Jeremiah Curtin

Seneca Indian Myths.By Jeremiah Curtin

In 1883 a Smithsonian Institution ethnologist traveled to western New York State to record the traditional tales of the Iroquois tribe known as the Seneca. These myths - picturesque, archaic, even grotesque - appear here in their original form, exactly as spoken. Many focus on seasons or weather; others creation myths and animals. Jeremiah Curtin (6 September 1835 - 14 December 1906) was an American translator and folklorist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Curtin spent his early life in what is now, Greendale, Wisconsin[4] and later graduated from Harvard College in 1863. In 1864 he went to Russia, where he worked for the U. S. legation and as a translator. He left Russia in 1877, stayed a year in London, and returned to the United States, where he worked for the Bureau of American Ethnology.