PACS108: Indigenous Histories and Creation Stories: Introduction

Click on this link for a brief introduction to the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections, along with information on how to find a request origin stories from our library holdings.

When searching for traditional narratives, it's useful to keep the following definitions in mind, many of which come from the academic discipline of folkloric studies. When using the library's OneSearch tool, these terms can help to refine your searches for specific types of stories -- though sometimes the terms end up being used interchangeably, they do each have a more specific meaning. One simple way to find these narratives is using a keyword search that includes one of the terms below, along with a geographic place (or a deity's name). For instance, folklore Palau or myth Tangaroa (pro tip: After you've done your search, you can use the "location" limit to select "Pacific" or "Pacific (library use only)" to narrow down to books that are in the Pacific Collection.)

• Folklore: A broad term used to refer to the traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, which have been passed down orally (or via other non-written means such as dance, theater and etc.).
  • Example: Tales from the South Pacific Islands
• Myth / Mythology: The particular category of narrative deals with the point where the human world blends with the supernatural; the stories often feature interactions between gods and human beings. In oral cultures, these narratives often speak of the origin of things -- the creation of the world, the creation of the things in the world, the ways in which human beings came to live in specific places, the ways in which human beings came to possess technologies like fire. The main characters are often gods or demi-gods.
  • Example: Marianas Island Legends: Myth and Magic
• Legends: A traditional narrative that is believed to have an historical basis.
  • Example: The Fish of Maui
• Fables: A story with a moral point. Often includes animals that speak or act as humans.
  • Example: See "The Snake" in Fagogo: Fables from Samoa in Samoan and English
• Tales: The term "tales" is sometimes used interchangeably with "legend," "myth" or "folklore." Also sometimes "folk tales" or "fairy tales."
  • Example: Pacific Folk Tales (audio recording of tales from the Solomon Islands and Tonga)
• Cosmogony: Theories specifically about the origins of the universe.
  • Example: The Kumulipo mind : a global heritage : in the Polynesian creation myth
• Cosmology: Theories more generally about the universe, throughout its existence, rather than specifically about its origins.
  • Example: History, Cosmology And Gender: Christianity And Cultural Change Among The Urapmin Of Papua New Guinea
• Origin: Having to do with ancestry based on scientific evidence of migration.
  • Example: Made in Taiwan [videorecording]
• Antiquities: Generally refers to scholarly works that discuss "pre-history" (the era before written histories of a place are available). Sometimes used to refer to things like archeological reports.
  • Example: Archaeological excavation in Tofol, Kosrae eastern Micronesia : ground-truthing oral history at site Ko-A11-32.
• Ethnology: A branch of anthropology that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics.
  • Example: The threshold of the Pacific : an account of the social organization magic and religion of the people of San Cristoval in the Solomon Islands.
• Juvenile literature: Use this term to look for children's books. It is a style of writing often used to share folklore.
  • Example: Tuhurahura and the Whale
• Oral Tradition: Describes material that is based on spoken rather than written sources, which is how these stories were originally shared.
  • Examlple: Legends, traditions and tales of Nauru : a transcript of a series of lectures delivered by native teachers

By Geography

If searching using OneSearch for the stories of a particular place, use the following keywords, combined with the name of the country/territory/people. For instance: Folklore Samoan or Micronesia mythology. See also the "Some Basic Definitions" box on the Introduction page for more useful keywords and phrases to pair with geographies.

• Cosmology
• Cosmogony
• Mythology
• Legends
• Folklore
• Folk literature
• Origin
• Tales
• Oral tradition
• History

By Deity

Sometimes, a deity name is unique enough to search on its own, or in combination with one of the terms above. For instance, Tangaroa myth. In other cases, you may need to be more specific. For instance, searching only for "Maui" will not be very effective. Try instead searching for Maui deity or Maui Polynesia legend or etc.