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Nebraska
Press Series 2
| The
Pawnee Mythology
Douglas R. Parks, George A. Dorsey, Paper: 1997,xxvii,546,CIP.LC
97-12832,0-8032-6603-0
Sources of American Indian Oral Literature
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The Pawnee Mythology, originally published
in 1906, preserves 148 tales of the Pawnee Indians,
who farmed and hunted and lived in earth-covered lodges
along the Platte River in Nebraska. The stories, collected
from surviving members of four bands-Skidi, Pitahauirat,
Kitkehahki, and Chaui-were generally told during intermissions
of sacred ceremonies. Many were accompanied by music.
George A. Dorsey recorded these Pawnee myths early in
the twentieth century after the tribe's traumatic removal
from their ancestral homeland to Oklahoma. He included
stories of instruction concerning supernatural beings,
the importance of revering such gifts as the buffalo
and corn, and the results of violating nature. Hero
tales, forming another group, usually centered on a
poor boy who overcame all odds to benefit the tribe.
Other tales invited good fortune, recognized wonderful
beings like the witch women and spider women, and explained
the origin of medicine powers. Coyote tales were meant
to amuse while teaching ethics. George A. Dorsey (1868-1931)
was a distinguished anthropologist and journalist who
also wrote about the traditions of the Arapahos, Arikaras,
and Osages. Douglas R. Parks is a professor of anthropology
and associate director of the American Indian Studies
Research Institute at Indiana University. He is the
editor of James R. Murie's Ceremonies of the Pawnee
(Nebraska 1989) and the editor and translator of Myths
and Traditions of the Arikara Indians (Nebraska 1996).
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