In north central Virginia there is a local tale--The Legend of Jump Mountain, which purports to explain the origins of the Hayes Creek Indian Burial Mound. A highly romantic legend, it immortalizes post colonial intertribal warfare during the early nineteenth century while ignoring the antiquity of the mound and the local descendants of its…

In this article, the author proposes to offer the narrative "The Boy Who Could Not Understand" for review and criticism as a manifestation of Native philosophical organicism. It is his contention that the tale represents a form of Native auto-criticism resulting from experiential encounters with youth who had returned from white boarding schools.…

A short story compares an old man's tale of why the woodland animals prepare for winter and the leaves change colors with a teacher's science-based explanations. Commentary distinguishes inquiry of wonder (why) and inquiry of power (how), and suggests ways to record the story for oral retelling and adapt it for use with young, older, and…

Suggests that stories are a survival mechanism--they are the way people make sense of their lives. Notes the author has made it her personal mission to encourage people to tell their own stories, the stories that will die with people if they do not pass them on. Includes excerpts from the author's readers theater scripts to illustrate the…

Analyzes two Yup'ik tales depicting the cyclic relationships between humans and animals and between the living and the dead. Emphasizes the importance in the Yup'ik world view of boundaries and passages. Suggests that human actions, rules, and ceremonies create boundaries or may close or open paths between people, as well as between human/animal…

The Augusta Heritage Center of Davis and Elkins College (West Virginia) was established in 1973 as a community-sponsored workshop program and has continued since 1980 as a college affiliated, nonprofit organization. Rooted in local traditions, the center supports folk-related activities and sponsors in-state programs and research, primarily…

Intended to highlight the work which exists on women's folk humor and to encourage its further exploration, this annotated bibliography has been selected to provide access to the key works dealing with the oral tradition in women's folk humor. The bibliography's 33 annotations range from 1968 through 1992 and are gathered under the headings of…

Pablita Velarde, renowned artist and lecturer, recalls some of the Tewa legends handed down orally through the generations. She heard her grandfather and great-grandfather relate these tales on cold winter evenings at Santa Clara Pueblo when she was a child. The six stories told by Old Father Story Teller are "The Stars," which ties the…

This book is composed of 21 essays that define and illustrate the folklore of Texas. Following the introduction, the six essays concerned with defining are: "Classroom Definitions of Folklore" (F. E. Abernethy); "Defining Folklore for My Students" (Joyce Roach); "Folklore and Cinema" (Jim Harris); "Toward a…

Nine stories, told by a woman of the Lower Yukon Valley (Alaska), are presented here in Deg Hit'an Athabaskan on the left page and in English translation on the right page. The storyteller's English version of five of the stories is also included. Introductory sections contain a biography of Belle Deacon and notes on the gathering, transcription,…

Ten stories, in poem and narrative form, told by Anna Nelson Harry, are presented here. The stories represent a portion of the oral tradition of the Eyak, an Alaskan native nation of which few native speakers remain. An introductory section chronicles the history and decline of the Eyak, the research undertaken to preserve their culture, and the…

This collection of eighteen traditional stories are told in Koyukon Athabaskan, an American Indian language variety spoken in Alaska, on the left page and in English translation on the right page. Introductory sections provide background information on the oral tradition from which the stories come, the translations, the storyteller and her…

Fourth in a series, the annotated bibliographies in this collection were compiled by students in the Traditional Literature and Oral Narration class at the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. These bibliographies are designed to make information about specific topics in traditional literature easily accessible…

Based on her belief that all of our lives are stories that are pieces to a puzzle forming the truth behind the sacredness of life, Anne Dunn--Ojibwe storyteller and author--seeks to build bridges between cultures, between generations, and between oral and written storytelling. Includes a review of her book "When Beaver Was Very Great."…

Reviews 10 children's books, published or reissued 1988-93, about daily life, traditional culture, and schooling among Taos Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo, Navajo, Inuit, Guatemalan, and other Native peoples, as well as tales from Native American oral tradition, the life of a buffalo, and Cherokee and Athapascan historical fiction. Includes grade range and…