Includes bibliographical references (p. 208-233) and index.
Contents:
pt. 1. The storytellers : Central Mexico ; Oaxaca ; Southern Mesoamerica ; Northwest Mexico ; Lower Central America -- pt. 2. The basic myths : Beginnings : The emergence of ancestors (Aztec) ; The man of crops (Jicaque) ; Why the earth eats the dead (Bribri) ; Opossum steals fire (Mazatec) -- Destructions and new beginnings : The loss of the ancients (Tarahumara) ; The flood myth (Mixe) ; The seeds of humanity (Guaymí) ; The tree and the flood (Cabécar) -- The quest for corn : The hidden corn (Mopan) ; Corn woman's marriage (Cora) ; The grasshoppers and the corn (Pipil) -- Sun myths : The sun and the fire (Huichol) ; How the sun was named (Yaqui) ; The childhood of Sun and Moon (Chatino) ; Sun and his brothers (Tzotzil) ; The courtship of Sun and Moon (Kekchi) -- Journeys to the other world : Thunder's apprentice (Mam) ; The dead wife (Mískito) ; The buzzard husband (Tzutujil) ; The visit to the animal master (Chinantec) -- pt. 3. Building mythologies : Myths in sequence ; Gods and the ordering of space ; Adventures of the hero ; Writing history ; Myths and nationalism.
Summary:
Discusses the mythology from Indians of various regions of Mexico and Central America, describing origins, comparing the similar tales, and presenting some of the myths themselves.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.