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Among the many tribes depicted within these myths and legends is the Modoc Tribe. “The Modoc” holds the meaning, “southerners”. The Modoc tribe held a great respect for animals, seeing them as their ancestors. They also held animals at a high respect because they believed them to be a creation from the Sky god. One […]

The myth of the “Corn Mother” reminded me a lot of the resurrection story from the Christian mythos. They both share a self-sacrificial hero who gives their life to save their people. The interesting thing, I think, that unites these stories is that the community is encouraged to eat the flesh of the heroes. In […]

While reading a few of the myths in the Myths and Legends book I continuously ran across (what I considered to be an example of religion).  This may be from my pre conceived notions that being raised a Christian gave me.  Nonetheless I was interested in the idea of a “god like” figure that appears […]

While reading through these Native American creation myths and legends, I found myself stunned by so many aspects and themes that recurred from story to story. Great value and status was repeatedly assigned to women, nature, and the animals with which we share the Earth. Although these themes alone can be shocking when interpreted by […]

The mythical story, Rabbit Boy, encompasses the Native American’s cultural value of equality in terms of people and their natural surroundings. The setting of this narrative takes place in a time where all people, animals, objects and actions are in the same social realm. They all exist together in accordance to “nature’s plan” and not […]

The core theme of all the stories in units 1 and 2 of the American Indian Myths and Legends book is creation: how the world and humanity as the Native Americans knew it at the time of these tales is explained to the extent of why skin complexions differ, why familiar animals came to be […]

In American Indian Myths and Legends, Erdoes and Ortiz address various themes and motifs, one of which being the role and importance of women in Native American cultures.  Specifically speaking, “Corn Mother” and “Creation of the Animal People” clearly outline the roles of females as being nurturers, providing sustenance not only to children but to entire tribes […]

The Sacred Weed is a tale about the significance behind the ritualism that Native Americans associated with smoking tobacco. The preface to this tale helps the reader to understand the truth behind this piece – for Native Americans, smoking was a spiritual act, a way of transcendence. By providing a comparison to the way in […]

Q:  Reading Native American myths and legends might seem to require a new way of reading. What aesthetic assumptions (about what literature should be, about authorship, about plot, about form, etc.) do you typically bring to texts you read in English classes?  And in what ways were those assumptions challenged? A: This is not the […]

Easily the most interesting part of the American Colonies reading for me was the massive logistical problem faced by the early Americans. It is obvious that for such a primitive time food would be the driving force of most decisions, but what was not obvious for me was the differences between the regions. The strange […]