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    The Bungling Host
    The Nature of Indigenous Oral Literature

    Daniel Clément (Author), Peter Frost (Translated by)

    9781496206053

    Paperback / softback, published 1 August 2018

    570 pages, 46 figures, 16 tables, 4 maps
    22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg

    The Bungling Host motif appears in countless indigenous cultures in North America and beyond. In this groundbreaking work Daniel ClÉment has gathered nearly four hundred North American variants of the story to examine how myths acquire meaning for their indigenous users and explores how seemingly absurd narratives can prove to be a rich source of meaning when understood within the appropriate context. In analyzing the Bungling Host tales, ClÉment considers not only material culture but also social, economic, and cultural life; Native knowledge of the environment; and the world of plants and animals.

    ClÉment’s analysis uncovers four operational modes in myth construction and clarifies the relationship between mythology and science. Ultimately he demonstrates how science may have developed out of an operational mode that already existed in the mythological mind.
     

    Contents

    List of Illustrations                                                                                                     

    Introduction                                                                                                               

    1. Caribou Takes In His Wife’s Dress (Subarctic)                                                                

    2. Snake Makes a Meal in the Embers (Southwest)                                                              

    3. The Fire Trap (Grand Basin)                                                                                             

    4. While Bird Sings, Bear Cooks (Northwest Coast)                                                            

    5. Seal Roasts His Hands (Northwest Coast)                                                                        

    6. Silver Fox Digs Up Yellow Jacket Larvae with His Penis (California)                            

    7. Wildcat Beats a Blanket (California)                                                                                 

    8. Deer Kills Her Children and Puts Their Bones Into the Water (Southwest)                     

    9. Wolf Transforms Two Arrowheads into Mincemeat Puddings (Southwest)                    

    10. Badger Pushes a Stick Down His Throat and Gets Yucca-Juice (Southwest)                

    11. Bison Skewers His Nose (Plains)                                                                                    

    12. White-Tailed Deer Shoots at a Red Clay Bank (Plains)                                                  

    13. Man Kills Bison with His Sharpened Leg (Plains, Plateau)                                            

    14. Black-Mountain-Bear Gets Persimmons by Leaning Against a Tree (Southeast)          

    15. Rabbit Gathers Canes (Southeast)                                                                                   

    16. Squirrel Slits Open His Scrotum (Plains)                                                                        

    17. Duck Excretes Rice (Northeast)                                                                                      

    18. Bird Gets Salmon Eggs by Striking His Ankle (Northwest Coast)                                 

    19. Muskrat Cooks Some Ice (Northeast)                                                                             

    20. Woodpecker Pulls Eels Out of Trees (Subarctic)                                                            

    Conclusion                                                                                                                             

    Appendix: Bungling Host Myths                                                                               

    Notes                                                                                                                          

    Bibliography                                                                                                              
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