Old Indian Legends

In this wonderful collection of D/N/Lakota stories originally published in 1901, Zitkala'sa ("Little Red Bird") retells fourteen legends (listed below)from the oral tradition. Most of the stories involve Iktomi (Unktomi) the Spider Trickster and his moral misadventures. Other stories include the Avenger and Iya ("Mouth")the Glutton. Most of the stories are used in showing the proper norms for D/N/Lakota society: be generous, do not be greedy, be hospitable, do not boast about yourself, do not deceive others to attain things, be merciful, be a good relative, etc. The reader will notice that some of the later stories do not follow the pattern of teaching morality, but seem to reflect older stories that do not always seem to follow logically. All in all, they are amazing stories that Zitkala'sa, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, wrote for primarily white audiences. There is a nice biographical sketch of Zitkala'sa and the illustrations by Angel De Cora are interesting in that they imagine the characters in human form. Here are the stories as they appear in the book: "Iktomi and the Ducks," "Iktomi's Blanket," "Iktomi and the Muskrat," "Iktomi and the Coyote," "Iktomi and the Fawn," "The Badger and the Bear," "The Tree-Bound," "Shooting of the Red Eagle," "Iktomi and the Turtle," "Dance in the Buffalo Skull," "The Toad and the Boy," "Iya, the Camp-Eater," "Man'stin, The Rabbit," and "The Warlike Seven."