Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the: Native American Literatures of North America

Swann (Smoothing the Ground: Essays on Native American Oral Literature) provides a solid entree to American Indian mythology in this mammoth, sweeping volume. Focusing on the oral tradition, he has collected new translations of more than 50 ancient stories. Translators include both Indians (Calvin W. Fast Wolf, Larry Evers, Darryl Babe Wilson) and noted non-Indian experts in the field (William Shipley, William Bright, Dennis Tedlock). Divided into seven geographically oriented sections, the book presents tales from a wide variety of tribal traditions from the Arctic to the American Southwest. The familiar trickster Coyote is represented in stories from the Navajo of the Southwest and the Kalapuya of the North Pacific Coast. But less well-known trickster figures are also included--Raven and Wolverine of the far north; Nanabush of the Ojibwe of the Eastern Woodlands; Fox of the Atsugewi of California. There is celebration, as in a thanksgiving song from the Iroquois tradition; there is also an explanation of death, from the North Pacific Coast. The being usually known as ``Monster Slayer,'' a principal figure in Navajo and Apache mythology, is given fresh life through translations that call him ``Enemy Slayer'' and ``He Triumphs Over Evils.'' Swann's knowledgeable introduction sets the translations in historical context and discusses the oral tradition; individual translators provide introductions to their own work. (Feb.)