Documenting different genres of oral narrative in Cora (Uto-Aztecan)

This paper discusses genres of oral literature in Meseño Cora, an indigenous language of Nayarit, Mexico, and their inclusion in teaching textbooks as well as grammars and dictionaries. Both texts presented here were taken from a single narrator and collected during specific narrative festivals. “The Rabbit” illustrates níukari hí’iwahkari or ‘word playing’, a genre targeted for children, it uses dialogue and Spanish borrowings extensively. “The Birth of Corn” belongs to the níukari míme’ekan or ‘ancient word’ genre which is characteristic of creation myths. It has almost no Spanish loan words and employs prose instead of dialogue. This genre also uses different vocabulary and many cultural symbols also present in Cora daily life.