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When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends
This is a collection of Native American lore from Texas. It is focused on the Tejas, a Caddoan group which called itself the Hasinai. The term 'Tejas' is from a Caddoan word which means 'friend,' and it gave us the name of Texas. The Tejas lived between the Sabine and Trinity rivers, in modern south-east Texas. They were the furthest west of the Southeastern native groups, in close contact with the Plains tribes, so their folklore reflects both regions.
Written in a simple declarative style to appeal to young readers, When the Storm God Rides is not a work of ethnology, but is based on genuine traditional folklore from the region. The material has been romanticized by the author, and sometimes softened for the audience, although not to the point of becoming maudlin as often occurs in this kind of book. However, since there is a paucity of material on the southeastern Native Americans, and specifically those from the Texas area, this fills a gap. (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
About the Author
John Reed Swanton (1873 - 1958)
John Reed Swanton (19 February 1873 - 2 May 1958) was an American anthropologist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States.
Born in Gardiner, Maine, Swanton's work in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory is well recognized. He is particularly noted for his work with indigenous peoples of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. He attended Harvard University from which he earned a Masters in 1897 and a doctorate in 1900. His mentor was the famous Franz Boas, whose influence on Swanton is clear. Following his education, he did fieldwork in the Northwest, and then began working for the Bureau of American Ethnology, where he remained employed for almost 40 years.
In his early career in
Written in a simple declarative style to appeal to young readers, When the Storm God Rides is not a work of ethnology, but is based on genuine traditional folklore from the region. The material has been romanticized by the author, and sometimes softened for the audience, although not to the point of becoming maudlin as often occurs in this kind of book. However, since there is a paucity of material on the southeastern Native Americans, and specifically those from the Texas area, this fills a gap. (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
About the Author
John Reed Swanton (1873 - 1958)
John Reed Swanton (19 February 1873 - 2 May 1958) was an American anthropologist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States.
Born in Gardiner, Maine, Swanton's work in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory is well recognized. He is particularly noted for his work with indigenous peoples of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. He attended Harvard University from which he earned a Masters in 1897 and a doctorate in 1900. His mentor was the famous Franz Boas, whose influence on Swanton is clear. Following his education, he did fieldwork in the Northwest, and then began working for the Bureau of American Ethnology, where he remained employed for almost 40 years.
In his early career in
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 15, 2021
What this book does well: origin tales about many aspects of the Texas Gulf Coast landscape, weather, flora, and fauna, from the people who were there before Cabeza De Vaca (though some tales, esp the one about horses, were obviously post-Spanish contact). There are tales about hurricanes, floods, swamps, the North and South wind, rattlesnakes, roadrunners, pecan trees, honeysuckle -- and more. The illustrations are beautiful.
What the book could have done better: Specify the tribe names in the story instead of calling everyone "Indians." The forward tells some of the names and tribes of the story-tellers, but not all. Maybe we are to assume the ones not mentioned in the forward are from the Hasinai (Tejas) people? I would have loved to have all this information.
I saw this book recommended on native language .org and read the text on Sacred Texts Archive.
What the book could have done better: Specify the tribe names in the story instead of calling everyone "Indians." The forward tells some of the names and tribes of the story-tellers, but not all. Maybe we are to assume the ones not mentioned in the forward are from the Hasinai (Tejas) people? I would have loved to have all this information.
I saw this book recommended on native language .org and read the text on Sacred Texts Archive.
May 1, 2017
When The Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends was a nice entry into the myths and legends of Texas. However, the book is written for children and the redundancy can get a little taxing at times. I also wish that the author had been a bit more "tribe specific" when relaying these tales. It would have been nice to know which Texas tribe told a specific story. Otherwise this book was a nice read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews