NATIVE AMERICAN ORAL HISTORIES TRADITIONAL STORIES OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIONS BY SAMANTHA S BELL CONTENT CONSULTANT William Bauer Associate Professor Department of History University of Nevada Las Vegas Core Library Cover image Members of the Pomo tribe perform a ceremonial dance in Novato California An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdopublishing com
CHAPTER ONE
THE TRIBES OF CALIFORNIA The long winter night chilled the village near the California coast In the assembly house families gathered around a community fire An elderly man spoke He began sharing familiar tales His audience listened for hours They heard many of their favorite traditional stories After the elderly man was finished the listeners gave him gifts These storytelling traditions were hundreds of years old They would continue for hundreds more years extending into the present day The people of the California Native Nations are keeping traditional ceremonies and stories alive today
