Masterpieces of American Indian Literature

Front Cover
Willis Goth Regier
U of Nebraska Press, 2005 M01 1 - 623 pages
The five complete and unabridged works collected here are parts of a long and passionate testimony about American Indian culture as related by Indians themselves. Deep emotions and life-shaking crises converge in these pages concerning identity, family, community, caste, gender, nature, the future, the past, solitude, duty, trust, betrayal, leadership, war, and apocalypse. Each work is also regarded as a classic of Native literature and has much to teach. ø The Life of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh (1847) by George Copway, a Canadian Ojibwe writer and lecturer, describes his unique and difficult cultural journey from the tiny village of his youth to the legislatures of the world, speaking for the rights and sovereignty of Indians. ø The Soul of the Indian (1911) by Charles Eastman, a physician and mixed-blood Sioux, depicts ?the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man.? ø American Indian Stories (1921) by Zitkala-?a, one of the most famous Sioux writers and activists of the modern era, includes legends and tales from oral tradition, childhood stories, and allegorical fiction. ø Coyote Stories (1933) by Mourning Dove, an Okanagan writer, retells the popular trickster tales of Coyote, the most resilient character in all of American literature. ø Black Elk Speaks (1932) as told through John G. Neihardt, is the spacious religious vision and candid life story of a Lakota holy man. Neihardt and Black Elk collaborated to produce a unique and inspirational work.
 

Contents

Kahgegagahbowh
9
The Soul of the Indian
143
The Great Mystery
153
The Family Altar
158
Ceremonial and Symbolic Worship
164
Barbarism and the Moral Code
172
The Unwritten Scriptures
179
On the Borderland of Spirits
186
Why Badger Is So Humble
378
Coyote Juggles His Eyes
381
Why Martens Face Is Wrinkled
386
Crawfish and Grizzly Bear
390
Coyote and WoodTick
394
Why Mosquitoes Bite People
398
Black Elk Speaks
439
Contents
442

American Indian Stories
193
Impressions of an Indian Childhood
209
The School Days of an Indian Girl
225
An Indian Teacher Among Indians
239
The Great Spirit
247
The Trial Path
259
A Dream of Her Grandfather
271
Americas Indian Problem
285
Coyote Stories
291
Foreword
305
Preface
307
The Spirit Chief Names the Animal People
313
Fox and Coyote and Whale
320
Coyote Fights Some Monsters
327
Chipmunk and OwlWoman
332
Coyote and the Buffalo
338
Why the FlintRock Cannot Fight Back
343
How Turtle Got His Tail
348
Why Skunks Tail Is Black and White
352
Rattlesnake and Salmon
355
Coyote Meets Wind and Some Others
358
Why Gartersnake Wears a Green Blanket
363
Coyote Quarrels With Mole
366
How Coyote Happened To Make the Black Moss Food
370
Why Spider Has Such Long Legs
375
Acknowledgments
443
Introduction by Vine Deloria Jr
444
Preface
447
The Offering of the Pipe
451
Early Boyhood
454
The Great Vision
461
The Bison Hunt
476
At the Soldiers Town
483
High Horses Courting
487
Wasichus in the Hills
492
The Fight with Three Stars
500
The Rubbing Out of Long Hair
507
Walking the Black Road
522
The Killing of Crazy Horse
527
Grandmothers Land
530
The Compelling Fear
535
The Horse Dance
539
The Dog Vision
547
Heyoka Ceremony
553
The First Cure
557
The Powers of the Bison and the Elk
562
Across the Big Water
567
The Spirit Journey
573
Further Reading
621
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2005)

Willis G. Regier is the director of the University of Illinois Press and the author of Book of the Sphinx (Nebraska 2004) and In Praise of Flattery (Nebraska 2007).

Bibliographic information