Origin: Native American mythology
According to the myth, in the beginning there is only the Great Water, and birds have no place to land and rest. Turtle, the Earth Diver, swims to the bottom of the sea and retrieves some mud. The mud begins to expand, and becomes the first land. Soon there is so much land that only Grandmother Turtle may carry it. To this day the world is said to rest on the back of the turtle. In art it is depicted as a common turtle with sacred symbols decorating its shell.
Origin: Hopi mythology
In one version of the story, Spider woman, or Spider Grandmother, weaves existence together like the strands of a web. At the beginning of things, Spider Woman spins lines of webs that create the four directions. Then, she creates people by molding them from various colored clay, dividing them into clans and giving them a totem animal.
Origin: Cherokee myth
During a time when hunting was scarce, the children of the Corn Mother asked for food. She wept, for she had nothing to give them, but promised her children that they will be fed. Her husband questions her on what to do, and she instructs him to slay her.
The young man refused, seeking advice from his uncle, but was told to abide by his wife’s words. He returned home, weeping, and the Corn Mother tells him that after she is dead, him and their sons must drag her body back and forth the earth, until her flesh covers it all. Afterwards, they must bury her bones and return after seven moons.
When it was done, the husband and sons return to find that corn has been grown from her flesh, and tobacco from her bones.
Origin: Lakota myth
The White Buffalo Calf Woman is a supernatural being that brings people the sacred buffalo, who gifts them with meat, hides, necessities of life, the sacred pipe and other cultural traditions.
The story goes that in a time of famine, two hunters spot a beautiful woman dressed in white buckskin. One man desires her and ignores his companions warnings. The man embraces the woman, but is instantly reduced to a pile of bones. Then the woman turns to the remaining hunter and instructs him to return to his people and prepare a feast for her arrival.
He obeys, and four days later a white buffalo calf appears, which stands and transforms into the beautiful woman. She carries a bundle that holds the sacred pipe with a bowl of red stone and a stem of wood, representing Grandmother Earth and everything that grows.
The woman teaches the people how to smoke the pipe and other sacred ceremonies. She then transforms into the buffalo, bows to each of the four directions and disappears, vowing to return again.
Origin: Native American
Type: Trickster
Known for his cunning and trickery, Coyote is featured in many tales. In one story, Giants are killing and eating humans. Coyote decides to teach them a lesson, and persuades one of them to build a sweat lodge, promising that taking a bath in it will make the monster as agile as Coyote. When they enter the dark, steam filled room, Coyote says that he will perform a miracle by smashing his leg, then repairing it with magic to make it stronger.
He takes a rock and uses it to break a deer leg he has hidden. The Giant cannot see through the fog, but hears the crack and believes it is Coyote’s leg that has broken. Once the Giant sees Coyote’s unharmed leg, the trickster offers to repeat the miracle and pounds the Giant’s leg until it cracks. Coyote tells him that to fix it, the Giant must spit on it. Though he tries again and again, the Giant’s leg remains broken, and Coyote escapes the lodge, leaving the Giant crippled inside.
Origin: Native American culture
Type: supernatural beings
Resides In: San Francisco peaks
Kachinas, meaning ‘life-bringer’, are supernatural beings that control various aspects of the world such as animals and crops. They can also embody the spirits of dead ancestors, and it is thought to be hundreds of Kachinas.
According to myth, the Hopi people heard singing and dancing from the San Francisco Peaks. They went to the mountains to investigate and met the Kachinas, who returned with them to their villages and taught them agriculture and many rituals.
The Hopis believed that the Kachinas remain in their villages for six months, where ceremonial dances are held. In Hopi initiation rituals, children are told the story og Kachinas and learn their ways and rituals.
To the Zuni, Kachinas live in the Lake of the Dead, a mythical lake located in the junction between the Zuni River and the Little Colorado River.
Origin: Native American mythology
Type: Deity
Usually seen with a flute, horns, and an oversized phallus, Kokopelli is an ancient trickster god and fertility deity associated with agriculture and sexuality. He is sometimes pictured with a four legged animal companion.
In some beliefs he carries unborn children in a sack, and brings them to women. He chases the winter away by playing his flute and calls forth spring rain.
Origin: Native American mythology
Type: Sacred bird
The Thunderbird is a gigantic creature with curled horns and teeth within its beak. Its wingspan is two canoe-lengths, from wingtip to wingtip. Each beat from its wings pulls clouds that creates thunderstorms. Each blink from its eyes bring lightning flashes, and lightning bolts are snakes the Thunderbird throws onto the ground.
Origin: Native American; Algonquin
Type: Cannibalistic evil spirit
If a human ever resorts to cannibalism to survive, they may turn into a Wendigo. They are violent creatures, always craving for human flesh.They are commonly depicted as tall and skeletal, with gray skin. In other depictions they are beasts with fangs. with horns that grow larger the more humans consumed. They are associated with winter, coldness, famine and starvation.
