In this Book
- Sky Loom: Native American Myth, Story, and Song
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: University of Nebraska Press
- Series: Native Literatures of the Americas
Sky Loom offers a dazzling introduction to Native American myths, stories, and songs drawn from previous collections by acclaimed translator and poet Brian Swann. With a general introduction by Swann, Sky Loom is a stunning collection that provides a glimpse into the intricacies and beauties of story and myth, placing them in their cultural, historical, and linguistic contexts.
Each of the twenty-six selections is translated and introduced by a well-known expert on Native oral literatures and offers entry into the cultures and traditions of several different tribes and bands, including the Yupiit and the Tlingits of the polar North; the Coast Salish and the Kwakwaka’wakw of the Pacific Northwest; the Navajos, the Pimas, and the Yaquis of the Southwest; the Lakota Sioux and the Plains Crees of the Great Plains; the Ojibwes of the Great Lakes; the Naskapis and the Eastern Crees of the Hudson Bay area in Canada; and the Munsees of the Northeast. Sky Loom takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey through literary traditions older than the “discovery” of the New World.
Table of Contents
- Title Page, Copyright, Quotation
- pp. i-vi
- Introduction
- pp. xi-xx
- From Smoothing the Ground: Essays on Native American Oral Literature
- From On the Translation of Native American Literatures
- From Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America
- John Sky’s “One They Gave Away” (Haida)
- pp. 126-150
- The Sun’s Myth (Cathlamet Chinook)
- pp. 151-162
- Running the Deer (Yaqui)
- pp. 204-223
- Pima Oriole Songs (Pima)
- pp. 224-245
- Enemy Slayer’s Horse Song (Navajo)
- pp. 246-256
- Two Stories from the Yana (Yana)
- pp. 257-276
- From Voices from Four Directions: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America
- Raven Stories (Tlingit)
- pp. 279-293
- He Became an Eagle (Western Apache)
- pp. 294-315
- The Flight of Dzilyi neeyáni (Navajo)
- pp. 316-329
- Red Swan (Menominee)
- pp. 330-348
- The Birth of Nenabozho (Ojibwe)
- pp. 349-378
- Umâyichîs (Naskapi)
- pp. 379-398
- From Algonquian Spirit: Contemporary Translations of the Algonquian Literatures of North America
- The Delaware Creation Story (Munsee)
- pp. 401-409
- A Pair of Hero Stories (Eastern Cree)
- pp. 410-425
- Winter Stories (Meskwaki/Fox)
- pp. 426-475
- Pine Root (Plains Cree)
- pp. 476-491
- Ghost Dance Songs (Arapaho)
- pp. 492-516
- From Salish Myths and Legends: One People’s Stories
- Source Acknowledgments
- pp. 531-532
- Contributors
- pp. 533-537