H.L. Delaney

The journal

Notes from the Basin

Essays on adapting Modoc oral tradition to literary form, the documented record of the American West, and the craft behind the work.

June 16, 2026

Why I Adapt Modoc Stories to Literary Form

On the reasons and obligations behind adapting Modoc origin myths as an enrolled member of the Klamath Confederated Tribes — and what literary form makes possible that oral tradition alone cannot.

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June 16, 2026

Carrying Oral Tradition onto the Page Without Flattening It

What happens to a story that was never meant to be read? Working with Modoc oral tradition, the documented record of the Modoc War, and what the page costs you.

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