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A review by absentminded_reader
American Indian Fairy Tales by William Trowbridge Larned
4.0
I've come to the end of another lovely collection of folktales. This collection was important to me because it was given to me by my grandmother almost thirty years ago. The book originally belonged to my great grandmother. She was an art fan and had enjoyed the illustrations in this edition. There were other illustrations tucked inside from another book, as well. I tracked down the book they came from, which is a story for another day. I usually left the book on the shelf because it was so old and deteriorated, but I found the book on Project Gutenberg, so I finally was able to enjoy it.
The art by John Rae was hard to discern sometimes because the color had begun to bleed from this 1921 edition, although it could also have been due to a lousy print job. Regardless, the illustrations where fanciful and matched the stories well. My favorite was the one of the last, which depicted the puk-Wudjies, or fairies. The stories were culled from an earlier publication which I have discovered is on Project Gutenberg, so I'll be reading it next to see how Westernized these tales had become in the retelling.
My favorites were the stories with characters with distinct personalities striving to overcome an enemy, often a personification of weather. The second to last story (Mish-o-sha, the Magician) could have fit well thematically with some Irish folktales I have read due to the evil magician and the three trials, but was distinct because of the way nature was depicted. At one point, Seegwun, the hero, convinced a flock of seagulls to not eat him and, instead, carry him back to the magician astride their backs as the thousands of seagulls beat their wings. Imagery like that helps Native American folklore stand out from other cultures. There is a grand majesty to their imagination that felt both old fashioned and modern. Although the book has been reprinted, I recommend looking it up on Project Gutenberg so that you can enjoy it with the original illustrations.
The art by John Rae was hard to discern sometimes because the color had begun to bleed from this 1921 edition, although it could also have been due to a lousy print job. Regardless, the illustrations where fanciful and matched the stories well. My favorite was the one of the last, which depicted the puk-Wudjies, or fairies. The stories were culled from an earlier publication which I have discovered is on Project Gutenberg, so I'll be reading it next to see how Westernized these tales had become in the retelling.
My favorites were the stories with characters with distinct personalities striving to overcome an enemy, often a personification of weather. The second to last story (Mish-o-sha, the Magician) could have fit well thematically with some Irish folktales I have read due to the evil magician and the three trials, but was distinct because of the way nature was depicted. At one point, Seegwun, the hero, convinced a flock of seagulls to not eat him and, instead, carry him back to the magician astride their backs as the thousands of seagulls beat their wings. Imagery like that helps Native American folklore stand out from other cultures. There is a grand majesty to their imagination that felt both old fashioned and modern. Although the book has been reprinted, I recommend looking it up on Project Gutenberg so that you can enjoy it with the original illustrations.