Native American Myth and Legend – Mike Dixon-Kennedy

This is a book that I acquired when on a library loot. As part of the Read-A-Myth reading challenge I must read a work of non-fiction, and I thought it would be most valuable if I read my non-fiction on a section of mythology I knew absolutely nothing about. So when I eyed this book in my library I thought it would be perfect 1) I know little if nothing about native american myth 2) it is non-fiction and 3) it also means I have read books about three different countries. It seemed that everything was shaping up for this to be a great read. This is now my seventh book for the Read-A-Myth reading challenge…technically only one more to go!

‘This book, the third I have written along the same lines, is the result of many, many years’ reasearch, research that has involved every world race and religion, culture and cult, from the Aztecs to the Zulus, from Christianity to Zoroastrianism. This book covers the native beliefs of a large number of people from a huge geographical division – the Americas. For the first time in a single volume, the myths and legends, of the native American peoples, from the Ona of Tierra del Fuego to the Inuit of the Arctic Circle are included in a single volume.’

Unfortunately Native American Myth and Legend was not a perfect read for me, in fact I didn’t really finish it! I cannot fault Mike Dixon-Kennedy for his research and detailing it was phenomenal, however when he says this is an A-Z he means it literally. First he did all the A’s then B’s and so on and so forth, just like a dictionary, which is great if you are searching for something in particular but I wanted to learn about their myths generally and didn’t really know where to start. I read bits that interested me but this is not a book you can start at the beginning and work your way through, hence why I said I didn’t really finish it, just read parts of it instead. It is totally my fault I didn’t enjoy this book because I presumed it was what I wanted rather than double checking that it really was.

If you are studying or researching then Native American Myth and Legend would be an amazing reference for you, but if like me you are a novice to such things and just want to learn more, then this is probably not the book for you.