Seneca Myths and Folk Tales

Told by the Iroquois of New York

Arthur C. Parker

• Publisher: Aeneas Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9785501853232
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Social Sciences

Seneca stories taken down on the Cattaraugus reservation by a man of Seneca descent who was also a trained archaeologist - the talking animals, the stone giants, the origin of the medicine societies. This edition is bound with 24 plates of painting, among them works by Hans Memling, Masolino da Panicale and Anthoni Schoonjans, alongside 19 in-text illustrations restored and coloured for this volume.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Seneca Myths and Folk Tales
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Methods Employed in Recording Folk Tales.
• Text in Seneca with Interlinear Translation. Literal Translation.
• Free Translation.
• Obtaining Correct Versions.
• Story-Telling Customs of the Seneca.
• Phonetic Key.
• I. Fundamental Factors in Seneca Folk-Lore. Basic Premises of Seneca Folk-Lore.
• Gods, Major Spirits and Folk-Beasts of the Seneca. 1. Beings of the Primal Order.
• 2. Nature Beings.
• 3. Magic Beasts and Birds.
• 4. Magical Man-Like Beings.
• II. Themes and Materials
• Stereotyped Objects and Incidents. Incidents.
• Objects.
• Components of the Cosmological Myth.
• III. The Atmosphere in Which the Legends Were Told
• IV. When the World Was New
• 1. How the World Began.
• 2. The Brothers Who Climbed to the Sky.
• 3. The Death Panther.
• 4. The Great Bear Constellation.
• 5. The Seven Brothers of the Star Cluster.
• 6. The Seven Star Dancers.
• 7. The Coming of Spring.
• 8. The Coming of Death.
• V. Boys Who Defied Magic and Overcame It. 9. Origin of Folk Stories.
• 10. The Forbidden Arrow and the Quilt of Men’s Eyes.
• 11. Corn Grinder, the Grandson.
• 12. He-Goes-To-Listen.
• 13. Hatondas, the Listener, Finds a Wife.
• 14. The Origin of the Chestnut Tree.
• 15. Divided Body Rescues a Girl from a Wizard’s Island.
• 16. The Origin of the Buffalo Society.
• 17. The Boy Who Could Not Understand.
• 18. The Boy Who Lived with the Bears.
• 19. The Seventh Son.
• 20. The Boy Who Overcame All Magic by Laughter.
• VI. Tales of Love and Marriage
• 21. Two Feathers and Turkey Brother.
• 22. Two Feathers and Woodchuck Leggings.
• 23. How Turkey Boy Squeezed the Hearts of a Sorcerer and His Seven Sisters.
• 24. Corn Rains Into Empty Barrels.
• 25. Twentgowa and the Mischief Maker.
• 26. The Horned Serpent Runs Away with a Girl Who Is Rescued by the Thunderer.
• 27. The Great Serpent and the Young Wife.
• 28. Bushy Head the Bewitched Warrior Rescues Two Lost Daughters and Wins Them as Wives.
• 29. The Flint Chip Thrower.
• VII. Horror Tales of Cannibals and Sorcerers
• 30. The Duel of the Dream Test Between Uncle and Nephew.
• 31. The Vampire Sirens Who Were Overcome by the Boy Whose Uncle Possessed a Magic Flute.
• 32. Younger Brother Eludes His Sister-In-Law by Creating Obstacles and Liberates Older Brother.
• 33. The Island of the Cannibal.
• 34. The Twelve Brothers and the Wraith of the Evil Warrior.
• 35. The Cannibal and His Nephew.
• 36. A Youth’s Double Abuses His Sister.
• 37. Murdered Double Speaks Through Fire.
• 38. The Vampire Corpse.
• VIII. Tales of Talking Animals. 39. The Man Who Exhaled Fire—His Dogs and the Wolves.
• 40. The Turtle’s War Party.
• 41. The Race of the Turtle and the Beaver.
• 42. The Wolf and the Raccoon and How the Birds Were Painted.
• 43. The Chipmunk’s Stripes.
• 44. The Rabbit Song.
• 45. The Rabbit Gambler.
• 46. The Raccoon and the Crabs.
• 47. The Crab’s Eyes.
• 48. How the Squirrel Gave a Blanket to His Warrior, Robbed the Woodchuck of His Tail and the Frog of His Teeth.
• 49. The Chickadee’s Song.
• 50. The Bird Woman.
• 51. The Partridge’s Song.
• IX. Tales of Giants, Pygmies and Monster Bears. 52. A Tale of the Djogeon or Pygmies.
• 53. Beyond-The-Rapids and the Stone Giant.
• 54. The Animated Finger.
• 55. The Stone Giant’s Battle.
• 56. The Boy and the False Face.
• 57. How a Boy Outwitted a Nia’´gwahe.
• 58. Nia’´gwahe the Mammoth Bear.
• 59. The Boy and the Nia’´gwahe.
• X. Traditions
• Seneca Belief in Witchcraft.
• 60. Contents of a Charm Holder’s Bundle.
• 61. Contents of a Witch Bundle.
• 62. Overcoming a Witch.
• 63. The Scorned Witch Woman.
• 64. Catching a Witch Bundle.
• 65. Witch with a Dog Transformation.
• 66. Witch Steals Children’s Hearts.
• 67. Hotciwaho. (Hammer in His Belt.)
• 68. How America Was Discovered.
• 69. Origin of the Charm Holders’ Medicine Society.
• 70. Origin of the False Face Company. The Stone Giants.
• The Genonsgwa.
• The False Face.
• The False Face Society.
• The Mask-Making Ceremony.
• 71. The Origin of the Long House.
• 72. Dead Timber, a Tradition of Albany.
• XI. Appendix. A. Origin of the World.
• B. The Wyandot Creation Myth (Extract).
• C. An Interview with “Esq.” Johnson by Mrs. Asher Wright.
• Stone Giants.
• The Thunder God.
• Another Story, or Fable, the Thunderer.
• D. Emblematic Trees in Iroquoian Mythology.
• E. the Society That Guards the Mystic Potence.
• Neh Nigahnigahah.
• Method of Administering the Charmed Medicine.
• The Medicine Lodge Ritual.
• Index
• About the Author