Description
This excerpt is from "Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest" by Katharine Berry Judson. The book is a compilation of stories from various tribes in the Pacific Northwest, all of which were collected by Judson from native oral tradition. The stories revolve around things like the creation of the universe, fire and daylight theft, death and rebirth of salmon, and the formation of geographical features. Some of the legends in the book, such as "Duration of Life" and "Old Grizzly and Old Antelope," are almost literal translations from government ethnologists, while others, such as "Robe of Kemush" are drawn from native oral tradition. The stories are animated by entities like Coyote, Old Man Above, Owl and Raven, and Chinook Ghosts.
These collected myths and tales of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest—the Klamath, Nez Perce, Tillamook, Modoc, Shastan, Chinook, Flathead, Clatsop, and other tribes—were first published in 1910. Here are their stories concerning the creation of the universe, the theft of fire and daylight, the death and rebirth of salmon, and especially, the formation of such geographical features as The Dalles, the Columbia River, the Yukon River, and Mounts Shasta, Hood, Rainier, Baker, and Adams. Katharine Berry Judson began with native oral tradition in retelling these stories. They represent, as Jay Miller says, “a distillation of tribal memory and a personification of environmental wisdom.” Some legends—“Duration of Life,” “Old Grizzly and Old Antelope,” and “Robe of Kemush”—are almost literal translations, recorded by government ethnologists. Animating the beautifully wrought tales are entities like Coyote, Old Man Above, Owl and Raven and other Animal People, and Chinook Ghosts.
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