A richly diverse anthology of Native American literatures draws on the work of more than two hundred tribes across the United States and Canada and provides information on the historical and cultural contexts of the stories, songs, prayers, and orations.

This reference work analyzes and classifies the story themes of Polynesian myths, tales, and legends according to an internationally employed system developed by Stith Thompson in his Motif Index of Folk-Literature ( 1955-1958). Thousands of tales, including those from almost all of the major...