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The Ute mythology is the mythology of the Ute people, a tribe of Native Americans from the Western United States. Ute mythology is a body of stories and beliefs that are expressive of the cultural heritage and values of the Ute people.
Due to copyright, the mythological story of the creation of the Utes may be found on their official website. [1] The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has shared recent versions of their creation story, emphasizing the continuous existence of the Utes within the boundaries of their ancestral home. According to Alden Naranjo, a Southern Ute elder, it is maintained in the creation narrative of the Ute that they have always occupied this mountainous region, in contrast to the creation stories of migration told in many other tribes. The Utes' strong relationship with their land is reinforced further by this perspective.[ citation needed ]
As told by Snake John, the story of the origin of the bear dance goes as follows: [2]
"In the fall the snow comes, and the bear has a wickiup in a hole. He stays there all winter, perhaps six moons. In the spring the snow goes, and he comes out. The bear dances up to a big tree on his hind feet. He dances up and back, back and forth, and sings, "Um, um, um, um!" He makes a path up to the tree, embraces it, and goes back again, singing "Um, Um, Um!" He dances very much, all the time. Now Indians do it, and call it the "Bear Dance." It happens in the spring, and they do not dance in the winter. The bear understands the Bear Dance."
Anthropological linguistics studies suggest animals are significant to Ute folklore. Traditional Ute linguistics includes words for Wolf, Little Bird, Mountain Lion, Fox, Mountain Sheep, Turtle, Bear, Coyote, and Weasle. [3]
Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, a Native American tribe originally occupying a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States: much of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. In the 19th century, the Choctaw were known to European Americans as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" even though controversy surrounds their removal.
The Hocągara (Ho-Chungara) or Hocąks (Ho-Chunks) are a Siouan-speaking Native American Nation originally from Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Due to forced emigration in the 19th century, they now constitute two individual tribes; the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. They are most closely related to the Chiwere peoples, and more distantly to the Dhegiha.
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies, many of which share certain themes across cultural boundaries. In North American mythologies, common themes include a close relation to nature and animals as well as belief in a Great Spirit that is conceived of in various ways. As anthropologists note, their great creation myths and sacred oral tradition in whole are comparable to the Christian Bible and scriptures of other major religions.
Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and blunt claws. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture.
The mythology of the Miwok Native Americans are myths of their world order, their creation stories and 'how things came to be' created. Miwok myths suggest their spiritual and philosophical world view. In several different creation stories collected from Miwok people, Coyote was seen as their ancestor and creator god, sometimes with the help of other animals, forming the earth and making people out of humble materials like feathers or twigs.
Achomawi traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Achomawi people of the Pit River basin of Northeastern California.
Eel River Athapaskan traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories.
Hupa traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Hupa, Chilula, and Whilkut people of the Trinity River basin and vicinity of northwestern California. The Hupa people of modern times number in the several thousands and live in the Hoopa Valley located in Humboldt County, California.
Karuk traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Karuk (Karok) people of the Klamath River basin of northwestern California.
Luiseño traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Luiseño people of southwestern California.
Maidu traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Maidu, Konkow, and Nisenan people of eastern Sacramento Valley and foothills in northeastern California.
Mohave traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Mohave people on the lower Colorado River in southeastern California, western Arizona, and southern Nevada.
Pomo traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Pomo people of the North Coast region of northwestern California.
Serrano traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Serrano people of the San Bernardino Mountains and southern Mojave Desert of southern California, originally in the Serrano language.
Shasta traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Shasta people of northern California and southern Oregon.
Wintu-Nomlaki traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Wintu and Nomlaki people of the western Sacramento Valley in northern California.
Yokuts traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Yokuts people of the San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada foothills of central California.
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior.
There are a vast array of myths surrounding the Blackfoot Native Americans as well as Aboriginal people. The Blackfeet inhabit the Great Plains, in the areas known as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and areas of Montana. These stories, myths, origins, and legends play a big role in their everyday life, such as their religion, their history, and their beliefs. Only the elders of the Blackfoot tribes are allowed to tell the tales, and are typically difficult to obtain because the elders of the tribes are often reluctant to tell them to strangers who are not of the tribe. People such as George B. Grinnell, John Maclean, D.C. Duvall, Clark Wissler, and James Willard Schultz were able to obtain and record a number of the stories that are told by the tribes.
The origin of death is a theme in the myths of many cultures. Death is a universal feature of human life, so stories about its origin appear to be universal in human cultures. As such it is a type of origin myth, a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. No one type of these myths is universal, but each region has its own characteristic types. Such myths have therefore been a frequent topic of study in the field of comparative mythology.