ABSTRACT

The oral narrative tradition of Northwest Coast Native Americans persists in the repertoire of community storytellers, who are considered community historians. Stories of creation involving the Changer and of the origin of the relationships among humans, natural resources, and places of residence, and parables of vice and virtue, wisdom and folly, are among the recurring themes. Animal figures such as Eagle, Raven, Wolf, and Bear, and natural features such as mountains and rivers behave in a humanlike fashion in what most Native people call “legends” but which function more like myths.