Some Ifaluk Myths and Folk Tales

Spiro, Melford E. (July 1951). "Some Ifaluk Myths and Folk Tales". The Journal of American Folklore. Champaign, IL: American Folklore Society. 64 (253): 289. doi:10.2307/536156. ISSN 0021-8715.

Abstract: The Ifaluk (Ifalik) are a Micronesian people living in the Central Carolines, about 400 miles south of Guam. Their coral atol, whose land mass comprises one-half square mile, is inhabited by 250 people. This is a simple matrilineal society, governed by five hereditary chiefs,' whose subsistence economy consists of horticulture and fishing. The entire body of Ifaluk folklore, with the one exception of folksongs,2 is meager indeed. The few myths of origin and explanatory myths are foundwith few exceptions-in discursive rather than in narrative form. Legends, collected by Dr. Burrows, are equally scarce. The corpus of material published here represents, then, the bulk of the Ifaluk oral literature. The tales reproduced here fall into two groups. One group consists of a series of myths about Wolphat, an Ifaluk deity. The other group consists of some folk tales concerned with the common theme of stupidity.

Extra details:

MAG: 2332513551
OpenAlex: W2332513551
CorpusID: 164036892