It might have been expected that the Indians of North America would
have many Folklore tales to tell, and in this volume I have
endeavoured to present such of them as seemed to me to best illustrate
the primitive character and beliefs of the people. The belief, and the
language in which it is clothed, are often very beautiful. Fantastic
imagination, magnanimity, moral sentiment, tender feeling, and humour
are discovered in a degree which may astonish many who have been apt
to imagine that advanced civilisation has much to do with the
possession of such qualities. I know of nothing that throws so much
light upon Indian character as their Folk-tales.