Publisher's Synopsis
When knowledge was passed from generation to generation through story, early peoples in North America gathered to hear of how their world came to be. Their elders spoke of fundamental concerns of a life lived close to the earth; the origin of the winds, or of the stars, or the seasons; where night and day came from; how the first human, or animals, took breath and a rightful place in the world. This book contains thirteen such creation stories retold simply and powerfully for young children. The Eskimo, Tlingit, Maidu, Makah, Cree, Navajo, Hopi, Osage, Seneca, Cherokee, Sioux, and Shoshoni peoples are represented. Their legends are inhabited by figures like Old Man Father of Fish, who filled the ocean with food for the people-yet-to-be; Turtle the Earth-bearer; the two war gods, Little Fellows, who tame the wind; Water Spider, who stole fire for the world; and other wonderful characters who were literally present at the creation.
