Seven Mohave Myths is A. L. Kroeber’s record and analysis of narratives gathered from the Mohave people of the lower Colorado River. A foundational figure in American anthropology, Kroeber presents the myths with attention to their structure, style, and cultural meaning, preserving an important body of oral tradition.
The work exemplifies the careful documentation of Native American verbal art that characterized the Boasian school of anthropology. Kroeber’s transcriptions and commentary make the Mohave narratives available for study and comparison, recording stories that illuminate the people’s cosmology and worldview. For students of mythology, folklore, and Native American cultures, this monograph is a valuable primary source and a model of attentive ethnographic recording of indigenous oral literature.