Blackfeet Indian Stories

This collection opens a window onto Blackfeet oral tradition, where animals speak, spirits intervene, and human choices echo across the natural world. From the rivalry of antelope and deer in "Two Fast Runners" to the betrayal and rescue at the heart of "The Wolf Man," these tales blend suspense, moral reckoning, and a living sense of kinship between people and animals. The injured husband's alliance with wolves, and his eventual exposure of his wives' treachery, shows how justice is restored through community and ceremony. At the center stands Kŭt-o-yĭs´, the Blood Boy, a miracle-born culture hero who rises from abuse and hunger to destroy greedy chiefs, monstrous beings, and hidden predators. He rescues the oppressed, defeats bear and snake rulers, and confronts terrifying tricksters with courage and cleverness. The final stories follow Scarface on his long quest to the Sun, where he wins sacred teachings, marriage, and a healed identity, then returns to help found the first Medicine Lodge. The closing vision of Weasel Heart and Fisher receiving the design of buffalo-painted lodges underscores the book's deepest theme: ceremonies, wisdom, and sacred forms are gifts from another world, preserved for the people through dream, revelation, and faithful imitation. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.