ends with "Told to... by...." Carrying on oral tradition. One can almost hear each story being told.

And reading it, I was stunned to read two stories where Mexicans were an integral part. As a Mexican-American, reading these stories for the first time.... I was speechless and humbled.

[Una · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patika. Bija interesanti lasīt teikas par pavisam citādiem putniem un augiem nekā te un salīdzināt irokēzu Pērkonus ar baltu Pērkonu. Mani īpaši uzrunāja šeijenu lielais upes briesmonis, dramatiskā čiroku leģenda par Tsali un sauku šausmu stāsts par glāzi ūdens. Novērtēju grāmatas uzbūvi ar tematiskajām grupām un informāciju par cilšu dzīvesveidu un teicējiem.

Mērķis ir bijis nevis sniegt visaptverošu priekšstatu par Amerikas pirmiedzīvotāju mitoloģiju, bet dalīties ar pašu pierakstīto, tāpēc dažu izplatītu mītu, kā minēts priekšvārdā, te nav, toties kukurūzas atklāšana aprakstīta trīs variantos. Šarmants lēmums neiekļaut bibliogrāfijā tos avotus, ko, pēc sastādītāju domām, visi tāpat zina. Grāmata ir izdota 70. gados, tas redzams vārdu izvēlē. Vairākos tekstos manāms izteikts seksisms, bet tā jau nav sastādītāju vaina, un var redzēt, ka tradicionālās dzimumu lomas dažādās ciltīs atšķiras, piemēram, hopi kultūrā "pats par sevi saprotams, vīrs ievācās sievasmātes mājā" un dažos tekstos varoņi sūdzas, ka sievietes iedomājoties visu zinām labāk, bet citos viņas tiešām zina labāk.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Indian Mythology by Alice Marriot is a collection of the myth's beliefs and lore of up to 20 native American tribes. A collection of Native American myths from a multitude of tribes. American Indian Mythology explains the history of some Native American Tribes as well as current history for them.
I enjoyed this book due to it being new stories and beliefs for me, but also the historical element to the book.

[Cole Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful introductory text, drawing most heavily from tribes from the American southwest.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely done collection of 37 myths from a variety of tribes in the current United States, generally collected early in the 20th century with a few taken from earlier published records. First published in 1968, with my copy reissued 1972 in paperback with 18 small black-and-white photographs.

This collection by two scholars is the products of anthropologists and field ethno-archeologists. The tribal stories were collected from the Cheyenne, Modoc, Cherokee, Iroquoian, Kiowa, Fox, Tewa, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Navaho, Zuni, Apache, Sauk, Comanche, Seminoles, Navaho, Arapaho, Ponca, Hopi, and Sauk.

One story which immediately caught my attention was the first told by the Cheyenne - "How the World was Made" which relates of various birds and animals seeking to improve their water world by the addition of dry land for plants and nests and resting places. Various animals tried to go obtain a bit dry land and failed. That included the Coot who could only obtain a ball of mud, "And so it was and so it is, for the coot's flesh still tastes of mud, and neither man nor animal will eat a coot unless there is nothing else to eat." The next effort was by Grandmother Turtle who succeeded in bring back enough earth on her back to form a dry solid place where the animals and birds could walk and rest, give a place to build our nests.

Overall, a worthy product. These myths make for interesting reading and a modest window into the life and culture of American tribes. The last of the four topical groupings of these 37 myths is titles "The World We Go To" with six stories of how death came into the world and the world beyond.

[Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been hunting for a compilation of Native American myths for a while, and (although relatively dated), this volume fit the bill. While the myths themselves were interesting, the most enjoyable parts of the book for me were the short introductions provided by the authors before each chapter. These were a trove of information about the recent history of the tribes in question, and I learned a lot of new tidbits.

Overall a useful book to review as part of a survey of Native American history.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of wonderful stories from different Native American cultures. Good for both the stories and the historical context -- the authors are anthropologists.

[Arghavan]

«اسطوره‌های سرخپوستان آمریکا» ، آلیس ماریوت و کارول راچلین، ترجمه‌ی محمد شریفی، نشر نون.