With that in mind, it is important for me to say one more thing. All of these stories are wiser than I am. Their messages come from many generations, and if these tellings of mine have meaning for those who read them, it is only because I have succeeded to some small extent in being true to the original voices that spoke them.
There is such a wealth of traditions and so many hundreds of volumes devoted to the stories of different Native American nations that a truly representative bibliography would be far too long to include. Further, many books put together by non-Natives during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have mistold Native stories. I strongly urge readers to turn to books written by Native people themselves. There is a new generation of Native American writers and storytellers whose work is both accurate and exciting. An excellent introduction to many of the central ideas of Native American life, including material on storytelling and rites of passage, is The Sacred by Peggy Beck, Anna Lee Walters, and Nia Francisco (Tsaile, Ariz.: Navajo Community College Press, 1977).
Some other books of interest are:
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Myths and Legends, New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.
Hilbert, Vi, trans. and ed. Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985.
Tehanetorens. Tales of the Iroquois, Rooseveltown, N.Y: Akwesasne Notes Press, 1976.
Zuni People. The Zunis: Self-Portrayals, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1972.
About the Author
Joseph Bruchac is a storyteller and writer whose work often draws upon his Abenaki Indian heritage. His stories and poems have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and he has written over 100 books, including Dawn Land; The Girl Who Married the Moon, coauthored with Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross; and the Keepers of the Earth series, coauthored with Michael Caduto. The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas; the Parents’ Choice Award for Gluskabe Stories, a storytelling tape of traditional Abenaki tales; and the Hope S. Dean Memorial Award from the Foundation for Children’s Books for developing a body of work that promotes an appreciation of children’s literature, Bruchac lives in Greenfield Center, New York, with his wife, Carol.
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