CONTENTS

      Page
 
Foreword ix
 
Introduction xvii
 
 
I. FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS IN SENECA FOLK LORE 1
 
  Basic Premises 3
 
  Gods, Major Spirits and Folk-Beasts 5
 
  Nature Beings 10
 
  Magic Beasts and Birds 16
 
  Magical Man-like Beings 18
 
 
II. THEMES AND MATERIALS 23
 
  Stereotyped Objects and Incidents 27
 
  Components of the Cosmological Myth 33
 
 
III. THE ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH THE LEGENDS WERE TOLD 37
 
 
IV. WHEN THE WORLD WAS NEW 57
 
  1. How the World Began 59
 
  2. The Brothers who Climbed into the Sky 74
 
  3. The Death Panther 78
 
  4. The Great Bear Constellation 81
 
  5. The Seven Brothers of the Star Cluster 83
 
  6. The Seven Star Dancers 86
 
  7. The Coming of Spring 88
 
  8. The Coming of Death 92
 
 
V. BOYS WHO DEFIED MAGIC AND OVERCAME IT 95
 
  9. Origin of Folk Stories 97
 
  10. The Forbidden Arrow and the Quilt of Men’s Eyes 101
 
  11. Corn Grinder, the Grandson 108
 
  12. He-Goes-to-Listen 116
 
  13. Hatondas, the Listener, Finds a Wife 122
 
  14. The Origin of the Chestnut Tree 128
 
  15. Divided Body Rescues a Girl 133
 
  16. The Origin of the Buffalo Society 137
 
  17. The Boy who could not Understand 142
 
  18. The Boy who Lived with the Bears 147
 
  19. The Seventh Son 154
 
  20. The Boy who Overcame all Magic by Laughter 159
 
 
VI. TALES OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE 171
 
  21. Two Feathers and Turkey Brother 173
 
  22. Two Feathers and Woodchuck Leggings 184
 
  23. Turkey Boy Squeezed the Hearts of Sorcerers 200
 
  24. Corn Rains into Empty Barrels 205
 
  25. Twentgowa and the Mischief Maker 208
 
  26. The Horned Serpent Runs Away with a Girl 218
 
  27. The Great Serpent and the Young Wife 223
 
  28. Bushy Head the Bewitched Warrior 228
 
  29. The Flint Chip Thrower 235
 
 
VII. HORROR TALES OF CANNIBALS AND SORCERERS: 239
 
  30. The Duel of the Dream Test 241
 
  31. The Vampire Sirens 253
 
  32. Younger Brother Eludes His Sister-in-Law 262
 
  33. The Island of the Cannibal 269
 
  34. The Twelve Brothers and the Wraith 278
 
  35. The Cannibal and His Nephew 284
 
  36. A Youth’s Double Abuses His Sister 290
 
  37. Murdered Double Speaks Through Fire 293
 
  38. The Vampire Corpse 298
 
 
VIII. TALES OF TALKING ANIMALS: 301
 
  39. The Man who Exhaled Fire 303
 
  40. The Turtle’s War Party 305
 
  41. The Race of the Turtle and the Beaver 309
 
  42. The Wolf and the Raccoon 312
 
  43. The Chipmunk’s Stripes 314
 
  44. The Rabbit Song 315
 
  45. The Rabbit Gambler 317
 
  46. The Raccoon and the Crabs 319
 
  47. The Crab’s Eyes 321
 
  48. How the Squirrel Gave a Blanket, etc. 322
 
  49. The Chickadee’s Song 325
 
  50. The Bird Woman 326
 
  51. The Partridge’s Song 328
 
 
IX. TALES OF GIANTS, PYGMIES AND MONSTER BEARS: 329
 
  52. A Tale of the Djogeon or Pygmies 331
 
  53. Beyond-the-Rapids and the Stone Giant 334
 
  54. The Animated Finger 337
 
  55. The Stone Giant’s Battle 340
 
  56. The Boy and the False Face 342
 
  57. How a Boy Outwitted a Nia’´gwahe 344
 
  58. Nia’´gwahe, the Mammoth Bear 349
 
  59. The Boy and the Nia’´gwahe 358
 
 
X. TRADITIONS: 363
 
    Seneca Belief in Witchcraft 365
 
  60. Contents of a Charm Holder’s Bundle 368
 
  61. Contents of a Witch Bundle 369
 
  62. Overcoming a Witch 370
 
  63. The Scorned Witch Woman 372
 
  64. Catching a Witch Bundle 376
 
  65. Witch with a Dog Transformation 378
 
  66. Witch Steals Children’s Hearts 380
 
  67. Hotciwaho (Hammer in His Belt) 382
 
  68. How America was Discovered 383
 
  69. Origin of the Charm Holder’s Medicine Society 386
 
  70. Origin of the False Face Company 394
 
  71. Origin of the Long House 403
 
  72. Dead Timber, a Tradition of Albany 407
 
 
XI. APPENDIX: 409
 
  A. Origin of the World 411
 
  B. The Wyandot Creation Myth 417
 
  C. An Interview with “Esq.” Johnson by Mrs. Asher Wright 421
 
  D. Emblematic Trees in Iroquoian Mythology 431
 
  E. The Society that Guards the Mystic Potence 445