This is a collection of stories from the Ahtna Indians of Alaska, collected and retold by tribe member John Smelcer. Numerous illustrations by Larry Vienneau accompany the stories and numerous pictures of the Ahtna Indians and the storytellers are also included. The book's Foreword is by Gary Snyder. Each story is introduced by John Smelcer. A comprehensive bibliography of works on Alaskan mythology and folklore is included at the end.

Foreword Introduction The Box of Water 3 Raven Steals the Stars, the Moon, and the Sun 5 How Raven Killed the Whale 9 Raven and Loon: The Necklace Story 13 The Mouse Story 17 The Man Who Married an Otter Woman 21 When Raven Was Killed 25 How Porcupine Got Quills 29 When Raven Killed Grizzly Bear 31 The Blind Man and the Loon 33 Fox and the Greedy Wolverine 37 How Wolverine Became Fierce 41 How Moose Got His Dewlap 43 Tazlina Lake Monster 45 The Giant Ice Worm 47 Fox and Wolf 49 Stone Woman 53 Bush Indians 57 How Camprobber Got His Face 59 How Rabbit Got His Tail 61 Raven and Goose-Wife 65 Spider Woman Story 67 The Old Man and the Bear 71 Owl Story 73 The Man With Too Many Wives 75 The House of Wind 77 How Raven Made Salmon Swim 79 When Raven Made Denali 83 When They Killed the Monkey People 85 The Boy Who Offended Salmon 89 When Raven Killed Porcupine 91 The Woman Taken By A Bear 93 Giant Killer 97 The First Mosquitoes 99 The Hole in the Sky101 Bibliography103 Preface to Bibliographic Index 103 Bibliographic Index of Alaska Native Oral Narratives and Ethnography 104 Aleut 104 Athabaskan 105 Eskimo 108 Eyak 111 Haida 112 Tlingit 113 Tsimshian 115 About the Authors and Artist 117 John Smelcer 117 Gary Snyder 118 Larry Vienneau 118