Native American Legends: Stories of the Hopi Indians

Volumes 1&2

 

Native American Indian culture is known for its rich oral traditions.  In many cases there were no written languages to document their histories.  The tribes relied on verbal communication to share their customs, history, rituals and legends. The tribal elders used vibrant tales to pass information to the younger generations.  These stories were not only related to tribal history but were meant to entertain as well as educate, while preserving their tribal culture.

 

Each time an elder told a story, new life was breathed into it.  The telling of the stories gave a revived meaning to the tribe’s past and their relations to the earth and the animals they had depended on for existence.  In many cases when the stories were told, they were accompanied by music.  Drums and rhythm were paired with dance to create a visual record. 

 

The Hopi Indians culture was and is rich with these stories.  With a past stretching back thousands of years, they are one of the oldest living cultures in documented history.  The tribe’s teachings relate stories of a great flood and other events dating to ancient times.  The Hopi trace their ancestry back to the Ancient Puebloan and Basketmaker cultures.  They were responsible for many stone structures and artifacts of the Grand Canyon and across the Southwest.  A deeply religious people, they live by the ethic of peace and goodwill.

 

There was a time in Hopi history that when crops were harvested, religious ceremonies had been performed, and the winter wood had been collected.  It was at this time that the people broke out into dance and story-telling.  It was a time of sharing a rich history.  With this book, that time is now.

 

Included in these two volumes is a huge collection of the stories of the Hopi Indians.  Without books and without writing the Hopi have an extensive literature. These stories have been collected with the main purpose of preserving the ancient stories of Native American life.  Over the years, many collectors have recorded several versions of some of these tales.  So keep in mind there is some variation to what has been collected.   You are invited to enjoy the culture and as in true Native tradition, share these stories with the next generation.

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The stories collected in Volume One represent some of the best to be found.  Included you will find:  The Song of Creation - A Hopi Legend, The White Dawn of Hopi, The Pookonghoyas and the Cannibal Monster, The Two War Gods and the Two Maidens, Dug-From Ground, Origin Myth, Coming Of The Hopi From The Underworld, The Origin Of Some Oraibi Clans, The Spider Clan, The Bear Clan, The Wanderings Of The Spider Clan (Kohk’ang-Namu), The Origin Of The Yayaatu Society, The Origin Of Some Mishongnovi Clans, The Destruction Of Palatkwapi, How Ball-head (Tatciqto) Wedded And Oraibi Maiden, The Aho’li And Other Walpi Katcinas, Pookonghoya And His Brother As Theives, and many, many more.

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Included in Volume Two you will find:  Hopi Prayer For Peace, Creation, The Wanderings of the Bear Clan, The Snake Myth, A Journey to the Skeleton House, Korosta Katzina Song, Huruing Wuhti And The Sun, The Wanderings Of The Hopi, The Revenge Of The Katcinas, How The Circle (Pongo) Katcina And His Wife Became Stars, The Kokoshori Katcina And The Shongopavi Maiden, The Two War Gods And The Two Maidens, How The Po’okongs Destroyed Cookoko And His Wife, How Po’okong Killed The Bear, The Po’okongs Attend A Dance, The Po’okongs And The Balolookong, Masauwuu Marries A Maiden, and many, many more.

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