Today, more than 160,000 Navajo from Arizona, New Mexico and some areas of Utah are the most numerous Native Americans. The Apaches, as well as their close cousins and neighbors, probably arrived in the region before the year 1300.
Apart from some ancient and now declining myths of hunting, the Navajo mythology reflects the influence of the agricultural societies of some Indian peoples, such as the Hopis, from whom the myth of the “emergence” and much of its symbolism derives. Most of the Navajo mythology comes from the story of creation-emergence and several ceremonial myths, which are descendants of the latter.
Ceremonial myths mention heroic figures who are wounded or missing and seek the gods to recover. After reaching his goal and having learned the healing ceremony, the hero returns to his home to teach it and then moves to live with the gods.
A unique ceremonial myth speaks of two twins of a knife girl and the deity Yei, also known as the Speaking God. The children always leave the house and one day they are overthrown by a crumbling of rocks, leaving the greatest blind and the smallest dumb. They become a burden for their poor family and are asked to leave. That's how they go and look for the gods. The gods welcome them and prepare a healing ceremony in the sweat pavilion (a kind of sauna), where the speaking God helps them and reveals to them that he is their father. The boys shout of joy as healing is carried out, breaking a taboo by speaking in the sweat pavilion. Everything disappears and returns to its original state. He makes an offering to calm the gods, who heal them and make them as beautiful as their brothers. After returning home, they teach others the healing ritual and then go to become spirits that protect the animals and the storm.
The Chippewa, a native Algonquin-speaking community living in the Great Lakes region, survive by hunting, fishing and harvesting, as well as growing corn and shrimp in the summer, collecting wild rice in the autumn, and extracting sugar from the arches in the spring. This cycle was characterized by a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. They quickly built dome-shaped shops called wigwams. In winter, they traveled their routes on foot or in canoe canoes, or using tobogans.
Chippewa myths can be divided into the following categories: the creation of Wenebojo (a real person); the accounts of Matchikwewis and Oshkikwe, in which women explain how to behave girls; the windigo accounts, where struggles between people and cannibals giants appear; the stories of animals, where real encounters of people with animals appear and anecdotes about animal tricks; and
The ritual of the Healing Dance was part of the Wenebojo cycle. Only during the winter were other stories told. Some said that frogs and snakes could not tell stories because they were evil spirits and should not hear them.
At first, the earth was flat, full of cannibal monsters and without mountains or trees. Then came the Transformator. The qhilleute say it was the sharp, intelligent eye; the makah say it is the horn; and the people of Puget Sound say it's the fox. The Chehalis believe it was the Moon that became a human, while the Tillamook represent her as a woman.
The tribes of Alaska in the north and the Rocky in the east use different expressions to refer to the Transformer.
The Transformator's camp had inexhaustible streams and springs. The mountains were lifted up by him. Downloading a bag of wooden furs like those used by people for hair, he built the rocky cliffs of the quiet coast. The Sun was stolen from the greed that protected it and thrown into the sky.
According to the hopis, the first people migrated upwards, crossed three commandos and reached the fourth world. The guardian spirit, masaw, suggested that they move north, south, east, and west to reach the sea, and then stop until they reach their common homeland. The journey was not completed by all the clans; some remained in the tropics and others lost their course. The returnees portrayed the migrations with two kinds of spirals: the square, which represents the return of the seas, and the round, which shows how they walked closer and closer to their home. The travels of the village form a large cross called Tuwanasavi (the center of the universe), whose epicenter is located in the present homeland of the hopis.
For a long time, the sky has been above the earth and the earth below, where the winds, the clouds and each level has its inhabitants, connected by a large tree that connects the different worlds. The side of abundance was the cup of the tree. Human beings on Earth headed there to get food, moving forward and down on this “tree of life.”
They did not comply with their customs of solidarity and did not offer the best to those who had difficulty climbing the big tree. The elders shouted and the Great Fire destroyed everything. Some of them, in the form of stars or constellations, wander through the Milky Way along with their ancestors.
Others escaped by entering under the ground and then coming out through the holes that the squirrels made. Together, they ejaculated in a cabbage ham. At one point, they realized that part of what they caught or fished was disappearing for no apparent cause. The gavel informed them of the arrival of strange beings from heaven. Hence, humans caused a drop of arrows and some of these strange celestial beings embedded themselves in the earth. The traitor pulled them out through his nails. These beings had two dented mouths, one in the middle of their face and the other in the center of their bodies, using both to consume the stolen food.
The beings approached the fire that was lit by the men because of the cold, but the eagle threw them a stone that dropped all the teeth of the lower mouth except one, which was the clitoris, since they were women. Since then, boys and girls have been the result of the union of men and women. Men have earthly power, while women have heavenly power.
A long time ago, one night, everything became very dark and it started to snow. It snowed all night and it seemed like it would never end. The snow began to cover the plants and bushes, making it difficult to find food for the animals, resulting in the death of many of them.
The council finally made the decision to send messengers to the sky to find out the reason behind the long night and snow. Each family of animals, birds and fish that lived on the shores of the Great Slave Lake received one member, and those who could not fly were carried on the back of those who were able. Each of them entered through a trap that led them into the Heavenly World.
A large store built of deer skins was next to the trampoline. The Black Bear lived in that place. There were some curious bags hanging from the roof. On consulting what was inside, they were informed that there were winds, one rainy bag and another cold; however, Black Bear refused to reveal what was in the last bag.
The curious animals untied the last bag and threw it through the trap down to the ground when Bear came out. The bag contained the sun, the moon and the stars, and the rays of the sun began to melt the snow.
The animals embarked on the return flight thinking that the world on earth was already safe. Some incidents occurred along the way: a castor broke his tail and stained the lynx with blood; the fist of the alce flattened; and the buffalo had a fist in his back.
The friendly and quiet life of the lake disappeared. When the flood waters withdrew, the fish realized that they could not live on land because birds and animals ate them, so they took refuge in the trees. Each animal chose his favorite place.
Soon, animals like birds and fish ceased to communicate with each other. Shortly thereafter, the first humans visited the lake. There has never been peace since then.
This story goes back to the slave tribe on the coast of the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
A common reason for divers' intervention is that several animals attempted to dive to the bottom of the great ocean to obtain sand or other materials for land to emerge.
In this story there are many animals and fish.
The (successful) duck, eagle, falcon, horn, and colibri are some of the tribes found in southern California. The coushatta tribes of Texas believe that the river crab is the only animal that achieves it after the frog and the castor failed to.
The myth of the twins and the origin of man, but instead of bringing land with its pinches, as other tribes report, the crab built a clay chimney that eventually reached the surface of the water.
Native American Cultures: Myths and magic
You can purchase this book on Amazon.
This book challenges deep-seated stereotypes and offers an enriching perspective that contributes to a more comprehensive and respectful appreciation of the indigenous peoples of North America. Through an understanding of their myths and beliefs, we are taking an important step toward cultural reconciliation and the recognition of the diversity that has enriched the history of this continent.
These mythical stories, many of them linked to the literary genre of fantasy, reveal a world where the divine and the human intertwine in narratives that explain the cosmic order, creation, and the fundamental structure of the universe. Discover how these sacred tales bear witness to the deep connection of the natives with nature and spirituality.
Native Americans: Population and Territories
Native Americans: Cultures, customs, worldview
Traditions, myths, stories and legends