Oral traditions and myths have long been an integral part of Native American cosmology. Not only have they been - and continue to be - an essential part of handing down Native American customs, norms, beliefs, and cultural histories, but they also form a communal mythic discourse. This discourse is not a "fixed text," but rather a dynamic process of interactive relations that are developed over generations of experience, and passed from relation to relation and generation to generation. In this sense, the traditional structures of mythic discourse serve an integrative function: to form a coherent basis for communal identity in terms of a shared set of fundamental ideas and beliefs expressed in multiple forms. The oral traditions and myths recorded in this book are part of the communal mythic discourse of the Lakota Sioux people. Originally collected and recorded at the close of the nineteenth century by two Native language speakers - Marie L. McLaughlin and Zitkala Sa - these oral traditions provide some of the least distorted or colonially disrupted examples of the Lakota Sioux communal mythic discourse. Containing over 40 oral traditions, Lakota Sioux Legends and Myths brings together into a single volume these remarkable myths and legends. Edited and with a forward by Peter N. Jones, Ph.D., Lakota Sioux Legends and Myths is a welcome and refreshing addition to the literature. Once again the beauty, depth, and knowledge contained within the Lakota Sioux oral traditions can speak for themselves.

"Eye Witness Accounts of the Kiowa in Transition" contains the full original copies of two complete works: "Tahan - Out of Savagery into Civilization" and "Andele, or The Mexican-Kiowa Captive." Both of these works provide important ethnographic information on the Kiowa during a pivotal period in history. At a time when the Kiowa were being forced onto reservations and much of their traditional lands were being colonized towards the end of the 19th century, both Tahan and Andele came to live among the Kiowa. The works published here are the autobiographical and biographical accounts of these two individuals and their lives among the Kiowa, their adoption into the tribe, and their recounting of Kiowa life on the southern Plains. No other works provide first hand ethnographic accounts of the Kiowa during this pivotal period in Kiowa history.

Together, "Tahan - Out of Savagery into Civilization" and "Andele, or The Mexican-Kiowa Captive" provide unique, important information on a pivotal period in Kiowa history. Within a short period of time, the Kiowa were forced onto reservations and prevented from practicing much of their traditional lifeway, including their seasonal movements with the buffalo herds. Both Tahan and Andele lived among the Kiowa during this period, and the two books published here provide essential information on this transition.

Primary Sources In Native North America

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Bauu Institute's Primary Sources in Native North America Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting important sources on Native North America.

Myron Eells (1843-1907), the younger son of pioneer missionaries Cushing Eells (1810-1893) and Myra (Fairbanks) Eells (1805-1878), was born at the Tshimakain Mission near present-day Spokane, Washington. He graduated from Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut in 1871, and then returned to the Northwest. At first he led a Congregational Church in Boise, Idaho, but then shortly moved to the Skokomish Reservation, west of Puget Sound, where his brother Edwin was Indian Agent in 1874. Myron remained there for the rest of his life, working as a missionary among Native Americans and White settlers.

The two works by Myron Eells republished here, "The Twana Indians of the Skokomish Reservation in Washington Territory" (first published in 1877) and "Ten Years of Missionary Work Among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory" (first published in 1886) were both written shortly after the formation of the reservation and during a period of great change for the people of Skokomish. "The Twana Indians of the Skokomish Reservation in Washington Territory" provides an unparalleled ethnological account of contemporary Native life during this period of change, while "Ten Years of Missionary Work Among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory" not only builds on the previous work, but also provides the most important published source on the origins of the Indian Shaker Church.

Primary Sources in Native North America

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Bauu Institute's Primary Sources in Native North America Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting important sources on Native North America.

Shamanism... what is it? Is it a phenomenon with a clear definition or with a set of clearly definable attributes? Has the phenomenon changed over time, or are today's versions found in suburban basements the same as those that were practiced hundreds of years ago by various tribal people? What can we figure out about shamanism if we simply look at the term itself and how it has been employed over time? What if we restrict ourselves to one geographic location? These are some of the questions grappled with, and partially answered, in this book. By discussing the historical use of the terms shamanism and shaman in North America, Peter N. Jones offers fresh insights into the history of this phenomenon. Comparing current understandings and descriptions of the phenomenon with those of the historical and archival record, Shamans and Shamanism presents a comprehensive analysis of the terms use over time. Included in the book is a comprehensive bibliography of the term's use in North America. Shamans and Shamanism is an important resource for anyone interested in this phenomenon. It provides new insights into the history of the terms, their use in both academic and pop literature, and offers a starting point for future investigations of the phenomenon.

In 1996 on the banks of the Columbia River a 9,300-year old skeleton was found that would become the impetus for the first legal assault on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The Kennewick Man, as it came to be called, put to test whether the American Indian tribes of the area were culturally affiliated with the skeleton as they claim and their oral traditions affirm, or whether the skeleton was affiliated with a people who are no longer present. At the same time, another 9,000-year old skeleton was found in the storage facility of the Nevada State Museum, where it had gone unnoticed for the past 50 years. Like the Kennewick Man, the Spirit Cave Mummy also brought to fore the question of cultural affiliation between contemporary American Indian tribes of the western Great Basin and those people who resided in the area during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Cultural anthropologist Peter N. Jones tackles these contentious questions in this landmark study, Respect for the Ancestors. For the first time in a single work, the question of cultural affiliation between the present-day American Indians of the American West and the people of the distant past is examined using multiple lines of evidence. Out of this comprehensive study, a picture of continuous cultural evolution and adaptation between the peoples of the ancient past and those of the present-day emerges from the evidence. Further, important implications for the field of anthropology are discussed as a result of this benchmark study. Anyone working in the American West today will benefit from this book.

The field of molecular anthropology has grown in recent years with the advent of new methodologies and theoretical assumptions. The field has been particularly insightful in helping understand the initial peopling of North America. The author discusses the field of molecular anthropology and its insights into the peopling of North America, examining in detail the mtDNA and Y chromosome genetic data. Written in a clear, readable fashion, the author gives an overview of the topic for researchers, graduate students, and other professionals who are interested in this exciting new area of inquiry and the possibilities it holds for such contentious issues as biological affiliation, the peopling of North America, and historic population movements.