Sacred Texts  Native American  California 

Creation Myths of Primitive America

By Jeremiah Curtin

[1898]

Despite the title, which suggests that this is a comprehensive study of Native American creation myths, this is actually a very good set of animal myths from two tribes of California, the Wintu and Yana. These tribes inhabited the northern Central Valley; the Yana are closely related to the Yahi, the tribe of Ishi, the 'last wild Indian'. Also, these are not creation myths per se; they are tales from an epic cycle about the proto-animal inhabitants of the California dreamtime, the beings who existed before the arrival of humans. That said, this is a very reputable collection which is cited to this day in scholarly papers about native California. Curtin treats this this lore with great respect, and because he is also a first-rate story teller, this is also a great read. Curtin, a distinguished folklorist and author, also wrote Tales of Fairies and of the Ghost-World, a collection of Irish supernatural folklore.

Wintu Myths

Yana Myths

Notes