Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children

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the Iroquois Tell Their Children, by Mabel Powers

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Title: Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children
Author: Mabel Powers
Release Date: July 18, 2007 [EBook #22096]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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STORIES THE IROQUOIS TELL THEIR CHILDREN
[Illustration]
MABEL POWERS (YEH SEN NOH WEHS)
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO
Copyright, 1917, by MABEL POWERS. All rights reserved. W. P. 9
[Illustration]

TO ALL THE CHILDREN WHO ASK HOW AND WHY, ESPECIALLY THOSE RED CHILDREN WHO SEE WITH WONDER EYES, AND THOSE PALEFACE CHILDREN WHO YET BELIEVE IN FAIRIES, THESE STORIES ARE LOVINGLY DEDICATED
[Illustration]

CONTENTS
PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 8
FOREWORD BY THE CHIEFS 9
INTRODUCTORY
HOW THE STORIES CAME TO BE 11
WHY I WAS CALLED THE STORY-TELLER 13
THE LITTLE PEOPLE 18
STORY-TELLING TIME 23
HOW THE IROQUOIS GIVE THANKS 27
A FIREMAKER AND A PEACEMAKER 34
IROQUOIS WONDER STORIES
HOW THE WHITE MAN CAME 45
WHY THE EAGLE DEFENDS AMERICANS 49
HOW THE TURKEY BUZZARD GOT HIS SUIT 60
WHY THE PARTRIDGE DRUMS 66
HOW THE INDIANS LEARNED TO HEAL 69
WHY DOGS CHASE FOXES 75
WHY HERMIT THRUSH IS SO SHY 79
HOW GOOD AND EVIL CAME TO BE 85
HOW A BOY WAS CURED OF BOASTING 90
WHY THE CUCKOO IS SO LAZY 95
HOW THE COON OUTWITTED THE FOX 99
WHY THE GOLDFINCHES LOOK LIKE THE SUN 103
WHAT THE ASH AND THE MAPLE LEARNED 107
HOW THE WOMAN OVERCAME THE BEAR 112
WHY THE WOODPECKER BORES FOR ITS FOOD 115
WHY THE ICE ROOF FELL 119
WHY THE CHIPMUNK HAS BLACK STRIPES 122
HOW TWO INDIAN BOYS SETTLED A QUARREL 125
HOW MICE OVERCAME THE WARRIORS 130
WHY CROWS ARE POOR 135
WHY THE INDIAN LOVES HIS DOG 139
GREEDY FAWN AND THE PORRIDGE 145
WHY HOUNDS OUTRUN OTHER ANIMALS 152
WHY INDIANS NEVER SHOOT PIGEONS 155
HOW OLD MAN WINTER WAS DRIVEN BACK 159
WHY LIGHTNING SOMETIMES STRIKES 168
WHY THE HARE HAS A SPLIT LIP AND SHORT TAIL 176
CORN PLUME AND BEAN MAIDEN 180
HOW THE ROBIN BURNED HIS BREAST 187
IROQUOIS FAIRY STORIES
HOW MORNING STAR LOST HER FISH 195
HOW LITTLE SHOOTER LOST HIS LUCK 201
HOW AN INDIAN BOY WON HIS NAME 205
HOW THE FAIRIES WORKED MAGIC 211

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
If the Red Children had not welcomed the writer to their lodge fires, these stories the Iroquois tell their children could not have been retold. With one or two exceptions, the ideas found in the stories have been had from the lips of the Indians themselves. To ARTHUR C. PARKER--Ga wa so wa neh--for his careful review of the stories and assistance in securing authentic Iroquois illustrations; and to the following story-tellers who so kindly welcomed her to their lodges, and told her stories, the writer is most grateful.
EDWARD CORNPLANTER (So son do wah--"Great Night") Seneca Wolf WILLIAM PATTERSON (Ga reh hwonts--"Power has come down") Tuscarora Deer MOSES SHONGO (Ho non da a suh--"Keeper of the hills") Seneca Wolf CLIFFORD SHONGO (Ouhn yah dah goh--"Very dark blue sky") Seneca Wolf CHARLES DOXON (Hoh squa sa ga dah--"Woodsman") Onondaga Turtle DANIEL GEORGE (Jo ha a ga dah--"Roadscraper") Onondaga Eel MARY PRINTUP (Wah le sa loh) Mohawk Snipe DAN WILLIAMS (Oh geh rah u reh ru ha neh--"Running Bear") Tuscarora Bear ELI HENRY Tuscarora Deer HARRIETT PEMBLETON (Gah do rehn tah--"Dropping Husks") Tuscarora Turtle AMOS KILLBUCK (Har wen do dyoh--"He has forsaken early dawn") Seneca Wolf ALFRED JIMESON (Har neh a oh--"Hatchet in his hands") Seneca Heron WILLIAM HOAG (O no nah--"Very cold") Seneca Wolf ELLEN PIERCE SHONGO (Yea wen noh aih--"The high word") Seneca Wolf BAPTIST THOMAS (Sa ha whe--"Long feather") Onondaga Turtle ALBERT CUSICK (Sha go na qua da--"Made them mad") Onondaga Eel THEODORE JIMESON (Jah o yah) Seneca Snipe DAVID WARRIOR (Dwen o gwah) Cayuga White Heron WILLETT JIMESON (So i as ah--"Owner of fine cornstalks") Seneca Wolf NANCY GREYSQUIRREL (Gah gwah tah--"One who lifts") Seneca Bear EMILY TALLCHIEF (Gi das was--"Wind blowing through corn") Seneca Turtle LOUISE PIERCE LOGAN (Ga yah was--"The quivering heaven") Seneca Wolf THOMAS JONES (Gah ne yehs--"The dropping snow") Seneca Wolf

FOREWORD
Once our fathers own these lands of New York State. Once the Iroquois were great people. Their council fires burn from Hudson on east to Lake Erie on west, from rising to setting sun. Then White man come. He ask for small seat size buffalo skin. He take larger and larger one, till Indian have but small place to sit.
Now we have little left but stories of our fathers. They, too, will soon be lost and forgotten, but a voice has come to speak for us. Yeh sen noh wehs--the one who tells the stories--will carry these stories of our fathers to Paleface. She