Pomo traditional narratives

Pomo traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Pomo people of the North Coast region of northwestern California.

Pomo oral literature reflects the transitional position of Atsugewi culture between central California, Northwest Coast, Plateau, and Great Basin regions.

On-Line Examples of Pomo Narratives

• The Northern California Indians, in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, No VI by Stephen Powers (1872), pp. 498-507.
• Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912)
• The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis (1924)

Sources for Pomo Narratives

• Angulo, Jaime de. 1935. "Pomo Creation Myth". Journal of American Folklore 48:203-262. (Eastern Pomo myth collected from W. Galganal Benson.)
• Angulo, Jaime de, and Lucy S. Freeland. 1928. "Miwok and Pomo Myths". Journal of American Folklore 41:232-253. (Myth versions from two Lake Miwok, one Eastern Pomo, and one Southeastern Pomo; Miwok and Pomo versions were reportedly almost identical.)
• Barrett, Samuel A. 1906. "A Composite Myth of the Pomo Indians". Journal of American Folklore 19:37-51. (Theft of Fire myth obtained in 1904, with commentary.)
• Barrett, Samuel A. 1917. "Pomo Bear Doctors". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 12:443-465. Berkeley. (Eastern Pomo myth about the origin of bear shamans, pp. 445-451.)
• Barrett, Samuel A. 1933. Pomo Myths. Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee Bulletin No. 15. Mikwaukee, Wisconsin. (Numerous myths, including Earth Diver, Theft of Fire, Orpheus, and Bear and Fawns, along with a detailed framework for comparisons.)
• Curtis, Edward S. 1907-1930. The North American Indian. 20 vols. Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts. (Four myths collected from San Diego (eastern Pomo), Sam Cowan (southern), Jim Ford (northern), and Tom Connor (central), vol. 14, pp. 170-173.)
• Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1984. American Indian Myths and Legends. Pantheon Books, New York. (Retelling of a narrative from Barrett 1933, pp. 397-398.)
• Gifford, Edward Winslow, and Gwendoline Harris Block. 1930. California Indian Nights. Arthur H. Clark, Glendale, California. (One previously published narrative, pp. 287-296.)
• Judson, Katharine Berry. 1912. Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest. A. C. McClurg, Chicago. (Three myths, pp. 47, 63, 192.)
• Kroeber, A. L. 1911. "The Languages of the Coast of California North of San Francisco". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 9:273-435. Berkeley. (Includes a Pomo myth, pp. 343-346.)
• Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. (A brief note on mythology, pp. 270-271.)
• Loeb, Edwin M. 1926. "The Creator Concept among the Indians of North Central California". American Anthropologist 28:467-493. (Pomo creation myths, including Orpheus.)
• Loeb, Edwin M. 1932. "The Western Kuksu Cult". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 33:1-137. Berkeley. (Note on Northern Pomo mythology, pp. 3-4.)
• Luthin, Herbert W. 2002. Surviving through the Days: A California Indian Reader. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Three Eastern, Southern, and Cache Creek Pomo narratives collected in 1930, 1940, and 1988, pp. 260-333.)
• Margolin, Malcolm. 1993. The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs, and Reminiscences. First edition 1981. Heyday Books, Berkeley, California. (Three myths, pp. 69-71, 93-94, 126-129, from Angulo and Benson 1932, Barrett 1933, and Oswalt 1964.)
• McLendon, Sally. 1978. "Coyote and the Ground Squirrels (Eastern Pomo)". In Coyote Stories, edited by William Bright, pp. 87-111. International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Texts Series No. 1. University of Chicago Press. (Narrated by Ralph Holder in 1975.)
• Oswalt, Robert L. 1957. Kashaya Texts. University of California Publications in Linguistics No. 36. Berkeley. (Narratives, including Bear and Fawns, collected in 1957-1961.)
• Powers, Stephen. 1877. Tribes of California. Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. 3. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Reprinted with an introduction by Robert F. Heizer in 1976, University of California Press, Berkeley. (Three brief narratives, pp. 162, 171-172, 182-183.)