A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore The Oral Literature, Traditions, Recollections, Legends, Tales, Songs, Religious Beliefs, Customs, Sayings and

by Courlander, Harold

• ISBN13: 9781569245019
• ISBN10: 1569245010
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-31
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

In A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore, esteemed novelist and folklorist Harold Courlander brings together another extensive and unique collection of tales, recollections, epics, traditions, beliefs, myths, historical chronicles, and songs, this time from the numerous black cultures of the New World. This remarkable exploration, which covers the unwritten traditions and literature of the Spanish-, French-, and English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, the areas of Central and South America inhabited by people of African descent, and the black communities of the United States, brings to light amazing tales of scoundrels, heroes, rollicking adventures, and friendship, descriptions of cult life around which many traditions and beliefs flowed, insight into the social scene in places where black and white ideas intermingled and became Afro-American, and much more. With a focus on the interconnectedness of cultural inheritances throughout the Afro-American region as well as the local divergences, A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore eloquently demonstrates the powerful cultural influence of Africa on this side of the Atlantic. Book jacket.

Author Biography

HAROLD COURLANDER (1914–1996) wrote many well-regarded books about the traditions, lore, and oral literature of various peoples in Africa. His works include A Treasury of African Folklore, The Fourth World of the Hopis, Tales of the Yoruba Gods and Heroes, The African, and The Son of the Leopard.

Table of Contents

Africa's Mark in the Western Hemisphere	1	(7)
The Inheritance in Cuba	8	(1)
Some Yoruba Legends in Cuba	9	(1)
The Distribution of the Orishas' Powers	10	(1)
Olofin Punishes Babaluaye	11	(1)
Ogun Traps Orumbila	12	(1)
Why Obatala Trembles at the River	13	(1)
Shango Looks For His Father	14	(1)
Obatala's Yams	15	(1)
Lucumi (Yoruba) Liturgical Music in Cuba	16	(1)
Two Liturgical Songs of the Lucumi	17	(1)
Lucumi Dance-Song for Eleggua (Legba)	17	(1)
Lucumi Dance-Song for Ogun	18	(2)
Rites of the Abakwa Secret Society	20	(1)
An Abakwa Initiation	21	(2)
Abakwa Drumming	23	(1)
Some Passages from Abakwa Songs	24	(2)
Haitian Religious Traditions: Vodoun	26	(5)
A Hounfor Seen at the Turn of the Century	31	(1)
Two Vodoun Rituals	32	(1)
Service For Agwe, God of the Sea	32	(3)
The Degradation Ceremony	35	(8)
Two Haitian Drum Rhythms	43	(1)
Kitta Mouille, or ``Wet'' Kitta	43	(2)
Ibo Dance	45	(1)
Haiti's Political Songs: Comments on the Mighty	46	(13)
Haitian Tales: Gods, Tricksters and Others	59	(2)
Nananbouclou and the Piece of Fire	61	(1)
The Voyage Below the Water	62	(2)
Merisier, Stronger than the Elephants	64	(2)
Jean Britisse, the Champion	66	(3)
Charles Legoun and his Friend	69	(1)
The Singing Tortoise	70	(2)
Bouki and Ti Malice Go Fishing	72	(1)
Baptizing the Babies	73	(1)
Bouki and Ti Bef	74	(1)
Uncle Bouki Gets Whee-Ai	74	(1)
Haitian Animal Tales	75	(1)
Who is the Older?	75	(1)
The Dogs Pay a Visit to God	76	(1)
Frog, Chief of the Well	76	(2)
The Lizard Bocor	78	(1)
The Creole Language	79	(1)
Removing a Loa from the Head of a Person Who Has Died	80	(2)
Brother Ledan's Return	82	(1)
Calls of the Haitian Street Vendors	83	(2)
Some Haitian Proverbs	85	(1)
Some Haitian Riddles	85	(1)
Negro Song Poetry in Puerto Rico	86	(1)
When They Start the Fire	87	(1)
There are Many Negroes Here	88	(1)
When the White Man Plays the Drum	88	(1)
The Black Amelia	88	(1)
When a Negro goes to a Dance	88	(1)
A Black Man Stole a Chicken	89	(1)
Four Tales From Guadeloupe	89	(1)
Woy, Who Knows?	89	(1)
Why People Do Not Live Again After Death	90	(1)
Oh, Misery!	91	(1)
Rabbit Seeks Wisdom	92	(1)
Two Old Slave Songs from Carriacou	93	(1)
The Bamboula Dance, Myth and Reality	94	(2)
Preacher Tales in the Caribbean	96	(1)
The Responsive Congregation	96	(1)
The Parson's Beard	97	(1)
Whatsoever in Thy Bosom	97	(1)
The Hymn	97	(1)
Pack of Cards	97	(1)
The Parson's Hog	98	(1)
Come In or Stay Out	98	(1)
My Name First	99	(1)
West Indian Calypso	100	(3)
Small Island	103	(1)
Bamboo Dance	104	(2)
Subway Train	106	(1)
Dorothy, One Morning	107	(1)
My Donkey Want Water	107	(1)
Matilda	108	(2)
So Them Bad Minded	110	(1)
Stickman	111	(1)
All Day, All Night, Merriam	112	(1)
Some Tales with African Themes from the English-Speaking Islands	112	(1)
The Three Companions	112	(1)
Tar Baby: Eavesdropper: Without Scratching	113	(2)
Magic Flight	115	(3)
The Things that Talked	118	(1)
Tales of Cuckolds and Rakes	119	(1)
Man from God	119	(1)
Frightened Sweetheart	119	(1)
Husband in the Bag	120	(1)
Tom Bell	121	(1)
Charge the Engineer	122	(2)
Others Tales from the English-Speaking Islands	124	(1)
Back in the Same Hole	124	(1)
Fishing on Sunday	124	(1)
She Sends for Her Husband	125	(1)
The Cruel Friend	126	(1)
Only One Mouthful	127	(1)
Jamaican Alphabet Game	128	(1)
One Bright Summer Morning	129	(1)
Some Ballads from the Bahamas	130	(1)
The Sinking of the Pytoria	131	(6)
The Burning of Curry Camp	137	(3)
Cecil Lost in the Storm	140	(3)
African-Derived Religious Motifs in Jamaica	143	(3)
Kumina Bailo Song	146	(1)
The Ras Tafari Movement in Jamaica	147	(11)
About the Maroons of Jamaica	158	(1)
Quadrille and Polka in Accompong	159	(2)
Two Tales from Accompong	161	(1)
Fowl and Cockroach	161	(1)
Horse and Turtle	162	(1)
Some Trinidadian Healing Remedies	163	(7)
Song of a Household Slave in Mexico	170	(1)
The Black Caribs of British Honduras	171	(1)
As They Were Seen in the Year 1700	172	(1)
The Black Caribs Today	173	(3)
A Black Carib Tale of the Constellations	176	(1)
Black Carib Rituals	177	(1)
The Amuiadahani Rite	178	(1)
The Cugu Rite	178	(1)
The Dogo Rite	179	(1)
Ceremonies, Songs and Dances	180	(6)
Possession by Ancestral Spirits	186	(2)
Some Black Carib Proverbs	188	(1)
Surinam: Coast People and Bush Negroes	189	(2)
On the Capture and Transport of Slaves	191	(2)
On Their Languages, Music and Customs	193	(4)
On the Conditions of Slavery	197	(3)
A Surinam Obeahman	200	(1)
A Free Negro's Retort	201	(1)
On Some Rebel Chiefs and Their Villages	202	(1)
Musical Instruments and Dances	202	(3)
Djuka Song from the Surinam Bush	205	(1)
Some Proverbs of the Saramacca Bush-Negroes of Surinam	205	(1)
Lobi Singi from Paramaribo	206	(3)
Some Surinam Tales	209	(1)
Why Cat and Dog are Enemies	210	(1)
Dog Asks for a New Name	210	(1)
Why Dog Goes About Naked	211	(1)
Dog's Riddle	211	(1)
Grudging Hospitality	211	(1)
The Feast on the Mountain and the Feast Under the Water	212	(1)
Tables Turned: Cockroach Revenged on Anansi	213	(1)
Giants Cure Boastfulness	213	(1)
Spreading the Fingers	214	(1)
The Fastidious Go Hungry	215	(1)
The Preacher Traps a Thief	215	(1)
The Devil Complains	216	(1)
Broken Pledge: All Things Talk	216	(1)
Trespassing on the Devil's Land	216	(2)
Three Party Songs from Guyana	218	(2)
Four Afro-Venezuelan Tales	220	(1)
The Man, the Snake and the Fox	220	(2)
The Swordfish	222	(2)
The Woman, the Giant and the Vulture	224	(1)
The Rooster, the Goat and the Dog	225	(1)
The Afro-Venezuelan Mampulorio	226	(3)
The Myth of Maria Lionza	229	(2)
Three Afro-Venezuelan Songs	231	(1)
Brazil: The Palmares Story	232	(2)
African Religious Survivals in Brazil	234	(3)
Ketu Ceremony Honoring the Deity Yansan	237	(2)
Some Brazilian Cult Songs to Yoruba Deities	239	(3)
Melody of a Brazilian Cult Song	242	(1)
A Cult Festival, as Reported in the Press	243	(2)
Some Words of African Origin in Brazilian-Portuguese Speech	245	(1)
The Man Who Took a Water Mother for His Bride	246	(2)
Brazil: The Way of Batucada	248	(1)
Voice of the Backstreets	249	(1)
In Batista's Street	250	(1)
Why Do You Cry?	250	(1)
I Will Reform	250	(1)
I Will Go Away	251	(1)
Unfortunate Vagrant	252	(1)
I Went to the Hill	252	(1)
Where I Met You	252	(1)
I go to Lisbon	253	(1)
The Sun is Setting	253	(1)
You Want to Break Me	253	(1)
Sad Destiny	253	(1)
Afro-American Lore, Oral Literature and Folk Music in the United States	254	(1)
The Question of Survivals	255	(2)
Black, Afro-American or Negro?	257	(1)
The Matter of Vernacular	258	(1)
The Situation of the Blacks as Seen by Nineteenth Century Chroniclers	259	(1)
Frederika Bremer's Impressions	259	(5)
As Frederick Law Olmstead Saw the Slave States	264	(11)
Frances Anne Kemble on the Selling of Slaves	275	(5)
Epitaph of a Slave	280	(1)
Traditions and Recollections in the Sea Islands	281	(8)
The Bilali Document	289	(1)
The Gullah Speech of the Coastal Region	290	(6)
Three Tales in Gullah Dialect	296	(1)
Buh Rabbit and Buh Wolf Go Hunting	296	(1)
Buh Deer and Buh Snail have a Race	297	(1)
Playing Dead in the Road	297	(1)
Uncle Remus Confronted by the Coastal Dialect	298	(1)
Sea Island Riddles	299	(2)
Spirituals and Religious Epics	301	(41)
As the Spirituals are Sung	342	(1)
Wake Up Jonah	342	(2)
Job, Job	344	(1)
Rock Chariot	345	(1)
King David	346	(2)
When Jesus Met the Woman at the Well	348	(1)
Wonder Where is My Brother Gone	349	(1)
From the Pulpit	350	(1)
Sermon: Is God With Us?	350	(1)
John Jasper's Sermon on the Sun	351	(8)
Sermon: Behold the Rib	359	(2)
Sermon: The Poor-Rich and the Rich-Poor	361	(4)
The Religious Shout	365	(3)
Run Old Jeremiah	368	(2)
On The Making of Songs	370	(1)
Bo-Cat	371	(2)
Richard Creeks on Songmaking	373	(10)
Evolution of a Plantation Song	383	(1)
The John Henry Epic	383	(9)
Some Traditional Black Ballads	392	(1)
The Ballad of Louis Collins	393	(1)
Frankie and Albert	394	(2)
Casey Jones	396	(2)
Betty and Dupree	398	(2)
Poor Lazarus	400	(2)
The Sinking of the Titanic	402	(3)
Worksongs: Road Gangs and Prison Camps	405	(1)
Don't You Hear My Hammer Ringing	405	(2)
Lost John	407	(2)
Here Rattler Here	409	(2)
Grizzly Bear	411	(1)
Captain Holler Hurry	412	(1)
Some Miscellaneous Old Beliefs	413	(1)
A Mississippi Sharecropper, 1954	414	(5)
Recollections of Old Master and John	419	(1)
Old Boss, John, and the Mule	420	(2)
Old Boss and George	422	(1)
Old Master and Okra	423	(2)
Old Master and the Bear	425	(1)
Cussing Out Old Master	425	(2)
John Calls on the Lord	427	(2)
John Saves Old Master's Children	429	(1)
Conversation about a Slave	429	(1)
John Steals a Pig and a Sheep	430	(1)
Baby in the Crib	431	(1)
The Yearling	431	(1)
Old Marster Eats Crow	432	(1)
John Praying	432	(1)
The Mojo	432	(1)
The Single Ball	433	(1)
The Champion	434	(2)
Old Master and John go Hunting	436	(1)
John's Watch	436	(1)
The Ducks Get the Cotton	437	(1)
John Sharecrops for Old Boss	438	(2)
John in Jail	440	(1)
The Horsefly	440	(1)
John and the Blacksnake	441	(1)
Plantation Proverbs	442	(2)
Justice, Injustice and Ghosts in the Swamps of the Congaree	444	(1)
Judge Foolbird	444	(1)
The Settin' Up	445	(1)
The Little Old Man on the Gray Mule	445	(2)
The Lake of the Dead	447	(1)
Murder Vs. Liquor	448	(1)
Old Dictodemus	449	(1)
Old Man Rogan	450	(1)
The Yellow Crane	451	(2)
Ruint	453	(1)
Churches, Preachers, and Deacons	454	(1)
Devil in Church	454	(1)
Preacher and the Devil	455	(3)
What the Preacher's Talking About	458	(1)
The Bear Fight	459	(1)
Human Weakness	459	(2)
The Card Game	461	(1)
John and the Bear	461	(1)
Go Down Below	462	(1)
Balaam's Ass	463	(1)
Fattening the Calf	464	(2)
Testing Wits: Buh Rabbit, Buh Fox, and Other Creatures	466	(1)
Brer Coon Gets His Meat	467	(2)
Brer Rabbit in the Well	469	(2)
Terrapin's Pot of Sense	471	(1)
Buh Rabbit's `Gator Fry	472	(2)
Buh Buzzard and Salvation	474	(1)
Rail Fence	475	(1)
The Magic Hoe	476	(1)
Between Two Dinners	477	(1)
Catching the Snake and the Yellowjackets	478	(1)
Terrapin Shows His Strength	479	(3)
Testing Wits: Human Vs. Demon	482	(1)
Wiley and the Hairy Man	482	(5)
Moralizing Tales	487	(1)
The Dying Bullfrog	487	(1)
Buh Raccoon and Buh Possum	488	(1)
Two Friends and the Bear	488	(1)
The Eagle and His Children	488	(1)
Chanticleer and the Barnyard Rooster	489	(1)
Buh Lion and Buh Goat	490	(1)
Buh Turkey Buzzard and the Rain	490	(1)
Buh Fox Says Grace	491	(1)
Knee-High Man wants to be Sizable	491	(1)
Reform Meeting	492	(1)
Buh Fox's Number Nine Shoes	493	(2)
The Well	495	(2)
The Beginning of Things	497	(1)
Origin of the Races, According to Uncle Remus	497	(1)
The Deluge, According to Uncle Remus	498	(2)
Some Familiar Proverbs	500	(1)
An Alabama Storyteller and Bard	501	(1)
Chicago and Rome	502	(1)
River, Creek, Sun, Moon	502	(1)
The Draft Board	503	(1)
The Visit to Dr. Readys	503	(1)
Excerpt From an Amerson Street Corner Sermon	504	(1)
The Tub with the Ancient Antecedents	505	(1)
The Carolina Yell and Other Cries and Calls	506	(5)
Blues	511	(2)
About Women	513	(4)
Homesick, Broke and Far from Home	517	(1)
Jails and County Farms	518	(5)
Two Free-Form Blues	523	(6)
Boasting and Big Old Lies	529	(3)
Richard Creeks on Conjuring and Doctoring	532	(1)
Some Ring and Line Games from Alabama	533	(9)
African Dancing in New Orleans	542	(2)
``Voodoo'' Rituals in New Orleans	544	(2)
Congo Square	546	(3)
Creole Tales from Louisiana	549	(1)
The Irishman and the Frogs	549	(1)
The Marriage of Compere Lapin	549	(7)
Three Creole Ballads	556	(3)
New Orleans Superstitions	559	(6)
Some Creole Proverbial Wisdom	565	(1)
Appendixes	566	(36)
Bibliography	602	(9)
Index	611