Overview

This collection covers a range of cultures and themes based around the California Basin and South Western nations. There is no single mythology of the Indigenous North American peoples. There are numerous traditions and narratives associated with religion, ethics and core beliefs. These stories are deeply based in nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, fire, sky and the heavenly bodies. Common elements are the principle of an all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth and its landscapes, a belief in parallel worlds in the sky and beneath our feet, diverse creation narratives, visits to the 'land of the dead', and collective memories of ancient sacred ancestors. A characteristic of many of the myths is the close relationship between human beings and animals including birds and reptiles. They often feature shape-shifting between animal and human form. Marriage between people and different species, particularly bears, is a common theme. Most of the myths from the California Basin and the South West were first transcribed by ethnologists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These sources were collected from Native American elders who still had strong connections to the traditions of their ancestors. They may be considered the most authentic surviving records of the ancient stories. Myths of this region are dominated by the sacred creator and trickster, Coyote. Other significant characters include the Sun People, the Star Women and Darkness. Myths of the Navajo, Apache and Pueblo peoples tell how the first human beings emerged from an underworld. According to the Hopi Pueblo people, the first beings were the Sun, two goddesses known as Hard Being Woman, or Huruing Wuhti, and Spider Woman. It was the goddesses who created living creatures and human beings. Other themes include the origin of tobacco and corn, and horses.

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9781913500252

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I have edited Clive Gilson's books for over a decade now - he's prolific and can turn his hand to many genres. poetry, short fiction, contemporary novels, folklore and science fiction - and the common theme is that none of them ever fails to take my breath away. There's something in each story that is either memorably poignant, hauntingly unnerving or sidesplittingly funny. Lorna Howarth, The Write Factor Tales From The World's Firesides is a grand project. I've collected '000's of traditional texts as part of other projects, and while many of the original texts are available through channels like Project Gutenberg, some of the narratives can be hard to read by modern readers, & so the Fireside project was born. Put simply, I collect, collate & adapt traditional tales from around the world & publish them for free as a modern archive. This book is the 3rd in Part 2 - North America, following on from the 19 titles in Part 1 covering a host of nations & regions across Europe. I'm not laying any claim to insight or specialist knowledge, but these collections are born out of my love of story-telling & I hope that you'll share my affection for traditional tales, myths & legends.

Author Information

"I was born in 1962 into a predominantly sporting household - Dad being a good footballer, playing senior amateur and lower league professional football in England, as well as running a series of private businesses in partnership with mum, herself an accomplished and medal winning dancer. I obtained a degree in History from Leeds University before wandering rather haphazardly into the emerging world of business computing in the late nineteen-eighties. A little like my sporting father, I followed a succession of amateur writing paths alongside my career in technology, including working as a freelance journalist and book reviewer, my one claim to fame being a by-line in a national newspaper in the UK, The Sunday People. I also spent 10 years treading the boards, appearing all over the south of the UK in pantos and plays, in village halls and occasionally on the stage of a professional theatre or two. Following the sporting theme, and a while after I hung up my own boots, I worked on live TV broadcasts for the BBC, ITV, TVNZ, EuroSport and others as a rugby ""Stato"", covering Heineken Cups, Six Nations, IRB World Sevens and IRB World Cups in the late '90's and early '00's. I try to combine my love of storytelling with a passion for information technology, and am currently Vice President - Technology with a major UK FinTech company. You can find out more about Clive's work and contact me at: https: //www.boyonabench.com"

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