Lewis Spence

The North American Indian has so long been an object of the deepest interest that the neglect of his picturesque and original mythologies and the tales to which they have given rise is difficult of comprehension. In boyhood we are wont to regard him as an instrument specially designed for the execution of tumultuous incident, wherewith heart-stirring fiction may be manufactured. In manhood we are too apt to consider him as only fit to be put aside...

Like other nations, the American Indians had their own creation mythologies. But they are, says the author, "Infinitely more rich in creative and deluge myths than those of any other race in the two hemispheres," and "differ as much from one another as do those of Europe and Asia." Spence guides us through other tribal creation beliefs, then into the sacred stories concerning the worship of birds, especially the eagle, of the rattlesnake, of the great...