Jarold Ramsey

Author of Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country

About the Author

Jarold Ramsey was born in central Oregon and grew up on his family's ranch there. He became an award-winning essayist and poet, as well as a playwright and a respected authority on traditional American Indian literature. He is professor emeritus of English at the University of Rochester and the show more author of numerous books, including Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country and New Era: Reflections on the Human and Natural History of Central Oregon. In 2017, he received the Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award for lifetime achievement from Literary Arts. He and his wife, Dorothy, live on the family ranch near Madras. show less

Includes the name: Jarold Ramsey

Works by Jarold Ramsey

Popular Recent

Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country (1977) 129 copies, 2 reviews

Reading the Fire: The Traditional Indian Literatures of America (1983) 28 copies

In Beauty I Walk: The Literary Roots of Native American Writing (2008) 14 copies

New Era: Reflections on the Human and Natural History of Central Oregon (2003) 10 copies

Thinking like a Canyon (2012) 4 copies

Words Marked by a Place: Local Histories in Central Oregon (2018) 2 copies

Dermographia 1 copy

The Tally Stick (included in The Norton Introduction to Literature - 5th Edition) 1 copy

Hand-Shadows (included in The Norton Introduction to Literature - 5th Edition) 1 copy

Love in an Earthquake (1973) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Tagged

American Indian (6) American West (6) collection (2) coyote (4) ethnography (3) fiction (4) folk literature (2) folklore (11) folktales (3) history (7) indigenous (3) legends (3) literature (3) myth (3) mythology (11) nat am lit (2) Native American (16) Native American History (2) Native American Studies (3) Native Americans (4) non-fiction (3) Northwest (7) Oregon (14) Pacific Northwest (5) poetry (4) religion (4) short stories (4) stories (3) The Norton Introduction to Literature - 5th Edition (2) to-read (6)

Common Knowledge

Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Associated Place (for map): USA

Members

Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
1
No Rating

2 reviews

gildallie 33 reviews

Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country by Jarold Ramsey

A collection of Oregon Native Indian tales. I read "How the Cayuse Got Fire". A myth about how the source of all fire in Mt. Hood, guarded and tended by a demon and his sub demons, was taken by two young and crafty braves from the Cayuse tribes. They retrieve the fire and the faster brave runs down the moutainside, chased by the fire demons. He makes it to the edge of the Columbia and prays to the Creator to help him. The Creator does so, turning him into a beaver and the demons into fir show more trees.
This collection is a great general introduction into the local lore of the Oregon regions. It's a bit risque at times so I suggest it for teens on up. show less

Jun 8, 20091 other review

JungSocietySeattle 380 reviews

Coyote Was Going There: Indian literature of the Oregon country by Jarold Ramsey

This collection of 116 traditional American Indian stories from Oregon tribes was compiled from the original translations of Melville Jacobs, Franz Boas, Archie Phinney, Edward Sapir, Leo Frachtenberg, Leslie Spier, and Isabel Kelley. It also includes songs, prayers, calendrical information, personal memoirs, and peace treaty speeches, along with reworkings of published and unpublished materials. Source: Publisher

Jan 14, 20251 other review