Stories and legends often represent the heart and soul of a culture. They tell tale of creation of life, the supernatural, higher beings, and even explain such miniscule things as why the crow is black and why a beaver’s tale is flat. Perhaps the greatest storytelling culture is that of the American Indian, a culture so committed and dedicated to oral history, myths, and legends. In Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz’s colorful collection, American Indian Myths and Legends, these stories help give reason to creation, life and death, spirits, love, human and animal relations, and thoughts on war and warrior code. While those tales are few and far between, the remainder of the book is filled with comical and meaningful tales meant to teach children and adults how to be good people. Even those with no knowledge of the Native. American culture will find it easy to take something away from one, if not all, of these stories.
These stories are meant to teach everyone about the culture and have then understand why the creators choose to tell these specific ones. I found these stories interesting and had me interpreting every story in many different ways. It had me thinking of of the ways these stories can be applied to the times of now and how they were applied to the times of the Native Indians.
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