I think there must be a mistake by the publisher or perhaps at Amazon, but there isn't a ~ in the tribal name Zuni ("Zuñi" in the Cushing title listed above).

To have collected stories that long ago doesn't guarantee "purity," and "contamination" is a relative term. If you take a look at Amazon, for example, you'll find a book of cartoons by a Zuni artist, a response to Cushing's presence in their community and his resulting written works.

From the page for A Zuni Artist Looks at Frank Hamilton Cushing: Cartoons by Phil Hughte

In 1879 Frank Hamilton Cushing, a young Smithsonian ethnographer, rode up to the Pueblo of Zuni on a mule. For the next four years "Cushy" would live as a Zuni, studying Zuni daily life, tradition, and sacred beliefs. His popular and scholarly writings would give Zuni a national prominence it never sought. To this day Zuni people wrestle with their feelings about this young man and how he changed things at Zuni forever.

In 1994 Zuni artist Phil Hughte retells the story of Cushing through cartoons both humorous and acerbic. Joined by Cushing's own words, Phil's drawings add the uniquely Zuni voice to a reflection of one man's life.

A reader review a little later on notes: "Hughte uniquely portrays Cushing in many ways; one way he is disturbing the Zuni clowns, and another way he protects their land from U.S. troops. He is an outsider, a Bow Priest, an ethnographer, and a clown, representing a trickster figure in the Zuni society. This is the very reason why Cushing appears human and does not appear as the target of satire or caricture."

Cultures change, so while historic material is certainly interesting, to try to maintain a culture at some sort of "pre-contact" level is to turn the whole tribe into museum artifacts. Tracing the changes, particularly when they are voluntary, can be very interesting. Indians have fought for a long time to 1) have the word "plight" removed from any sentences describing them and 2) be a part of the modern world today with living cultures that reflect the changing world around them.

I suggest obtaining a mix of music that includes the (possible) solemnity of the historic songs and a good laugh at the modern interpretations of popular culture jingles.

SRS