Description
A bison and a bobtailed horse race across the sky| raising a trail of dust behind them–leaving in their wake the Milky Way to forever mark their path.
An unknown Arapaho teller shared this account with an ethnographer in 1893| explaining that the race determined which animal would be ridden| which would be food.
Traditional American Indian oral narratives| ranging from origin stories to trickster tales and prayers| constitute part of the great heritage of each tribe.
Many of these narratives| gathered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries| were obtained or published only in English translation.
Although this is the case with many Arapaho stories| extensive Arapaho-language texts exist that have never before been published–until now.
“Arapaho Stories| Songs| and Prayers” gives new life to these manuscripts| celebrating Arapaho oral narrative traditions in all the richness of their original language.
Working with Alonzo Moss| Sr.| and William J.
C’Hair| two fluent native speakers of Arapaho| Andrew Cowell retranscribes these texts–collected between the early 1880s and the late 1920s–into modern Arapaho orthography| and retranslates and annotates them in English.
Masterpieces of oral literature| these texts include creation accounts| stories about the Arapaho trickster character Nih’oo3oo| animal tales| anecdotes| songs| prayers| and ceremonial speeches.
In addition to a general introduction| the editors offer linguistic| stylistic| thematic| and cultural commentary and context for each of the texts.
More than any other work| this book affords new insights into Arapaho language and culture.
It expands the Arapaho lexicon| discusses Arapaho values and ethos| and offers a uniquely informed perspective on Arapaho storytelling.
An unparalleled work of recovery and preservation| it will at once become “the” reference guide to the Arapaho language and its texts.
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