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Lost Native American Myths of Various Tribes | Last Reporter ...

This 142-page rediscovered work by Carrie DeVoe is truly a treasure. It not only offers lost folklore of various Native American tribes, it is also beautifully written and illustrated with original paintings.

It includes folklore from the following tribes:

1. The Pawnees

2. The Sioux

3. The Kaws and Osages

4. The Delaware

5. The Wyandots

6. The Pottawatomies

7. The Shawnees

Author

Little is known about Carrie DeVoe except that she spend a good part of her life researching and recording the folklore and myths of ancient American Indian tribes. Her work, which was done in the early 20th century lives on as a testament to the complexities and beauty of Native American culture. For this we are exceedingly thankful to Ms. DeVoe.

Here’s an excerpt:

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.

The history of Kansas has been of peculiar interest to the world at large, by reason of the struggles of ante-bellum days. The adventures of John Brown of Osawatomie and the achievements of General Lane, Governor Robinson, and other heroes of that period have formed the nucleus of many a story and song. All honor to the men who labored so successfully in the cause of freedom! There is another, equally brave, though less fortunate, race that wandered over the rolling prairies of the Sunflower State and camped along its rivers; a race stern, taciturn, and ever ready to do battle for home and liberty. Like the buffalo, former monarch of the plains, it has gradually diminished in numbers. Extinction or amalgamation is now a question of only a few brief years. This nation furnishes a romantic background, full of rich though somber color, to the later record of the great West.

Who can say that the traditions of the red man lack pathos, or that his character is devoid of the elements of nobleness, self-sacrifice and even martyrdom? Rude, wild and imperfect though it be, his folklore tells the story of a people, barbarous, it is true, but strong in their attachments and devoted to their faith. Many Indian myths, adventures and scraps of history are full of deep—often tragic—interest to one who delves in legendary lore. Like the tales of ancient Greece, as explained by Ruskin in  Queen of the Air , each weird story admits of more than one interpretation. Sometimes a great spiritual truth lies hidden in its quaint phrases—sometimes a scientific fact.