This book has editions and translations of eleven texts written in the Algonquian
language Meskwaki by Alfred Kiyana over a century ago. The manuscripts of these are part of
the large collection of Meskwaki texts that are in the National Anthropological Archives of the
Smithsonian Institution.
The first ten of the texts have what are called winter stories. They are set in ancient times
when human beings and their world are not yet like they are today. There are powerful spirits
(manitous), giants and monsters, talking birds and animals, and magical transformations. Even
the ostensible human beings may have supernatural powers. The final text brings together three
brief thematically linked stories about people who lived in the world as we know it today.
As indicated by the choice of the title selection, the stories in this book have sexual
themes and some strong sexual content. They have been brought together not only because the
treatment of these topics might be of interest, but also, given their often inexplicit titles, as a way
to make clear the presence of subject matter that some may wish to avoid.
Meskwaki is the heritage language of the Meskwaki Nation (the Sac and Fox Tribe of the
Mississippi in Iowa).
