Publisher's Synopsis
Frank B. Linderman kept as close as possible to the Indian style of storytelling, using only the tales told him by elders of the Blackfeet, Chippewa, and Cree tribes. Indian Why Stories, originally published in 1915, recreates a cozy scene: a medicine man sits before a lodge fire relating tales of the Old days to grandchildren not ready for bed. He tells about the animal people-the deer and antelope in a foot race, the dancing fox who convulses the buffalo with laughter, the white beaver and ghost-people, the huge snake in love with the moon, the sparrow-hawk of conscience, and much more. These stories have a moral framework, revealing a reverence for life, emphasis on honesty, and lack of bigotry.