Coming to Light: Comtemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America

From Inuit and Aleut to Iroquois, Lakota, and Navajo, this magnificent anthology acquaints readers with the untrammeled breadth and power of the spoken literatures of North America's native peoples.  It is the first collection to present its selections in their full cultural context, for each of its stories, songs, prayers, and orations is accompanied by extensive translators' notes that tell us how it was told or sung and what it meant to its narrator.

Here are stories of shamans and tricksters, shape-shifting animals and intrepid heroines; songs that summon game and avert sickness; prayers of thanksgiving and histories of the devastating encounter of Indian and European.  As edited by the distinguished scholar Brian Swann, Coming to Light is a revelation, a book that re-creates the world of America's original inhabitants in all its strangeness, splendor, earthy humor, and richness of spirit.