![Book Cover of Old Indian Legends](/image/book/old-indian-legends.webp)
Old Indian Legends
by Zitkala-Sa
'Old Indian Legends' Summary
Iktomi and the ducks
Iktomi befriends a group of dancing ducks and tricks them by playing music and having them dance in a way in which they twist their necks and break them, which kills the ducks. He then takes the ducks back to his teepee and cooks them until he hears a tree cracking in the wind and goes to investigate. He breaks the limb that cracks but gets stuck by it, and a group of wolves comes along and eats his feast.
Iktomi’s Blanket
Iktomi is hungry and needs food because the wolf took the ducks. He prays to Inyan, whom he refers to as the great-grandfather, to bless him with meat. Iktomi offers Inyan his blanket. Upon returning from prayer, Iktomi comes across a wounded deer and believes his prayer was answered. Iktomi builds a fire and cooks the deer meat, but while doing so he grows cold. Realizing he has nothing to put on for warmth, he decides to go back to retrieve the blanket that he gave to Inyan. Upon return to his teepee, he sees that his meat has been eaten and that his fire is out. Iktomi realizes that he should have eaten the meat first before going to retrieve his blanket.
Iktomi and the Muskrat
Iktomi is preparing some fish when he hears a voice calling him "friend". He looks around and sees a muskrat by his feet. The muskrat asks Iktomi if he will share his fish, and Iktomi suggests that they race for the fish and that if the muskrat wins, they will share it. The muskrat tells Iktomi that he cannot race, but Iktomi offers to strap a heavy rock around his waist to give the muskrat a fair chance. The muskrat agrees and they head off in opposite directions so that they can race back to the fish. The muskrat swims across the lake and wins the race, and tells Iktomi he should have just shared in the first place.
Iktomi and the Coyote
Iktomi is walking across a prairie when he comes across a coyote lying on the ground. He believes the coyote is dead even though it is still warm. Iktomi decides to take the coyote back to his teepee to cook. But the coyote is alive, and when Iktomi arrives at his place, he builds a fire and throws the coyote into the fire. The coyote escapes the fire and tells Iktomi that he had better make sure his prey is dead before preparing the meal.
Iktomi and the Fawn
Iktomi comes across a beautiful peacock in a tree and wishes to be as beautiful as the peacock. He begs the peacock to give him wonderful feathers, so the peacock magically transforms Iktomi into a peacock. The only condition is that Iktomi may not try to fly. Being stubborn, Iktomi tries to fly but fails and gets transformed back into a human being. Next Iktomi comes across an arrow and is transformed into it, but again fails to follow one rule and returns to normal. Finally, he comes across a fawn and asks the fawn to give him spots similar to him. In order to get the spots, Iktomi has to be buried in a hole and burned with dried grass, sticks, and cedar ember. The fawn agrees to help Iktomi, and Iktomi lies down in the hole and blue smoke rises, but Iktomi climbs out of the fire before burning, and does not get the brown spots he desired.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1901Author
![Zitkala-Sa image](/thumbs/image/author/zitkala-sa.webp)
Zitkala-Sa
United States
Zitkála-Šá also known by her missionary-given and later married name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political ac...
More on Zitkala-SaDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
![A Sportsman's Sketches Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/a-sportsmans-sketches.webp)
A Sportsman's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev
A Sportsman's Sketches was an 1852 collection of short stories by Ivan Turgenev. It was the first major writing that gained him recognition. He wrote...
![English Fairy Tales Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/english-fairy-tales.webp)
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Jack the Giant-Killer, Tom Thumb, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, Henny Penny, Dick Whittington, The Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood and a host of...
![The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories Cover image](/image/noimage.jpeg)
The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
"The Lady with the Dog" is a short story by Anton Chekhov. First published in 1899, it describes an adulterous affair between an unhappily married Mos...
![The Trimmed Lamp: And Other Stories of the Four Million Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million.webp)
The Trimmed Lamp: And Other Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry
Born in 1862 and died in 1910, O. Henry’s birth name is William Sydney Porter; however, he adopted the pen name O. Henry while in prison. He published...
![Tales of the Jazz Age Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/tales-of-the-jazz-age.webp)
Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tales of the Jazz Age is a collection of eleven short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Divided into three separate parts, according to subject matter,...
![The Best American Humorous Short Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-best-american-humorous-short-stories.webp)
The Best American Humorous Short Stories by Alexander Jessup
Eighteen short stories by famous and little known authors compassing the period 1839 - 1914.
![The Mabinogion, Volume 1 Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-mabinogion.webp)
The Mabinogion, Volume 1 by Anonymous
The Mabinogion are the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from...
![Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/draculas-guest-other-weird-tales.webp)
Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales by Bram Stoker
Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories is a collection of short stories by Bram Stoker, first published in 1914, two years after Stoker's death....
![Tales from Shakespeare Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/tales-from-shakespeare.webp)
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles Lamb
Tales from Shakespeare is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons" wh...
![Three Science Fiction Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/three-science-fiction-stories.webp)
Three Science Fiction Stories by Frank Herbert
The three science fiction stories by Frank Herbert, Missing Link, originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, 1959; Operation Haystack, also p...
Reviews for Old Indian Legends
No reviews posted or approved, yet...