Page 24 RAIN Aug.-Sept. 1982 Cocopeli Stories by Solala Towler, 1982, 88 pp., $4.95 from: Cyote Press Box 101 Deadwood, OR 97430 So much of the art of story telling has been lost to television. It being "high time to resurrect that fine art," author Solala Towler gives us Cocopeli Stories. Set down in an oral style with the lines broken where the breath or thought is broken, the stories are written to encourage the reader to share with others. Cocopeli, usually depicted as humpbacked, is a flute player found on pottery, jewelry, and walls all over North and South America. Kokopilau is a Hopi Kachina who helped the Hopi people on their ancient migration. He appears nowadays in the poems of Gary Snyder and Peter Blue Qoud. The stories are divided into seasons when traditionally certain stories are told. The reader is brought through the year beginning with and returning to spring, the rebirth of the year and all that grows. Cocopeli's adventures with Bear, Weasel, Stone Pipe Man, Coyote, Old Man Winter, Spider Old Woman, the Sun and Grandmother Moon describe a world in which the earth is alive and all living beings are interrelated. In each story Cocopeli faces adversity with courage; in overcoming difficulty he helps his people and becomes wiser for the struggle. In sharing these stories aloud, we continue to pass on this wisdom as has been done for centuries in the oral tradition. "And if, when you are done," says author Towler," you feel like making up your own ... go ahead. Cocopeli is for everyone." — Nancy Cosper RAIN 2270 NW Irving, Portland, OR 97210 (503) 227-5110
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