Hupa traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the

Hupa Hupa (Yurok language term: Huep'oola' / Huep'oolaa = "Hupa people") are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinook-wa, meaning "Peopl ...

, 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 Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka–Arcata–Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statistica ...

. The oral literature of the Hupa is markedly similar to that of their linguistically unrelated neighbors, the

Karuk The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. Karuks are also enrolled in two other federally recognized tribes, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Ran ...

and

Yurok The Yurok (Karuk language: Yurúkvaarar / Yuru Kyara - "downriver Indian; i.e. Yurok Indian") are an Indigenous people from along the Klamath River and Pacific coast, whose homelands are located in present-day California stretching from Trinidad ...

. It differs from the traditional narratives of most California groups, but shows stronger links with the Northwest Coast region of North America.

Sources

* Bushnell, John, and Donna Bushnell. 1977. "Wealth, Work and World View in Native Northwest California: Sacred Significance and Psychoanalytic Symbolism". In ''Flowers of the Wind: Papers on Ritual, Myth and Symbolism in California and the Southwest'', edited by Thomas C. Blackburn, pp. 120–182. Ballena Press, Socorro, New Mexico. (Myths are used to illustrate themes concerning wealth, work, and emotion.) * Curtis, Edward S. 1907-1930. ''The North American Indian''. 20 vols. Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts. (Three myths collected from Jackson, vol. 13, pp. 183–185.) * Gifford, Edward Winslow, and Gwendoline Harris Block. 1930. ''California Indian Nights''. Arthur H. Clark, Glendale, California. (Four previously published narratives, pp. 112–117, 168-171, 194-196, 213-215.) * Goddard, Pliny Earl. 1904. "Hupa Texts". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 1:89-368. Berkeley. (Legends and myths collected in 1901-1902.) * Golla, Victor E. 1977. "Coyote and Frog (Hupa)". In ''Northern Californian Texts'', edited by Victor Golla and Shirley Silver, pp. 17–25. International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Texts Series No. 2(2). University of Chicago Press. * Golla, Victor E. 1984. ''Hupa Stories, Anecdotes, and Conversations''. Hoopa Valley Tribe, Arcata, California. * Goddard, Pliny Earl. 1914. "Chilula Texts". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 10:289-379. Berkeley. (Includes traditional narratives.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. (Creation myths, pp. 72–73, 134.) * Luthin, Herbert W. 2002. ''Surviving through the Days: A California Indian Reader''. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Three traditional narratives from Golla 1984, pp. 104–114.) * Margolin, Malcolm. 1993. ''The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs, and Reminiscences''. First edition 1981. Heyday Books, Berkeley, California. (Three narratives, pp. 89, 130-135, from Goddard 1904.) * Powers, Stephen. 1877. ''Tribes of California''. Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. 3. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Reprinted with an introduction by Robert F. Heizer in 1976, University of California Press, Berkeley. (One myth, pp. 80–81.) * Thompson, Stith. 1929. ''Tales of the North American Indians''. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Dug-from-Ground myth, pp. 97–100, from Goddard 1904.) * Wallace, William J. 1948. "Hupa Narrative Tales". ''Journal of American Folklore'' 61:345-355. (Collected in 1945-1946; mostly relating to the historic period, but with some legends.)

External links

"The Northern California Indians"
by

Stephen Powers Stephen Powers (1840–1904) was an American journalist, ethnographer, and historian of Native American tribes in California. He traveled extensively to study and learn about their cultures, and wrote notable accounts of them. His articles we ...

(1872)
"Hupa Texts"
by Pliny Earl Goddard (1904)
''The North American Indian''
by

Edward S. Curtis Edward Sherriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the "Shadow Catcher", Curtis travele ...

(1924) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hupa Traditional Narratives Hupa Traditional narratives (Native California)