This is the pivotal work in Native American folklore. Acclaimed in 1839 for its demonstration "of an oral imaginative lore among the aborigines of this continent," it helped to establish the Indian as the main subject of nineteenth century-folklore scholarship and demonstrated the importance of tales and legends in piecing together the history of Native Americans. The book also advanced the idea of comparative studies in folklore scholarship. Most important, given today's resurgent interest in Native American mythology, Algic Researches contained accounts of nearly fifty of the elemental myths and legends of the Odjibwa, Chippewa, Ottowa, Shawnee, Maskego, Saginaw, Algonquin, and Sioux.