Zitkala Sa

Old Indian Tales Zitkala Sa

Old Indian Tales by Zitkala Sa. These Tales are relics of our country's once virgin soil. These and many others are the tales the little black-haired aborigine loved so much to hear beside the night fire. Iktomi, the snare weaver, Iya, the Eater, and Old Double-Face are not wholly fanciful creatures. Under an open sky, nestling close to the earth, the old Dakota story-tellers have told me these legends. In both Dakotas, North and South, I have often listened to the same story told over again by a new story-teller. While I recognized such a legend without the least difficulty, I found the renderings varying much in little incidents. Generally one helped the other in restoring some lost link in the original character of the tale. And now I have tried to transplant the native spirit of these tales -- root and all -- into the English language, since America in the last few centuries has acquired a second tongue.