They dance in the sky : Native American star myths

Book

They dance in the sky : Native American star myths / [compiled by] Jean Guard Monroe and Ray A. Williamson ; illustrations by Edgar Stewart.

Monroe, Jean Guard. (Author). Williamson, Ray A., 1938- (Added Author).

Summary:

A collection of legends about the stars from various North American Indian cultures, including explanations of the Milky Way and constellations such as the Big Dipper.

Record details

ISBN: 039539970X
ISBN: 9780395399705
Physical Description: xii, 130 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1987.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographies and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Seven dancing stars : legends of the Pleiades. Bright Shining Old Man (Onondaga) -- Raccoon's children and baby coyote (Shasta) -- Wild Onion Woman (Monache) -- Baakil and his wives (Tachi Yokut).

Celestial bear : stories of the Big Dipper. The celestial bear (Micmac) -- Grizzly bear brother-in-law (Coeur d'Alene) -- How Coyote arranged the sky (Wasco) -- The elk hunters (Snohomish).

Coyote scatters the stars : myths from the Southwest. Black God and his stars (Navajo) -- The little girl who scatters the stars (Pueblo) -- Coyote scatters the stars (Cochiti) -- The dove maidens (Picuris).

When stars fell to earth : legends of the Pawnee. Stone God (Skidi Pawnee) -- The Pawnee constellations -- The seventh star (Skidi Pawnee) -- Basket Woman, mother of the stars (Skidi Pawnee) -- White Elk, the bear man (Pitahawirata).

Morning star : legends of the Plains Indians. The fixed star (Blackfoot) -- The sacred star (Omaha) -- The sun dance wheel (Arapaho) -- The seven stars (Assiniboin).

They live in the sky : stories of the California Indians. The land of the dead (Gabrielino) -- Sky Coyote (Chumash) -- How Rattlesnake had his revenge (Luiseño) -- The seven boys-turned-geese (Chumash) -- Eight wise men (Chumash) -- The seven sisters (Luiseño) -- The wolf and the crane (Tachi Yokut) -- Journey of the piñon gatherers (Chumash).

Chinook wind : stories from the Northwest coast. The elkskin (Quileute) -- Coyote loves a star (Klamath) -- Chinook Wind wrestles Cold Wind (Wasco).

Star beings : tales from the Southeast. The door through the sky (Cherokee) -- What the stars are like (Cherokee) -- The celestial canoe (Alabama) -- Anitsutsa, the boys (Cherokee) -- Where the dog ran (Cherokee).