History of colonial studies
A few versions of Native California traditional narratives were written down by Franciscan missionaries, notably Jerónimo Boscana in the early nineteenth century. Travelers, government agents, and local residents, such as Hugo Reid and Stephen Powers, added to this documentation in the later nineteenth century.
As anthropology in the United States transformed itself into a profession in the early twentieth century, preserving a record of native myths became one of its first major undertakings. Alfred L. Kroeber at the University of California, Berkeley, was a key instigator of these efforts, and the University's publication series, such as the University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, as well as the Journal of American Folklore and other national journals, were important outlets for the results of the studies.
After the middle of the twentieth century, the work slowed somewhat. Much of the basic documentary work had been completed, and native cultural traditions had grown weaker with the passing of the decades. However, important contributions have continued to be made, especially in the presentation of narratives within their original languages as well as in translation.
Among some of the surviving descendants of the first Californians, narratives continue to be transmitted orally.
General characteristics
Several general traits are recognizable in California's traditional narratives. These traits are not universally present, but they characterize most of the narratives:
Fluid genres
Folklorists have commonly attempted to distinguish between myths, legends, tales, and histories.
- Myths are sacred accounts that are believed by narrators and listeners to be true. They are set in a period at or before the origins of the world as it is known, and they usually contain strong supernatural elements.
- Legends are also believed to be true, and they may also contain fantastic elements. However, they are set later in time, after the world had assumed the form in which it was known to traditional cultures.
- Tales are entertaining stories that narrators and listeners are not required to believe as true.
- Histories are narratives of actually witnessed events that have been transmitted, with greater or less embellishment, to subsequent generations.
In the oral literature of native California, the lines between these genres are typically not at all carefully observed. It is often impossible to classify a narrative definitively as a myth, a legend, a tale, or a history. Cognate versions of the same narrative as told by different narrators may fall within different genres.
Sharing among neighbors
Many of the narratives are entirely unique, existing in only a single version. However, many others are known in multiple versions that vary but are clearly cognate with one another. The versions may come from different narrators within a single ethnolinguistic group, from different groups within a region of the Californias, or from groups that are scattered across the North American continent and even beyond. Patterns in the relative similarity of shared narratives are almost entirely dictated by the historic-period propinquity of the groups sharing narratives. Few if any patterns reflect preferential sharing among historically dispersed groups that originally shared a common linguistic descent. This suggests ongoing, creative modification of narratives, rather than rigid conservatism.
Weak narrative unity
Lengthy traditional narratives tend to have an episodic or picaresque character. Their unity comes mainly from the presence of a continuing central character or from a causal sequence of events, rather than from any overall theme, plot, or narrative purpose.
Fluidity in content
As a consequence of weak narrative unity, the stories often have a composite character. Motifs are rather freely added, dropped, or transferred from one narrative to another.
Moral ambiguity
In the traditional narratives of native North America, the Western expectation of essentially "good" or "evil" characters or events is generally not met. The same character is likely to act beneficently in one episode but malevolently in the next, according to the accepted norms of behavior or to criteria of general welfare. Many of the early discussions of this literature by outside observers were marred by attempts to characterize a mythic personage as either a beloved benefactor or an evil trickster, when both of these labels might be equally true, or equally false.
Surrealism in time
The events of traditional narratives are rarely set within realistic chronological frameworks. Time spans measured in years or decades are rarely specified. Characters often are conceived and grow to maturity within miraculously short periods.
Animal - human ambiguity
The characters in many narratives are known by the names of animals (or, less commonly, by the names of plants or other natural features). Often it is understood that the character is the forebear or prototype of the animal species. Its conversation, actions, and motives are usually human, while its physical characteristics may be either human or animal, and commonly the two are mixed in a biologically inconsistent manner.
Achomawi traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Achomawi people of the Pit River basin of Northeastern California.
Cahuilla traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Cahuilla people of the Colorado Desert and Peninsular Ranges of southern California.
Eel River Athapaskan traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories.
Hupa traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Hupa, Chilula, and Whilkut people of the Trinity River basin and vicinity of northwestern California. The Hupa people of modern times number in the several thousands and live in the Hoopa Valley located in Humboldt County, California.
Karuk traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Karuk (Karok) people of the Klamath River basin of northwestern California.
Kato traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Kato (Cahto) people of the Eel River basin of northwestern California.
Kumeyaay traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Kumeyaay people of southern California and northwestern Baja California.
Luiseño traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Luiseño people of southwestern California.
Maidu traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Maidu, Konkow, and Nisenan people of eastern Sacramento Valley and foothills in northeastern California.
Modoc traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Modoc and Klamath people of northern California and southern Oregon.
Mohave traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Mohave people on the lower Colorado River in southeastern California, western Arizona, and southern Nevada.
Patwin traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Patwin peoples of the Wintun people of the southwestern Sacramento Valley in northern California.
Quechan traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Quechan (Yuma) people of the lower Colorado River area of southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, and northeastern Baja California.
Serrano traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Serrano people of the San Bernardino Mountains and southern Mojave Desert of southern California, originally in the Serrano language.
Shasta traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Shasta people of northern California and southern Oregon.
Wappo traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Wappo people of the North Coast Ranges of northeastern California.
Wintu-Nomlaki traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Wintu and Nomlaki people of the western Sacramento Valley in northern California.
Yokuts traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Yokuts people of the San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada foothills of central California.
Yuki traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Yuki people of the upper Eel River area of northwestern California.
Yurok traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Yurok people of the lower Klamath River in northwestern California.
