Myths about the Americas

I wonder how close Hohokham, Mogollon and Anasazi mythology is to more modern Hopi or Pueblo myth?

I know shift changers or being able to change form are common in a lot of Native American mythology- Does anyone have a good story about shape shifters?

How much has Native American mythology changed with the arrival of the Europeans and the horse, guns, food, disease, religion, or other inventions the Europeans brought in?

The coyote myths and this Hopi/Pueblo myth are pre Columbian. The Coyote has always been seen as a trickster in varous west coast tribes such as the Salish, Chumash etc. I have never heard any native American say this idea was introduced by the Europeans. I think the trickster is common amongst a lot of mythology around the world such as Loke in Norse mythology.

Originally posted by gcle2003 I wish someone would point that out to Cyrus over in the thread on the original inhabitants of England

confused point out what????

Once when we were teenagers we held an attempted Seance in Havasupai Canyon, a part of the Grand Canyon,and a mist appeared and scared the tar out of my older brother and freinds. I had left prior to this so I did not see it.

Apparently, the reason why they had the seance was to contact the spirit of a Havasupai Indian women who according to legend commited suicide after her lover's death. Then,in the same area, there is Mooney Falls which is named after a drunk miner who fell off of them 200 feet to his death or according to legend. At night this area is creepy and it is the type of place where myths and legends can be spun.


Havasupai Falls near the Grand Canyon
By SsQuanta on Flickr


Mooney Falls
By david haggard on Flickr
The climb down to Mooney Falls is very steep and there are chains to hold on to and it passes through a few caves on the way down. I need to go back there sometime.
I am sure the Havasupai tribe has a ton of myths about the area but they are one of the few tribes still on their ancestral lands and the last place in the USA where mail is still delievered by horse- 14 miles to the village.

Edited by eaglecap - 26-Feb-2009 at 20:03

Originally posted by eaglecap It is interesting how Hopi/Pueblo myth evolved after the contact with the whiteman. Did the arrival of Christianity impact native beliefs and how much did it affect their myths? I wonder if the horse altered their mtyhs since it was the whiteman who introduced the horse to them? ...

Originally posted by pinguin I am not expert in North American native mythology, but my instinct say me that if the myth resemble too much an European myth, then it was introduced. A vampire or a gnome would make me suspicious, for instance.

Ah, well, there are both (of a fashion), and neither of them introduced. There is the Wendigo, who resembles a vampire - a cannibal spirit of the forest, who is driven by an urge to eat human flesh and can infect others and cause them to become Wendigo as well.

There are also the "Little People", not unlike gnomes or elves, who have magical powers and are rarely seen. They are related to the myth of the Dark Dance among the Cherokee and Iroqouis:

http://www.kahonwes.com/iroquois/littlepe.htm

Neither of these are borrowed.

Originally posted by edgewaters Huckleberries are not blueberries!! Again, its a confusion of naming but the berries referred to that way are a similar plant of the same genus, but not the same species at all.

The 'garden huckleberry' (Solanum melanocerasum) is not considered to be a true huckleberry but a member of the nightshade family."

 

 

  Billberry  

 

 

 

Blueberry (nordamerikanskt blåbär) Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus

 

   Blueberry

 

Ather a luck thet we had Linné who created the binominal system so one can find out what species is what.

Nobody has said that. The grapes of our famous wines -I'm Chilean- are French; so much so we have more French parrs than they had. As any expert would tell you, the phylostera disaster wiped out the French wine industry, but we still got the old grapes

Edited by pinguin - 26-May-2009 at 16:41

Originally posted by pinguin Ever wonder if the Lost Tribe of Israel came to the New World? Did "El dorado" exist? Did Ponce de Leon found the "fountaint of Youth"? It is true that Nazis made a military base in Patagonia and later enter to the holed earth through the hole in the Antartida? Do Yetis live in the U.S. forests? What about the pirate treasures of the Caribbean?     In short, do you want to know more about those amazing myths that cover all over the Americas?   Please, let's us discuss them in this thread.

ponce de leon was never lookin' for the fountain of youth, that's just a lie whites made up later on in history. ponce de leon was lookin' to conquer more lands, that's it.

you know every time i look at a article i see your posts and you're always soundin' like a cry baby, and complain' about everything.

Also, if I may be so bold, there existed native American grapes (I assume) that have been made into wine for a few centuries!

Perhaps they are just a product of the South, and most of you Yankees do not know of them?

One is named and spelled, I believe, as Muscadine!, and as well Scupperdine!

But, perhaps the following site will quell future questions?

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/natives.asp

We now have pyramids in Peru predating the Egyptians' great pyramid:  

http://www.philipcoppens.com/caral.html

Edited by unclefred - 31-Mar-2011 at 17:08