Mohave traditional narratives include myths,

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

s, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Mohave people on the lower Colorado River in southeastern California, western Arizona, and southern Nevada. Mohave oral literature has its closest links with the traditional narratives of the other Yuman-speaking groups of southern California, western Arizona, and northern Baja California. There are also close similarities with the oral literature of the

Takic The Takic languages are a putative group of Uto-Aztecan languages historically spoken by a number of Indigenous peoples of Southern California. Takic is grouped with the Tubatulabal, Hopi, and Numic languages in the northern branch of the Uto-Azt ...

groups of southern California. ''See also

Traditional narratives (Native California) The traditional narratives of Native California are the folklore and mythology of the native people of California. For many historic nations of California, there is only a fragmentary record of their traditions. Spanish missions in California f ...

.'' Two features are unusual in Mohave narratives. The Mohave believed that in dreaming, particular while still in their mothers' wombs, they traveled back to the time of creation and directly witnessed the events of their mythology. The Mohave also provided a rare example of a detailed semi-historical narrative of travels and wars with an extended internal chronology that was generally consistent.

Online examples of Mohave narratives

*
"Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California"
by

Alfred L. Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...

(1906)
''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 ...

(1908)

Sources for Mohave narratives

* Crawford, Judith. 1978. "Coyote and Crane (Mohave)". In ''Coyote Stories'', edited by William Bright, pp. 121-123. International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Texts Series No. 1. University of Chicago Press. (Narrated by Robert S. Martin in 1968.) * Curtis, Edward S. 1907-1930. ''The North American Indian''. 20 vols. Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts. (Creation myth, vol. 2, pp. 56-57.) * Devereux, George. 1948. "Mohave Coyote Tales". ''Journal of American Folklore'' 61:233-255. (With commentary from a psychoanalytic perspective.) * Grey, Herman. 1970. ''Tales from the Mohave''. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. (Retellings of traditional narratives by a Mohave man, addressed primarily to children.) * Hinton, Leanne, and Lucille J. Watahomigie. 1984. ''Spirit Mountain: An Anthology of Yuman Story and Song''. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. (Includes Mohave narratives, pp. 285-290.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1902. "A Preliminary Sketch of the Mohave Indians". ''American Anthropologist'' 4:276-285. (Brief notes on mythology.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1906. "Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California". ''Journal of American Folklore'' 19:309-321. (Luiseño and Mohave myths, with comparative comments.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. (Detailed excerpts and discussion of narrative patterns, pp. 754-777.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1948. "Seven Mohave Myths". ''Anthropological Records'' 11:1-70. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Narratives collected in 1903-1905, with analyses.) * Kroeber, A. L. 1976. "A Mohave Historical Epic". ''Anthropological Records'' 11:71-176. University of California Press, Berkeley. (A unique clan migration legend told in 1902 by Inyo-kutavêre, with detailed analyses.) * Kroeber, Theodora. 1959. ''

The Inland Whale ''The Inland Whale'' is a 1959 book by Theodora Kroeber. It is a retelling of nine pieces of Indigenous American folklore, along with authorial commentary. Kroeber's prose received praise, though a reviewer noted that she had taken some liberti ...

''. University of California Press. (Retelling of one traditional narrative with commentary, pp. 121-138, 192-197.) * Luthin, Herbert W. 2002. ''Surviving through the Days: A California Indian Reader''. University of California Press, Berkeley. (A portion of the migration epic from Kroeber 1951, pp. 436-460.) * Stewart, Kenneth M. 1983. "Mohave". In ''Southwest'', edited by Alfonso Ortiz, pp. 55-70. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, Vol. 10. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Brief summary of myths, pp. 65-66.) {{Traditional Narratives (California groups) Narratives Traditional narratives (Native California) History of the Mojave Desert region Lower Colorado River Valley