The Dawn of the World Myths and Tales of the Miwok Indians of California - Hardcover

by C. Hart Merriam (Editor)

1910. The tales contained in this volume were told to Merriam by the Indians of a single stock, the Mewan, the tribes of which are confined to central California and have no known relatives in any part of the world. The myths are related by the old people after the first rains of the winter season, usually in the ceremonial roundhouse and always at night by the dim light of a small flickering fire. They constitute the religious history of the tribe, and from time immemorial have been handed down by word of mouth; from generation to generation they have been repeated, without loss and without addition. Some of the tales contained in this volume are: Why the Lizard Man did not restore Dead People to Life; The Coyote and the Lizard; The Creation of Man; How they got the Fire; The bear and the Fawns, as told by the Northern Mewuk; Why the Bodega Bay Indians can not stand Cold; and many more.