Seneca Indian Myths Collected (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Jeremiah Curtin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1330308913 ISBN 13: 9781330308912

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from Seneca Indian Myths Collected

The Indian myths here presented, in their original form as dictated to Mr. Curtin by aged Indians of the Seneca people, were collected by him while acting as an agent of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institute, and are now published with the permission and approval of that body.

Mr. Curtin considered the collection of the ideas of primitive peoples as indispensible to the study of the development of the human mind. From college days, though living abroad and occupied with affairs connected with his diplomatic position, he spent his leisure time studying philology and mythology; and when, many years later, in 1883, he was offered a position in the Bureau of Ethnology, he was very glad to enter the field as an active worker.

His teacher in the Seneca language was Sim Logan, a Seneca Indian, who was in Washington in government employ and was willing to add to his earnings by acting as Mr. Curtin's tutor. At the end of four months Mr. Curtin had acquired considerable knowledge of Seneca, which he found one of the most interesting of Indian languages. In September of that year Logan left for his home near Versailles, N. Y., and a few days later Mr. Curtin went to Versailles to begin work in the field.

He remained there till late in December and it was during this time that he collected most of the myths in the present volume. He appointed a time and place, and when the Indians assembled he told them why he had come to the Reservation; that the Bureau of Ethnology wished to preserve their traditions and myths and that this could only be done by writing them down. A young man called Two Guns, immediately advised the people to have nothing to do with Mr. Curtin, as he was there to get hold of their Seneca religion and store it away as a curiosity.

About this title

About the Author

About the Author:

"Jeremiah Curtin (September 6, 1835 - December 14, 1906, Vermont) was an American translator and folklorist. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (some sources say Detroit, Michigan), he graduated from Harvard College in 1863. In 1864, he went to Russia. There he worked as both a translator and for the U. S. legation. He left Russia in 1877, stayed a year in London, and returned to the United States, where he worked for the Bureau of Ethnology. Curtin was stated to have known over 70 languages, and his work with native American Indian and well as Slavic languages was his specialty.

In addition to publishing collections of fairy tales and folklore and writings about his travels, Curtin translated a number of volumes by Henryk Sienkiewicz, including Quo Vadis, and Boleslaw Prus' only historical novel, Pharaoh (Curtin's English translation: 1902)." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1330308913
• ISBN 13: 9781330308912
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 530