Folklore of the North American Indian (1896)

Compiled and edited by J. B. Lippincott

In 1891, the first buffalo was purchased for Golden Gate Park, Congress created the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the first woman was admitted to Yale University, American Express issued the first Travellers’ Checks, Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published “The Song of Hiawatha”. It was also the year that Folk Lore and Legends of the North American Indian was first published by J.B. Lippincott.

Folk Lore and Legends of the North American Indian is an exquisite compilation of North American Indian myths and legends as they existed in the late 1880s and early 1890s. These are the stories that were passed from mouth to mouth, teaching stories to help young Native Americans navigate through the uncertain journey of life that lay ahead.  J.B. Lippincott gathered the stories from letters transported to him via the recently completed Transcontinental Pacific Railroad. These stories should not become “just another page” in the ever-increasing forest of the internet; they should not be accessible only with the use of electronic devices.

A Slice of American Indian History

All Americans, especially Native Americans, are invited to keep a copy of this slice of their history in their bookshelves for their children and their children’s children to read and treasure for years to come.

It is also fitting that a percentage of the net from the sale of Folk Lore and Legends of the North American Indian be donated towards the continued education of Native Americans in the United States of America.