Thirty Indian Legends of Canada

by Margaret Bemister

Weeng , the spirit of sleep. How Odjibaa won the Red Swan. Waupee and the daughters of the star. The whispering grass. Full of mystery, a sense of awe at the surrounding world and the courage of great warriors, the mythology of Canada's Indians forms an incredibly rich source of story and legend. Whether celebrating great journeys and feats of endurance or giving in simple but strong language a sense of identity with the land and its natural wonders, here is a moving introduction to the heritage of Canada's native peoples. Ojibway and Iroquois; Cree and Okanagan, all are here in thirty stories of magicians, beautiful maidens and a disappearing vision of the universe.

Genres: Short Stories, Native American, Mythology, Indigenous, Canada

356 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

Reviews

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky collection of legends and myths. Unlike the "fairy tales" we are accustomed to, these have no proper structure: many do not even have a story arc. The tale starts somewhere and ends somewhere else.

That said, they have the raw beauty of stories which have not been doctored to meet modern sensibilities. These legends have been collected and presented without any window-dressing by the author, in 1912 - and going through them, we get the picture of a wild country inhabited by a hardy folk who existed in tune with nature. They lived, loved and quarrelled in an idyllic landscape untouched by time, before the white man arrived with his "civilising" mission.

A world worth aspiring to return to - even though it may be only be a pipe dream.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable short tales varying between a page and a dozen pages. Not riveting, and some I liked better than others. Fewer seemed to be 'creation explanations' than in some other culture's folk-tales, and they made me want to go back and read 'Beyond the clapping mountains' again, which was a favourite folk-tale collection of mine when I was young.

[Kanav · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certain legends are great to read and some don't even make a good ending, better to say make no sense. This explains that the tales with good endings are interesting and involve the reader and the tales without a proper ending are also irritating.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might make a good children's storybook, but it is nearly worthless as a folklore source. It does not give sources for the stories, not even to say which Indian groups the stories are from. I suspect some of the stories have been bowdlerized. And some of them are simply not very interesting.