COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY

INDIAN
NATURE
MYTHS

Page 121

“THE THUNDER MAIDEN FASTENED HIS PURPLE WINGS TOHIS SHOULDERS AND BADE HIM GOOD-BYE”

The stories of this book have been chosenfor the purpose of showing how the early RedMen accounted for the phenomena of nature—thepresence of the birds, the moaning of thewind, the whispering of the leaves. The naturemyths of the North American Indian are fullof poetry, and occasionally of a rich humor.In retelling the stories for children the authorhas sought to retain the original spirit of thetales, and through them to give to the readera better understanding of the inner life andthought of the primitive Red Man at his best.The tales have been gathered from manysources, and are representative of many tribes.

It is well known that the same tale in varyingform is told among many different tribes,just as the folk tales have been carried in earlytimes from one nation to another and are variouslyaccredited. It is not always possible todetermine the original source.

Before reading or telling the Indian Nature[Pg 6]Myths to the children, it is best to explain thatjust as they love to wonder and imagine aboutthe new and strange sights and sounds of theworld, so the early races of men, the childrenof time, loved to wonder and imagine. Andso these stories of nature grew out of theirimaginings; and some of the stories are sobeautiful, and some of them are so odd, thatmen have repeated them from one generationto another, ever since,—for even when they nolonger believed them to be true, they lovedthem.