Questions tagged [native-american]
For questions about the mythology of the original occupants of North and South America, excluding Europeans and other peoples coming afterwards.
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What cultural significance and symbolism lie behind the ancestor figures in Osage Native American afterlife beliefs?
In the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon, based on the non-fiction book of the same name, there's a poignant scene that depicts the final moments of Lizzie Q, an Osage Native American, as she lies ...
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Washoe people: Legends and myths of the underground
I am building a 6500:1 cardboard model of the Mount Rose ski resort. The whole model has a thickness of 4.5 inches at its highest point, located on one of the sides of the model. While the rest of the ...
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What are some actually evil gods around the world?
I mean gods that are truly evil, not ones who are reflecting the social norms of the era they were worshiped in. (Zeus for example, he wasn't evil, his actions were seen as acceptable and normal at ...
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The Boy and the Rattlesnake: What's the origin of this Cherokee fable?
There's a commonly told "Cherokee" fable about a boy and a rattlesnake. What's the origin of this fable? Where do we see it first see it in print and does it indeed go back to Cherokee ...
cmw♦
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Myths on God committing suicide
I am looking for information on myths where God commit suicide, specifically myths based from Central America, South America, and Africa; especially on the idea that earth was created through a God's ...
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Are there any references in mythology/folklore to a concept similar to teleportation?
The earliest mention of teleportation that I can find is a mention of "matter transfer" in 1877, but I'm wondering if there's a concept similar to it in folklore. I found something about ...
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What do the Staff God's staffs and pose represent?
The pre-Incan Andean deity known as the Staff God, assimilated as Viracocha in Incan mythology, is the earliest depiction of a deity in the Americas, and representations have been found from Lake ...
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Perception of echoes and myths concerning its nature in Northern America
I was recently listening to a song from the movie "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", this song to be more precise. Anyway, at some point as you can see in the video, the voice of the singer ...
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Were there any gods Floridian Tribes recognized?
I am researching the pre-Columbian-colonization Americas for a poem and am currently focused on Florida. Thus I am intriguing myself to the cultures of the major "Indian" tribes, especially ...
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Are these images of identifiable pre-Columbian mythic entities?
This is the front and back of a t-shirt that was bought in Colombia. Stylistically to my naive layman eyes, they both look consistent with a modern riff on Muisca or Tairona art. Are they identifiable ...
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Who are the deities of natural order, justice or wisdom?
I'm seeking names of deities who embody the values of natural order, justice, or wisdom/knowledge.
I've already gone through the ancient Greek ones, listed below, but I would like different sounding ...
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Is there an older name for Cecaelia?
Cecaelia is a modern term for a mermaid with an octopus lower body, instead of a fish. I have read that such legends come from ancient Native American and Japanese culture. Does anyone know their ...
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Native American (possibly) apocalyptic prophecy about inanimate objects coming to life
I am in search of a difficult-to-Google fact. I once saw a Discovery Channel-esque documentary about an apocalyptic prophecy that all of the tools and other man-made objects would at some point take ...
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What is the Native American term for Happy Hunting Ground?
The web has only the English term, or other European languages
(most of those translate to "eternal hunting land", rather than "happy"). Frustratingly, even native storytellers use the English ...
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What caused the Mojave flood?
I stumbled upon this summary of the Mojave flood myth:
Many years ago, people lived under the ground. There came a time when there was no food, when the people sent a humming-bird up to see what he ...
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