The Deetkatoo by John Bierhorst

Native American stories about little people

22 tales from the Mohawk, Cayuga, Cherokee, Zuni, Inuit,  Maliseet, Maya, Nahua, Senaca, Toba, Yurok, Passamaquoddy, Lenape, Yaqui, and Tillamook.

Type face is wonderful 🙂

Over a dozen illustrations by Ron Hilbert Coy a member of the Tulalip tribe of western Washington.

The Native Americans live close to the Earth and protected her out of respect and knowledge there is more to this old world than meets the eyes.  The tales in this book are told from that prospective.   They’re simple and folksy.  Some have morals, some don’t.  Not all the beings in the stories are identified by a name or type, most are just called little people.  The stories are a peek into intriguing encounters with little beings who live just outside our normal comprehension.

The Deetkatoo are only one of a cast of many types of little people in this book.  They’re nondescript little beings that if caught will turn to money if you follow a certain ritual for a few days like the woman in the Deetkatoo story.

If you’re interested in the legends and lores of little people in the Americas then this book may be a welcomed added edition to your collection.

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