The so-called "contact narratives" - stories indigenous peoples and Europeans tell about their first encounters with each other - are enormously valuable historical records, but their relevance is not limited to the past. For settlers, they are origin stories, explanations for their arrival, and the opening paragraph of a long rationale for displacing indigenous peoples. For indigenous peoples, the stories are a prologue to their world"s upheaval. For both, contact stories are a mytho-historical opening act to a play that we continuously recreate and re-perform. For all their importance, contact stories have not been systematically evaluated as a genre. Nevertheless, within indigenous and European cultures, they do comprise a unique genre with its own particular structures, plots, and timelines. "Myth and Memory" examines contact stories from indigenous and newcomer populations from New Zealand and throughout North America. Focusing on misunderstandings embedded in the stories of "first contacts" and these narratives" contemporary relevance, production, and performance, contributors to this book introduce new tools for understanding the genre. "Myth and Memory" argues that we are still in the contact zone, struggling to understand the meaning of contact between indigenous and settler populations. It will appeal to scholars and students in Canadian history and First Nations studies, as well as to history enthusiasts and other readers interested in contact narratives.