The Mythology Of Native North America

Most North Americans experience mythology by way of translations of classicaltexts and surprisingly few of us are familiar with Coyote Spider Woman WaterJar Boy... » 

Most North Americans experience mythology by way of translations of classicaltexts and surprisingly few of us are familiar with Coyote Spider Woman WaterJar Boy Falling Sky Woman or the epic of the Blessingway to name just afew of the stories retold in this collection of significant myths of NativeNorth America.David Leeming and Jake Page building on the success of their Goddess Myths ofthe Female Divine and God Myths of the Male Divine have provided anintroduction and commentary on seventytwo myths drawn from a variety ofcultures and language groups. They honor the Native pantheons cosmologiesheroes and heroines first as cultural expressions then as variations on othermythic narratives to which they may be related and ultimately as expressionsof the larger human experience of mythmaking. In the process Leeming and Pagereveal much of the relationship between rituals religious traditionsespecially shamanism and the myths they have chosen to retell.This literary anthology brings North American Indian mythology for the firsttime into the mainstream of world mythology. Academic and general readers willfind The Mythology of Native North America appealing and accessible both forstudy and in their personal libraries. «