Is "genuine" Indian literature the oral legend which is passed down through the centuries and later put into print?

Or, must we only label literature written by Native Americans who learned English and became mainstream writers as "genuine" Indian literature?

Can literature written by Native Americans who use Western styles and forms such as the short story or the novel be considered Native literature?

Is there something about Native literature which remains somehow Indian despite its form and style?

What real difference is there between the poetry of John Trudell (Santee Dakota), the political writings of Vine Deloria Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), the postmodernist novels of Gerald Vizenor, or the Broadway theatricals of Lynn Riggs (Cherokee).

We begin on our main page with an example of Oral legend. The other pages will concentrate on traditional Native Literature. You decide the answere to the questions above.

Oral Legend is Still Very Important

The Creation Stories of California Tribes Through Oral History

Few writers have focused on this interesting group of Native Americans and their oral histories. View the literature of other tribes on our sub pages.

As with all other cultures, the indigenous tribes of Southern California had their own ideas and stories about the creation of the Earth. However, their long interaction seems to have influenced certain aspects of their oral legends.

California Native American tribes have creation stories passed down through the centuries by those responsible for preserving tribal oral legend. When compared, there are some similarities in the creation stories of the Serrano, the Cahuilla and the Mojave. They all highlight 2 brothers who are the world’s creators, while one is connected to the land. Each creation story has two brothers who are the creators, with one connected to the land and the other is tied to the oceans, but their endings vary.

The Earth and Land

Most tribes view the Earth as an island surrounded or floating on water. The Maidu Indians living in Northern California believed the Earth was being held on top of the water by five ropes, held by the Creator. When earthquakes occurred, it was the Creator shaking the ropes.

The Luiseño Indians living in Southern California had similar ideas held by the primitive tribes who lived near the Nile and Euphrates in Egypt. California Native, John Morongo recited the Luiseño’s ancient creation which begins as with the universe as being a huge, empty dark place. Two brothers emerge with one creating the oceans and the other created an extensive, flat earth. One brother is called Kukitatc, the Land God and the other brother is Pakrokitatc, the Sea God.

How the Mountains Were Formed

Soon, the brothers begin to fight and the Sea God brother jumps into the sea causing immense waves that roll over the land. This spurs on the Land God brother to push the land up to form hills and mountains, thereby protecting Him from the turbulence of the Seas. Thus, he stopped his evil brother from destroying the land.

Concept of the Earth

Most tribes view the Earth as an island surrounded or floating on water. The Maidu Indians living in Northern California believed the Earth was being held on top of the water by five ropes, held by the Creator. When earthquakes occurred, it was the Creator shaking the ropes.

The Luiseño Indians living in Southern California had similar ideas held by the primitive tribes who lived near the Nile and Euphrates in Egypt. California Native, John Morongo recited the Luiseño’s ancient creation which begins as with the universe as being a huge, empty dark place. Two brothers emerge with one creating the oceans and the other created an extensive, flat earth. One brother is called the Land God and the other brother is the Sea God.

The Fighting Begins

Soon, the brothers begin to fight and the Sea God brother jumps into the sea causing immense waves that roll over the land. This spurs on the Land God brother to push the land up to form hills and mountains, thereby protecting Him from the turbulence of the Seas. Thus, he stopped his evil brother from destroying the land.

John Morongo continued with his oral legend of creation: “Being tired from his labor, he fell asleep. Then Sea-god, suddenly emerging from the sea, seized and bound him, hand and foot, placed him upon a funeral pyre, and prepared to burn him alive.”

The Land God Is Bound By The Sea

Kukitatc, the Land God jerks awake and calls for Coyote, his helper, and sends out to find a magical gemstone. This shiny, valuable stone will help Kukitac remove the ropes which were binding him.   

Pakrokitatc, the Sea God, suddenly caused the waters to rise around the shiny gem making it an unapproachable island and Coyote cannot reach it. Eagle swoops in to help Coyote by carrying him on his back. They retrieve the shiny, magical gem and give it to Kukitatc, which allows him to escape his brother the Sea God, who slipped back into the sea.

The People must prepare Kukitatc's body for a proper burial, but they need fire to burn it on a pyre. The People ask Coyote to retrieve fire for them and he runs off to find it.

However, Coyote looks back from a far distance and can see that the People had already started the fire. He races back and is blocked by the People. Slipping from them, he goes between the legs of the Badger and jumps onto the fiery pyre and grabs Kukitatc’s heart and escapes with it. When Coyote is far enough away from the People, he sits down and eats Kukitatc’s heart.

Various Tribes Have Differing Ends for the Story

In the Creation Stories one brother almost always is killed by the other. Coyote is typically a character that is not trustworthy in these tales. The ending in the Morongo Tribe's version varies from the Serrano and Mojave Tribe's Creation Story. 

In the Morongo Indian version of the creation story it is the People, who were first created by Kukitatc, who come to his rescue. The People become angry at the Sea God and kill him using witchcraft. Then, Coyote is sent off to obtain fire so the people can burn his body on a pyre. However, it is a trick to get Coyote away because he has always been unreliable.

The Mojave Tribe's Creation Story

The Mojave Tribe has a different ending to this Creation story. The brothers are called Matavilya and Mastamho. The elder brother Matavilya dies and Mastamho tell's the People and all the animals how they must prepare Matavilya’s remains.

Differing from the other California Indian Creation stories, the Mojave say that when Coyote hurries back to the burning pyre, he jumps over Badger and Raccoon, because they are short and grabs the heart of Matavilya and eats it. Native Americans have long created jewelry symbolizing creation stories.

Mastamho then forsakes Coyote, saying, “He will not know his own home … and if anyone sees him, he will run off.” Visit Nigerian Dwarf Milk Goats and Pet Pygmy Goats