Children of the Thunderbird

Collection of legends and myths from the West Coast. Everything owes its existence to Great Spirit. With his supernatural helpers Great Spirit maintains order over all of his creations. This belief is at the core of the stories Pacific Coast natives told their children to explain the world. Artisans carved images and painted pictures telling great stores such as how Coyote stopped the great flood, why raccoons have masked eyes, and how lightning was created when Thunderbird lit his way in the night. As well as being wonderfully imaginative, the stories carried great meaning that conveyed the wisdom of the elders. Unfortunately, when the missionaries arrived they wrongly denounced the totems as pagan idols and the stores as heathen tales. They did not hear the messages within. This book relates and analyses several of these repressed stories. The author was young when he first heard them from native elders. The tales so captivated him that he wrote them down. Now that they are published, he hopes readers will see them not only as entertainment, but also as teachings for those who will listen.