![]() He holds a seat in the House of Warriors, a traditional Ponca Warrior Society. As a bronze sculptor, he was a finalist in the competition for the American Indian Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian on the Washington D.C. ![]() He worked as an honorary Imagineer and consultant for the Walt Disney Company’s Disney America theme park and as a field producer for the television miniseries 500 Nations, produced by Kevin Costner. He is a filmmaker who has produced work for Sesame Street, NBC, TBS, and other national and international networks. Buyĭan SaSuWeh Jones, writer and storytellerĭan SaSuWeh Jones is the former Chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and member of the Producers Guild of America. Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Storiesĭan SaSuWeh Jones (Ponca Nation) tells of his own encounters and selects his favorite spooky, eerie, surprising, and spine-tingling stories, all paired with haunting art by Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva). As a Native writer this consideration made me feel good that these stories were obtained and are being passed on “in a good way.” With this being said … wait until nightfall, pick up the book and prepare to enter the world of Native ghosts and the supernatural. At the end of this book, the writer gives credit in detail of how each of his stories was obtained. In the Western Hemisphere trading stories is an integral part of Native culture, a norm that is still carried on by modern Native peoples. Winter was especially chosen as the primary storytelling season as tribal communal groups were not travelling and had to remain inside for long periods during inclement weather. In a time when the internet, social media and cell phones were not the principal means of communication, Native people looked forward to sharing good stories. Stories of the unknown come in many shapes and forms that tell of unexplainable-sometimes horrible-things. Tribal definitions and their meanings are explained to help give the reader valuable information to preface each story. Thirty-two short stories are told in chilling vivid detail and collected from the thriving tradition of telling Native ghost stories. ![]() In Living Ghosts and Mysterious Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories (Scholastic Press, 166 pp., $26.99 and $12.99) Dan SaSuWeh Jones (Ponca Nation) writer and storyteller, and Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva) illustrator, weave ancient and contemporary scary stories from tribal groups from Canada, the United States and Mexico. Recently, I read a book that picked up where my grandparent’s scary stories left off: of Native tricksters shape shifters, skin-walkers and entities that thrive in the shadows of darkness. Superstition and tribal protocols keep many stories from becoming public domain. The supernatural aspects of American Indians are not normally shared with the outside world. In Living Ghosts and Mysterious Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories, 32 short stories from tribal nations are told in chilling vivid detail. In this book, I have divided the world of American Indian ghosts into five categories: “Ghosts,” “Spirits,” “Witches,” “Monsters,” and “The Supernatural,” to give a clearer, more defined picture of what you may encounter-from an unseen noise to a hideous face to maybe something no one else has ever experienced." "Others are about inanimate objects, like glowing orbs, apparitions, or even dolls that take on the breath of life. Some are about demons or evil spirits," says writer and storyteller Dan SaSuWeh Jones (Ponca). "Stories of the unknown come in many shapes and forms that tell of unexplainable-sometimes horrible-things. Looking back at my childhood these stories left many questions in my mind that were left unexplained until now. ![]() But my favorites were the scary stories that I requested over and over. Some of these stories were humorous, others taught life’s lessons. They were my link to culture and history from the early reservation days and beyond.Įach night when I was very young, we had a ritual of storytelling where they would share stories passed down to them or they had personally experienced. My grandmother was a full blooded Okay Owingeh Pueblo from New Mexico. My grandfather was a full-blooded Isanti Dakota from Nebraska. I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Illustration courtesy of Weshoyot Alvitre "Coyote and Turkey" is a haunting traditional tribal story.
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