Native American legends and oral stories record tribal histories. Here we have collected legends from over 300 tribes, along with native American tribal prophecies and the meanings of native American symbols in lore and art. Most tribes have legends for their creation and origin stories about where and how they arrived on the surface of planet Earth.
Every aspect of life, death, and existence has its own story to explain why things are the way they are. Often, different Native American tribes had very similar beliefs, but most tribes have their own unique variations in the details of these legends.
Most native American societies have some sort of trickster figure, who embodies both mischeviousness and foolish acts that teach a valuable lesson, along with acts of bravery and wisdom. In many tribes, the trickster figure is either a coyote or a raven.
Most Native American mythology has some roots in fact.
There are no Native American vampire stories that display the distinctive characteristics of European vampires (associated with bats, unable to withstand sunlight, killed by a stake through the heart, casting no shadow or reflection, weaknesses to garlic and running water, or the ability to turn their victims into another vampire by biting them.) There is nothing equivalent to that in traditional Native American folklore. But there are plenty of monsters that do have some similarity with vampires.
AUTHOR: Ojibway Oral Story Long ago, when human twins were born to Spirit Woman, she relied on the animals to help her take care of them. All the animals loved the first human babies and did everything they could do to help them. The dog watched over them. The bear gave his fur to keep them warm. The wolf hunted for them. The doe provided them with milk. The beaver and the muskrat bathed them. The birds sang lullabies to…
Views: 2246 Ojibwe Oral Story One day two fishermen were paddling home along the shore when a violent wind came up and blew them far out to sea. At last they reached the opposite shore. There they found the footprints of some enormous creature. The two men were terrified. They carried their canoe into the forest, turned it upside down, and hid under it. While they lay there shivering with fear and wondering what to do, they heard a crash and…
Views: 1970  Ojibwe Legend: Why birds go South in winter Long ago there was only summer. The days were always warm and sunny. Winter and snow were unknown. For the young it was a time of happiness. They played all the time. Animals played with animals. Fish played with fish. Insects played with insects. Birds played with birds. They had many games — hide-and-seek, blind-man’s buff, and tag. They ran races, they wrestled, and they played lacrosse. The lakes, the meadows,…
Out of the plains of Wyoming rises Devil’s Tower. It is really a rock, visible for a hundred miles around, an immense cone of basalt which seems to touch the clouds. Devil’s Tower sticks out of the flat prairie as if someone had pushed it up from underground.Â
The Lakota constellations are visible in the winter sky, and they reflect Lakota mythology. A notable aspect of that mythology is that every event and object on earth has a correspondent in the sky.