Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas

From the full moon fell Nokomis - from The Story of Hiawatha, 1910

Myths from this region feature female deities, such as the creator, Big Turtle;[2][3] and First Mother, from whose body grew the first corn and tobacco.[4] The two great divine culture heroes are Glooskap[5][6] and Manabus.[7]

Other stories explore the complex relationships between animals and human beings. Some myths were originally recited as verse narratives.[5]

• Iroquois mythology
• Ho-Chunk mythology
• Wyandot religion
• Seneca mythology

Stories unique to the Great Plains feature buffalo, which provided the Plains peoples with food, clothing, housing and utensils. In some myths they are benign, in others fearsome and malevolent.[8] The Sun is an important deity;[9][10] other supernatural characters include Morning Star[9][4][10] and the Thunderbirds.[11][8][12]

A common theme is the making of a journey, often to a supernatural place across the landscape or up to the parallel world in the sky.[9][13] One of the most dominant tricksters of the Plains is Old Man, about whom numerous humorous stories are told.[14][9] An important supernatural hero is the Blood Clot Boy, transformed from a clot of blood.[15] [16]

Important myths of this region deal with the origin of hunting and farming,[17][18] and the origin of sickness and medicine.[18]

See also:

• Cherokee mythology
• Choctaw mythology
• Creek mythology

Myths of this region are dominated by the sacred creator / trickster Coyote. Other significant characters include the Sun People,[19] the Star Women[20] and Darkness.[21]

See also:

• Kuksu – a religion in Northern California practiced by members within several Indigenous peoples of California.
• Miwok mythology – a North American tribe in Northern California.
• Ohlone mythology – a North American tribe in Northern California.
• Pomo religion – a North American tribe in Northern California.

Myths of the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo peoples tell how the first human beings emerged from an underworld to the Earth. According to the Hopi Pueblo people, the first beings were the Sun, two goddesses known as Hard Being Woman (Huruing Wuhti)[22] and Spider Woman.[22][23] It was the goddesses who created living creatures and human beings. Other themes include the origin of tobacco and corn,[24] and horses;[23] and a battle between summer and winter. Some stories describe parallel worlds in the sky[25] and underwater.[25]

See also:

• Ute mythology – a North American tribe located in both the Northwestern and Southwestern United States.
• Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo) – a North American nation from the Southwestern United States.
• Hopi mythology – a North American tribe in Arizona.
• Zuni mythology – a North American tribe in New Mexico.

Myths of the Plateau region express the people's intense spiritual feeling for their landscapes, and emphasise the importance of treating with respect the animals that they depend upon for food.[26][27] Sacred tricksters here include Coyote[28] and Fox.[29]

See also: Salish mythology – a North American tribe or band in Montana, Idaho, Washington and British Columbia, Canada

The myths of this region are strongly set in the landscape of tundra, snow, and ice. Memorable stories feature the winds, the moon, and giants. Some accounts say that Anguta is the supreme being, who created the Earth, sea and heavenly bodies. His daughter, Sedna created all living things – animals and plants. She is regarded also as the protecting divinity of the Inuit people.[30]

Here some myths reflect the extreme climate[31] and the people's dependence on salmon as a major food resource.[32] In imagination, the landscape is populated by both benign and malevolent giants.[33]

In this region the dominant sacred trickster is Raven, who brought daylight to the world[34] and appears in many other stories. Myths explore the people's relationship with the coast and the rivers along which they traditionally built their towns. There are stories of visits to parallel worlds beneath the sea.[35] and up in the sky[36] See also:

• Kwakwaka'wakw mythology – an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
• Lummi – a North American tribe from the Pacific Northwest, Washington state area.
• Nuu-chah-nulth mythology – a a group of indigenous peoples living on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
• Haida mythology – a nation living in Haida Gwaii and the Alaska Panhandle.
• Tsimshian mythology – an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living on the British Columbia Coast and Alaska's Annette Islands.

The Aztecs, who predominantly inhabited modern-day central Mexico, had a complex system of beliefs based on deities who directly affected the lives of humans, including those who controlled rain, the rising Sun and fertility. Voluntary human sacrifice, was a central piece to the order of the universe and human survival. See also:

• Aztec mythology – an ancient Mesoamerican empire centered in the valley of Mexico.