The MAIDU are an American Indian people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather and American rivers. They also reside in Humbug Valley. In the Maiduan languages, Maidu means "man."
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of Maidu (including the Konkow and Nisenan) was, in 1770, estimated to be 9,000. Sherburne F. Cook later raised this figure slightly, to 9,500.
After the arrival of the Europeans, Kroeber reported the population of the Maidu in 1910 as low as 1,100. The 1930 census counted only 93, following decimation by infectious diseases and social disruption with many moving away from their tribal lands. As of 1995, the Maidu population had recovered to an estimated 3,500 – still down 63% on their original number.
In approximately 1910, folklorist Roland B. Dixon spent time amongst them collecting and recording their folklore, myths and legends resulting in this volume of MAIDU FOLKLORE, MYTHS AND LEGENDS.
Herein you will find stories like:
The Maidu Creation Myth,
Coyote And Muskrat,
Coyote, The Mountain-Tossing People, And The Wind-Man,
Thunder-Boy And Lizard-Man,
Thunder And Mosquito, And The Theft Of Fire – plus many more.
That these myths and legends have survived is even more remarkable considering what the tribe has gone through. The 1995 population census indicates that the tribe is still in recovery.
For more information https://store.streetlib.com/en/anon-e-mouse/maidu-folklore-myths-and-legends-18-legends-of-the-maidu-people
