Here the noted folklorist brings together traditional accounts of epic events and adventures in the life of Hopi clans and villages, from legendary to historical times. The setting of these various adventures and events is not the Southwest as we know it today, but a vast and largely unpeopled wilderness in which clans and families wandered in search of a final living place, and in search of their collective identity. Notes, a pronunciation guide, and a glossary enhance the reader's appreciation of the text.

The heroic legends decribed here, re-create the events and annals of the kingdom of Segu and of the Bambara tribe that formed a series of important city-states along the Niger River during the 17th century. The deeds of kings, the exploits of warriors, the sorcery of magicians, and battles against invaders are among the subjects addressed. The stories, transmitted orally, were narrated by the djeli, traditional keepers of the history of ruling families of the kingdoms that once flourished in the Western Sudan. They speak of valour, honour, intrigues and rivalries between powerful chiefs; they...

In A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore, editor Harold Courlander brings together an extensive and unique collection of tales, recollections, epics, traditions, beliefs, myths, historical chronicles, and songs from the numerous Negro cultures of the New World. Courlander explores the unwritten traditions and literature of the Spanish, French, and English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, the areas of Central and South America inhabited by people of African descent, the black communities of the United States, and many others. With a focus on the interconnectedness of cultural inheritances...