{"collection":"Native American","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/nam/iro/sim/index.htm","path":"nam/iro/sim/index.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/nam/iro/sim/index.htm","text":"The Seneca are one of the members of the powerful Iroquois tribe,\nand live in the western part of New York State, along the shores of Lake\nOntario to the west of the Finger Lake region.\nThis huge (500 page) book of Seneca myths was collected by\nJeremiah Curtin at the turn of the 20th century.\nCurtin also wrote\nCreation Myths of Primitive America,\nMyths and Folk-lore of Ireland,\nand\nTales of the Fairies and of the Ghost World, all also at this site.\nThe tales in this book are consistent in themes and style\nwith Native American storytelling from diverse regions.\nThemes such as shape-shifting culture heroes,\ngambling for keeps, and journeys beyond the sky are reminiscent\nof many other tales from diverse parts of the continent.\nThe tales are mostly set in a pre-human dreamtime, and the players\nare the conventional zoomorphic first people.\nThere are a few legends set in more recent times, particularly\nregarding conflict of the Iroquois with the neighboring Cherokee.\nThere are many distinctive Iroquois touches, for instance,\nthe importance of the uncle as opposed to the father, and the\nstrong and self-motivated women characters; this is an outgrowth\nof matrilineal descent.\nAlso of note are the hideous man-eaters, used as figures of horror here.\n(This should not be taken as an indication that cannibals were once\nprevalent, no more than Grimms' tales indicate the use of gingerbread as\na construction material in medieval northern Europe.)\nThese tales are very entertaining and present insights into\nIroquois psychology.\nThere is no evidence of European contact,\nas is sometimes seen in other collections, whether this\nwas the result of editing by Curtin is unknown.\nThe repeated use of similar themes is never\ntedious, but shows how various storytellers built on the same foundation.","title":"Seneca Indian Myths Index","type":"page"}