Native American Mythology

Native American Mythology

            Native American myths were passed down from generation to generation orally. Very few were written down before the late nineteenth century. These myths were more than just a collection of stories, they told of the tribes’ beliefs, ways, and history. Many Native American myths could also be considered folktales. They seem to be about ordinary people, not gods. However, the Native American belief is that everything has an aspect of divinity. Therefore ordinary people, animals and places are divine.  Universal principles are held to be more important than individual traits. “Among all tribes there is a strong sense that behind all individual spirits and personifications of the divine, there is a single creative life-force, sometimes called the Great Mystery, which expresses itself through the universe, in every human, animal, tree, and grain of sand. Every story, too, is a working out of this life-force.” (Spirituality)

             There are many types of stories in Native American mythology, and two of the most common are the origin and emergence stories and trickster stories. These stories may vary greatly between tribes, but many share common elements. The number four is found in most myths, as well as the presence of animals that are equal or interchangeable with humans. Animals in American Indian myth often speak humans and assist them.

            Native American tales often have myths about the creation of earth separate from the creation of man. “Origin and emergence stories are complex symbolic tales that typically dramatize the tribal explanation of the origin of the earth and its people; establish the central relationships among people, the cosmos or universe, and the other creatures of earth.” (Native American Oral Tradition) These myths are also used to tell of the tribe’s culture and practices. One of the most common types of American Indian creation myth is the emergence story. “The emergence story narrates the original passage from darkness to light, from chaos to order, and from undetermined to distinctly human form.” (Native American Oral Tradition)

            In the Jicarill Apache myth, the people climb a ladder out of darkness into light. According to the Myth, “In the beginning there is nothing but water. All living things are in the underworld. Humans and other daylight creatures want light, nocturnal animals want darkness.”(Spirituality)  It was decided there should be light, and humans decided to ascend into daylight. “Four buffalo offer their horns as ladder rungs, and humans emerge. Four storms blow the waters away, and the people finally settle in one place.” (Spirituality)