Yurok Myths is the posthumous publication of A. L. Kroeber's collection of Yurok tales. It includes his biographical sketches of his informants, his notes on the circumstances surrounding the collection of a particular tale, his comments on the personality and narrative style of his informants, and his occasional marginal comments on particular points (though sometimes too brief to be useful). This work is published in accordance with his literary will. Kroeber, himself a student of Boas, was an early and important figure in establishing systematic study of Native American cultures and anthropology as an academic discipline

The work is a collection of Yurok tales which Kroeber gathered, primarily during 1908-09, then periodically worked on throughout the rest of his career. And, though the tales are not, probably, in the form they would finally have been given had he finished his work, they provide a very full view of the Yurok culture. Many of the notes indicate that the tales would ultimately have been more fully annotated, as do the biographical sketches and psychological profiles.

The work has a few flaws, as works will, such as two misprints on page 6, and an irritating lack of translations of house names (the more noticeable because so much else is translated), but these faults are minor when compared to the strengths of the work.

The major strength of Yurok Myths is that it makes available for the first time an important body of material which can no longer be regathered. Even the organization of the work, for which Dundes seems to apologize in his appended "Folkloristic Commentary," is a major advantage of the work. It does two important things. First, it permits the reader to judge the tales in terms of the informant, the value of which Dundes notes on p. xxxii. Secondly it increases the versatility of the work: the non-specialized reader need not skip around to avoid repeated tales or poorly narrated ones. And any detriment to scholarly utility this might cause is offset by the table of contents, the indexes of personages, and the cross-referenced Index of Characteristic Stories and Themes. In fact, the only thing which might make the material any more accessible to the scholar would be a Motif-Index.

Another strong point of Yurok Myths is Buzaljko's inclusion of the illustrations. Map 3 is particularly interesting because it points up the affinity of Yurok cosmology to that of, for example, the Plains Indians. Map 2 is useful for readers unfamiliar with the Yurok concept of direction and for an orientation for the readings themselves.

Though often less full than one might wish, the notes too are a strength of the work, frequently providing the key ingredient which makes a tale comprehensible (e. g., note 13, p. 309).

In general, the book is a welcome addition to the discipline -- useful, well-conceived, well-executed (both by the author and the editor), nice to look at, an asset to any library whether professional or personal, and amenable to scholar, students, and general reader alike.

James Vandergriff
University of Missouri--Columbia