From Publishers Weekly
This slim but impressive volume presents more than 100 folktales and myths collected from three different bands of Utah's Ute people. Ethnologist Smith, who lived and worked among the Utes in 1936 and 1937, transcribes the speakers' words, demonstrating the natives' spare narrative style and the breadth of their interests. Narratives ranging in length from a single brief paragraph to a few pages testify to the Utes' complex and lively society and preserve oral traditions that otherwise might have passed from knowledge. Keen and curious observers, the Utes speculate about everything from the origin of death to why dogs sniff each other's anuses. Many of the best stories deal with Coyote, the prankish rogue who is at once trickster and tricked; the story of Rabbit catching Coyote in a trap of spirit gum will remind readers of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and the tarbaby. Readers less familiar with native culture and practices may have trouble following several of the transcribed stories, but as a whole this collection is worthwhile for student and interested novice alike.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
