Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

A bison and a bobtailed horse race across the sky, raising a trail of dust behind them—leaving in their wake the Milky Way to forever mark their path. An unknown Arapaho teller shared this account with an ethnographer in 1893, explaining that the race determined which animal would be ridden, which would be food. Traditional American Indian oral narratives, ranging from origin stories to trickster tales and prayers, constitute part of the great heritage of each tribe. Many of these narratives, gathered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, were obtained or published only in English translation. Although this is the case with many Arapaho stories, extensive Arapaho-language texts exist that have never before been published—until now. Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers gives new life to these manuscripts, celebrating Arapaho oral narrative traditions in all the richness of their original language.

Working with Alonzo Moss, Sr., and William J. C’Hair, two fluent native speakers of Arapaho, Andrew Cowell retranscribes these texts—collected between the early 1880s and the late 1920s—into modern Arapaho orthography, and retranslates and annotates them in English. Masterpieces of oral literature, these texts include creation accounts, stories about the Arapaho trickster character Nih'oo3oo, animal tales, anecdotes, songs, prayers, and ceremonial speeches. In addition to a general introduction, the editors offer linguistic, stylistic, thematic, and cultural commentary and context for each of the texts.

More than any other work, this book affords new insights into Arapaho language and culture. It expands the Arapaho lexicon, discusses Arapaho values and ethos, and offers a uniquely informed perspective on Arapaho storytelling. An unparalleled work of recovery and preservation, it will at once become the reference guide to the Arapaho language and its texts.
1141775159
Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

A bison and a bobtailed horse race across the sky, raising a trail of dust behind them—leaving in their wake the Milky Way to forever mark their path. An unknown Arapaho teller shared this account with an ethnographer in 1893, explaining that the race determined which animal would be ridden, which would be food. Traditional American Indian oral narratives, ranging from origin stories to trickster tales and prayers, constitute part of the great heritage of each tribe. Many of these narratives, gathered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, were obtained or published only in English translation. Although this is the case with many Arapaho stories, extensive Arapaho-language texts exist that have never before been published—until now. Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers gives new life to these manuscripts, celebrating Arapaho oral narrative traditions in all the richness of their original language.

Working with Alonzo Moss, Sr., and William J. C’Hair, two fluent native speakers of Arapaho, Andrew Cowell retranscribes these texts—collected between the early 1880s and the late 1920s—into modern Arapaho orthography, and retranslates and annotates them in English. Masterpieces of oral literature, these texts include creation accounts, stories about the Arapaho trickster character Nih'oo3oo, animal tales, anecdotes, songs, prayers, and ceremonial speeches. In addition to a general introduction, the editors offer linguistic, stylistic, thematic, and cultural commentary and context for each of the texts.

More than any other work, this book affords new insights into Arapaho language and culture. It expands the Arapaho lexicon, discusses Arapaho values and ethos, and offers a uniquely informed perspective on Arapaho storytelling. An unparalleled work of recovery and preservation, it will at once become the reference guide to the Arapaho language and its texts.
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Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers: A Bilingual Anthology

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Overview


A bison and a bobtailed horse race across the sky, raising a trail of dust behind them—leaving in their wake the Milky Way to forever mark their path. An unknown Arapaho teller shared this account with an ethnographer in 1893, explaining that the race determined which animal would be ridden, which would be food. Traditional American Indian oral narratives, ranging from origin stories to trickster tales and prayers, constitute part of the great heritage of each tribe. Many of these narratives, gathered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, were obtained or published only in English translation. Although this is the case with many Arapaho stories, extensive Arapaho-language texts exist that have never before been published—until now. Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers gives new life to these manuscripts, celebrating Arapaho oral narrative traditions in all the richness of their original language.

Working with Alonzo Moss, Sr., and William J. C’Hair, two fluent native speakers of Arapaho, Andrew Cowell retranscribes these texts—collected between the early 1880s and the late 1920s—into modern Arapaho orthography, and retranslates and annotates them in English. Masterpieces of oral literature, these texts include creation accounts, stories about the Arapaho trickster character Nih'oo3oo, animal tales, anecdotes, songs, prayers, and ceremonial speeches. In addition to a general introduction, the editors offer linguistic, stylistic, thematic, and cultural commentary and context for each of the texts.

More than any other work, this book affords new insights into Arapaho language and culture. It expands the Arapaho lexicon, discusses Arapaho values and ethos, and offers a uniquely informed perspective on Arapaho storytelling. An unparalleled work of recovery and preservation, it will at once become the reference guide to the Arapaho language and its texts.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780806159669
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Publication date: 09/18/2017
Edition description: Bilingual
Pages: 574
Sales rank: 820,282
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)
Language: Arapaho

About the Author


Andrew Cowell is Professor and Chair of Linguistics and the Department of French and Italian at the University of Colorado. He is an expert on the Arapaho language and author of numerous books and articles, including Remedies for a New West: Healing Landscapes, Histories, and Cultures (ed. with Patricia Limerick and Sharon Collinge) and The Arapaho Language (with Alonzo Moss, Sr.).


Alonzo Moss, Sr., (1938–2015) was a cochair of the Northern Arapaho Language and Culture Commission in Wyoming.


William J. C’Hair is a cochair of the Northern Arapaho Language and Culture Commission in Wyoming.

Table of Contents

Arapaho Orthography and Pronunciation ix

Introduction 1

Creation Accounts and Etiological Narratives

The Turtle Fetches Up the Earth from the Bottom of the Waters, teller unknown 41

The Creation of the Earth, by White Breast [English only] 45

The Myth of the Milky Way, teller unknown 50

Yellow Bull Races the Horse, teller unknown 52

The Arapaho Migration across the Missouri River to the … Jesse Rowlodge 55

Naming the Earth, teller unknown 58

Trickster (Nih'oo3oo/"White Man") Stories

The Sun Dance Cycle

When Nih'oo3oo Witnessed the Sun Dance Cleaver Warden 63

Nih'oo3oo and the Elk Head John Goggles 69

Nih'oo3oo and the Burrs John Goggles 73

Nih'oo3oo Cuts His Hair Cleaver Warden 76

Other Trickster Stories

Nih'oo3oo and the Plums, teller unknown 87

Nih'oo3oo and the Elk Benejah Miles 89

Pemmican Floating Downstream Cleaver Warden 92

Nih'oo3oo Pursued by the Roiling Skull Philip Rapid/Rabbit 102

Nih'oo3oo and the Deer Women Cleaver Warden 110

Nih'oo3oo and Whirlwind Woman, teller unknown 113

Nih'oo3oo and the Ducks Cleaver Warden 117

Nih'oo3oo and the Dancing Ducks Phillip Rapid/Rabbit 120

Nih'oo3oo and the Ducks John Goggles 130

Nih'oo3oo and the Bears Benejah Miles 135

Nih'oo3oc Sharpens His Leg and Dives on the Ice Philip Rapid/ Rabbit 140

Nih'oo3oo and the Coyote Philip Rapid/Rabbit 151

Nih'oo3oo Sends His Penis across the River Cleaver Warden 153

The Origin of Death, teller unknown 160

Nih'oo3oo Loses His Eyes, teller unknown 162

Nih'oo3oo and the Man Who Dove through the Ice John Goggles 166

Nih'oo3oo Arrives for a Visit Cleaver Warden 169

Nih'oo3oo and the Seven Sisters Cleaver Warden 173

One-Eyed Sioux and His Mother-in-Law Cleaver Warden 186

Legends/Myths

Lime Crazy Cleaver Warden 197

The White Crow Cleaver Warden 212

The White Dog and the Woman Cleaver Warden 225

The Alligators, teller unknown 238

Open Brain or Tangled Hair Caspar Edson 241

Found-in-the-Grass John Goggles 292

The Cannibal Boy Little Shield [English only] 317

The Beheaded Ones Cleaver Warden 320

The Man Who Turned into a Spring Cleaver Warden 334

The Woman and the Porcupine John Goggles 344

The Porcupine and the Woman Who Climbed to the Sky Philip Rapid/Rabbit 354

The Man Who Sharpened His Foot Philip Rapid/Rabbit 360

The Midgets, teller unknown 366

The Little People (Alexander?) Yellow Man 371

The Girl Who Became a Bear Philip Rapid/Rabbit 375

Blue Bird, Elk Woman, and Buffalo Woman Wolf Bear [English only] 382

Animal Stories

The Turtle and the Rabbit, teller unknown 389

The Skunk and the Rabbit Cleaver Warden 392

The Bear Who Abused His Wife Cleaver Warden 399

Anecdotal Stories of Wondrous Events

Big Belly's Adventure, possibly Cleaver Warden 403

The Woman and the Horse Caspar Edson 407

Anecdotal Stories

The Faithless Woman and the Kiowa Philip Rapid/Rabbit 415

True Incident (The Birth of Young Bull), probably by Cleaver Warden 422

Prayers and Ceremonial Speeches

Prayer: Blessing on This Food Cleaver Warden 429

Speech of Man's Father at Marriage Cleaver Warden 433

Speech of Woman's Father at Marriage Cleaver Warden 440

Prayer of Spotted Bear's Wife (to the Sacred Pipe), Wife of Spotted Bear 443

Prayer at a Young Man's Change of Name Cleaver Warden 450

Song Texts

Hand-Game Songs 463

Lullabies 466

Age-Grade Society Songs 467

Love Songs 468

War Songs 472

Sun Dance Songs 474

Ghost Dance Songs 476

Crow Dance Songs 487

Ghost Dance Songs from James Mooney 490

The Ghost Dance Paul Boynton 517

Account of the Ghost Dance Henry North 520

Appendix A Other Early Arapaho Texts 523

Appendix B Grammar 527

References 547

Index 553

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