Native Californians

General

Religion of the Indians of California
by A. L. Kroeber. University of California Publications in American Ethnography and Ethnology (UCPAAE) Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 319-356. [1907]
Kroeber, who taught at the University of California at Berkeley, is best known for his study of Ishi, described as 'the last wild Indian' (see Yana Texts). He was also the father of the science fiction writer Ursula LeGuin.

Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest
Compiled and edited by Katherine Berry Judson. [1912]
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Northern California

Indian Myths Of South Central California.
By A. L. Kroeber. UCPAAE Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 167-250. [1907].
This covers the mythology of the Costanoans, today known as the Ohlone, who lived in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay area; and the Yokuts, who lived in the San Joaquin Valley.

Miwok Myths
By Edward Winslow Gifford. UCPAAE Vol. 12, No. 8, pp. 283-338. [1917]
The Miwok lived in the area which is today Yosemite National Park.

The Dawn of the World
Myths and Weird Tales Told by the Mewan [Miwok] Indians of California, by C. Hart Merriam [1910]

Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity
by Galen Clark [1904].
This is a book by one of the pioneers of Yosemite Valley about the native residents, with much information of historical interest.

The Lore and the Lure of The Yosemite
by Herbert Earl Wilson [1922].
This has some of the known legends and ethnographic information about the Native Americans of the Yosemite Valley.

Creation Myths of Primitive America
by Jeremiah Curtin [1898]
This is an excellent set of Wintu and Yana animal tales.

Maidu Texts
by Roland B. Dixon, Publications of the American Ethnological Society, vol. IV [1912]
The Maidu inhabited the central Sierra Nevada.

Hupa Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard. UCPAAE Vol. 1 No. 2 [1904]
The Hupa lived in Northwestern California, Humboldt County, on the Trinity River.

Yana Texts
by Edward Sapir. UCPAAE Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 1-235. [1910]
The Yana lived in the north-east Sacramento Valley. The most famous Yana was Ishi, 'the last wild Indian'. He is the subject of an excellent book by Theodora Kroeber, wife of Alfred Krober, Ishi in Two Worlds.

Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales and Achomawi Myths
by Roland B. Dixon. JAFL Vol. 22, no. 81, pp. 159-77 [1908] and JAFL Vol. 23, no. 85, pp. 283-7 [1909].
The Achomawi and Atsugewi lived in north-eastern California.

Southern California

Chinigchinich
by Friar Geronimo Boscana; tr. by Alfred Robinson; [1846]
This is one of the few ethographic accounts of Native Californian religion from the Mission era. This describes the Juaneños of Mission San Juan Capistrano.

The Mythology of the Diegeños
by Constance Goddard Du Bois, The Journal of American Folk-Lore (JAFL) Vol. XIV, No. 54, pp. 181-5 [1901]

A Saboba Origin-Myth
by George Wharton James; JAFL Vol. XV, No. 61, pp. 36-9 [1902]

The Legend of Tauquitch and Algoot
by George Wharton James; JAFL Vol. XVI, No. 62, pp. 153-9 [1903]

The Story of the Chaup; A Myth of the Diegueños
by Constance Goddard Du Bois; JAFL Vol. XVII, No. 67 pp. 217-42 [1904]
This is an article about the mythology of the Diegueño people, who lived in the vicinity of San Diego.

Mythology of the Mission Indians
by Constance Goddard Du Bois; JAFL Vol. XVII, No. 66. pp. 185-8 [1904]; Vol. XIX. No. 72 pp. 52-60 and 73. pp. 145-64. [1906].
This is an article about the mythology of the Luiseño people, who lived to the north of San Diego.

Two Myths of the Mission Indians
by A. L. Kroeber; JAFL Vol. XIX, No. 75 pp. 309-21 [1906]

Ceremonies and Traditions of the Diegueño Indians
by Constance Goddard Du Bois; JAFL XXI, No. 82 pp. 228-36 [1908].

Missions

Mission Memories
by John Steven McGroarty, illustrated by Frederick V. Carpenter [1929, copyright not renewed].

Nevada

Some Western Shoshoni Myths
by Julian H. Steward; Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin (BAEB) 136; pp. 249-299 [1943].