American Indian Mythology


Hi everybody and welcome back to Raisa's Mythological Creature Blog. Today I'll be telling you about 10 mythological creatures from American Indian Mythology. I would also like to inform you that in American Indian Mythology, there were many tribes. I'm going to focus mainly on these tribes: Abenaki, Lakota, Cherokee, Haida and Salish. I will get two creatures from each mythology. Anyways, let's begin!



To start off today, we have the first Abenaki creature, Azeban. He is a trickster  and he can be a raccoon or a wolverine. According to myth, Azeban was born from a litter of six dogs and his name means 'Gift of God'. The mother was called Awasosqua 'Bear Woman'. The brothers and sisters of Azeban were called Awasosis 'Little Bear', Kwaniwibid 'Long Tooth', Mikwe 'Squirrel', Moosis 'Little Moose' and Soksemo 'Good Nose'.

The other creature from the Abenaki tribe I'm using is Mateguas, a rabbit spirit which in Ojibwe mythology is called Jiibayaabooz. He is also a trickster spirit and was one of the many sons of a human mother (Wiininwaa, which means Nourishment) and a spirit father (E-bangishimog, which means In the West). A myth about this hare is that he taught us humans the importance of dreams, but unfortunately, his eldest brother dared him to do something very dangerous, and the poor rabbit passed away.

The Lakota Mythology was also full of mythological beauties, and one of them is Skan, the spirit that makes the universe move. The Great Spirit reflected himself and created four spirits, and one of them was Skan. Skan entered the celestial body, but according to myth, the only thing that was created was motion.

Another Lakota spirit, Wi was also created by the Great Spirit. He is believed to be the solar god of light, and his wife, Hanwi, the lunar goddess of darkness. A myth about Wi says that he was the first spirit to be created when the Great Spirit reflected upon himself.

The next mythology we have is the Cherokee Mythology. One of the creatures from the mythology is the Buzzard. There are many types, and I don't know which one is in the Cherokee Mythology, but I know there is one!  In the Cherokee mythology, there is a myth on how the world was created. In the myth, it states that the buzzard makes preparations for the other creatures in the sky realm. But the world was still soft. So when it was dry, the buzzard elevated the sun in order to reduce the heat.

The other creature we are using from the Cherokees is the Great Thunder. The tribe believe that he lives above the sky vault. They also believe that when he got too close to the Earth, he could harm the beings that lived there. The Great Thunder also had two sons that visit the Earth a few times to bring rain and blessings.

After Cherokee Mythology is Haida Mythology. The first creature we are focusing on is Xhuuya (The Raven). He is a culture hero in the Haida Mythology, and he helps people to shape the world. Unfortunately, at the same time, he was a trickster. One myth about Xhuuya is that his frivolous behaviour causes trouble for the people around him.

The other creature from Haida Myths is the Salmon Boy. This is a myth about a boy who turned into salmon. He didn't respect the salmon. While he was playing in the river, he drowned and when he woke up, he belonged to the Salmon people. Underneath the water, they looked like humans. His mother took him out and he slowly began shedding his skin. He then saw a huge salmon and recognised it as his soul, and he threw a spear into it. He then died and returned to the Salmon people.

The last American Indian Mythology is the Salish. The first creature from the Salish Myths is the Coyote. He is a trickster and he is very foolish. A myth about the coyote is that he usually does good things to humankind, he dies in his adventures and his friend the fox brings him back to life.

Lastly, we have the Woman who became a Horse. This myth is about a woman who transformed into a beautiful horse. A chief had a wife who often rode horses. The wife became careless of her household work and always took care of the horses. She never grew apart with them, except one time, where her husband shot her beloved horse. The woman was devastated and couldn't sleep, crying all night. Then she went away with wild horses and realised that she spent so much time with them that became a horse herself!

That's it for today! Join me tomorrow for more mythological beasts! Bye!