Public-domain ebook
by Mabel Powers
Language: en5,256 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Folklore·Native America·Children's Myths, Fairy Tales, etc.
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #22096.
Mabel Powers’ collection is a folkloric anthology that presents the traditional tales the Iroquois once told their children around lodge fires. The book opens with a heartfelt acknowledgment of the Red Children who welcomed the author into their homes, followed by a long list of tribal storytellers, Seneca, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Mohawk, and others, who contributed their narratives and illustrations. A foreword then explains how these stories, passed down through generations, were recorded by the writer, who calls herself “Yeh sen noh wehs,” the one who carries and tells the stories. The introduction sets the stage for a series of myths about Little People, nature spirits, and moral lessons that were originally shared in winter evenings, emphasizing the cultural urgency of preserving them before they fade from memory.
The voice is that of an early‑20th‑century ethnographer‑author, earnest and reverent, blending her own observations with the oral words of the Iroquois elders. The prose is straightforward, interspersed with transliterations of Indigenous terms and occasional lyrical descriptions of firelit gatherings. Readers interested in Native American folklore, anthropology students, or anyone who enjoys authentic, respectfully presented mythic narratives will find this work a valuable glimpse into the storytelling traditions of the Six Nations.
The opening · free to read
If the Red Children had not welcomed the writer to their lodge fires, these stories the Iroquois tell their children could not have been retold. With one or two exceptions, the ideas found in the stories have been had from the lips of the Indians themselves. To ARTHUR C. PARKER--_Ga wa so wa neh_--for his careful review of the stories and assistance in securing authentic Iroquois illustrations; and to the following story-tellers who so kindly welcomed her to their lodges, and told her stories, the writer is most grateful.
EDWARD CORNPLANTER (_So son do wah_--"Great Night") Seneca Wolf WILLIAM PATTERSON (_Ga reh hwonts_--"Power has come down") Tuscarora Deer MOSES SHONGO (_Ho non da a suh_--"Keeper of the hills") Seneca Wolf CLIFFORD SHONGO (_Ouhn yah dah goh_--"Very dark blue sky") Seneca Wolf CHARLES DOXON (_Hoh squa sa ga dah_--"Woodsman") Onondaga Turtle DANIEL GEORGE (_Jo ha a ga dah_--"Roadscraper") Onondaga Eel MARY PRINTUP (Wah le sa loh) Mohawk Snipe DAN WILLIAMS (_Oh geh rah u reh ru ha neh_--"Running Bear") Tuscarora Bear ELI HENRY Tuscarora Deer HARRIETT PEMBLETON (_Gah do rehn tah_--"Dropping Husks") Tuscarora Turtle AMOS KILLBUCK (_Har wen do dyoh_--"He has forsaken early dawn") Seneca Wolf ALFRED JIMESON (_Har neh a oh_--"Hatchet in his hands") Seneca Heron WILLIAM HOAG (_O no nah_--"Very cold") Seneca Wolf ELLEN PIERCE SHONGO (_Yea wen noh aih_--"The high word") Seneca Wolf BAPTIST THOMAS (_Sa ha whe_--"Long feather") Onondaga Turtle ALBERT CUSICK (_Sha go na qua da_--"Made them mad") Onondaga Eel THEODORE JIMESON (Jah o yah) Seneca Snipe DAVID WARRIOR (Dwen o gwah) Cayuga White Heron WILLETT JIMESON (_So i as ah_--"Owner of fine cornstalks") Seneca Wolf NANCY GREYSQUIRREL (_Gah gwah tah_--"One who lifts") Seneca Bear EMILY TALLCHIEF (_Gi das was_--"Wind blowing through corn") Seneca Turtle LOUISE PIERCE LOGAN (_Ga yah was_--"The quivering heaven") Seneca Wolf THOMAS JONES (_Gah ne yehs_--"The dropping snow") Seneca Wolf
Once our fathers own these lands of New York State. Once the Iroquois were great people. Their council fires burn from Hudson on east to Lake Erie on west, from rising to setting sun. Then White man come. He ask for small seat size buffalo skin. He take larger and larger one, till Indian have but small place to sit.
Now we have little left but stories of our fathers. They, too, will soon be lost and forgotten, but a voice has come to speak for us. _Yeh sen noh wehs_--the one who tells the stories--will carry these stories of our fathers to Paleface. She will help White man to understand Indian, Indian to be understood. She will have all men brothers.
Indian's heart is glad that Yeh sen noh wehs, our white friend, has come to us. She have good eyes. She see right. She like things Indian. She try to preserve them. Our old men and women tell her the stories told them, many, many moons ago, when little children.
Yeh sen noh wehs write down these stories so our children and our children's children may read and know them; and so Paleface Children may learn them also. Indian tell these stories to his children to make them good and brave and kind and unselfish. May they teach Paleface Children how they should do.
Again we say, Indian is glad to have some one speak for him. He is glad to have some one write down the great and beautiful thoughts in Indian's mind and heart. We have spoken. Na ho.
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