Songs of the Tewa: American Indian Home Songs, Sacred Chants, Ceremonial Songs, Magic Songs & Prayers (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780865341937)

For centuries the American Indian literary tradition was primarily an oral one. Since written languages were rare among native North and South American cultures, all literature-myth, legend, story, poetry-was passed along the generations through memory and the spoken word. Herbert Joseph Spinden collected these at a time-around 1933-when the Indian poetic voice was a nameless one. The songs included here are of that period and his translations of Tewa ritual and secular songs are remarkable for their sensitivity to and consonance with Tewa (Pueblo) thought. This copyrighted edition includes an early introductory essay and scholarly notes by Dr. Spinden, early photographs of the Tewa from the collection of Mrs. Spinden, and a preface by Alice Marriott.

Author: Herbert Joseph Spinden
ISBN-10: 0865341931
ISBN-13: 9780865341937
Publisher: Sunstone Press
Language: English
Published: 04/21/1997
Pages: 144
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 8.53h x 5.52w x 0.39d