Originally published by Morrow in 1985 with cumulative sales of 29 000. The book has been out of print for three or more years. This is a new edition with a new afterword by folklore anthropologist John Bierhorst. This is not an anthology, but rather a survey of the most important myths, figures and themes of 11 regions from the Arctic to the Southwest. The new afterword looks at the very practical power that ancient myths have wielded in modern American Indian affairs, with examples of native myths serving as evidence to entitlement of land rights or repatriation of grave goods in the U.S. and Canada. Bierhorst offers a lucid short history of how, when, why and by whom these oral literatures were written down and translated. The book includes notes, index, maps, and photos, and detailed maps show tribal locations and the distribution of key mythological stories in each region. Bierhorst discusses interesting stories about American Indians successfully reclaiming land rights in North America by using mythology as oral evidence. The afterword includes the mention of Hopi and the Western Apache tribes of Arizona, the Gay Head Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, massive native land claims in Canada, and the newly discovered myths of the Algonkian tribe in Southern New England.