Native American Mythology

Honors - Fall 2026

Directions - YOU WILL DO TWO OF THESE

• Put Information here. �
• Give at least five pieces of information. You may include more. �
• Tribe that worshipped this god will be one of them. �
• Find information from at least three sources. Put links to those sources in the speaker notes below. �
• Put your name in the speaker notes

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Picture of god goes here

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Wakan Tanka

• The main tribes are the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota
• Known as the Great Spirit or Great Mystery�
• Represents the sacred power or energy in all living things�
• Refers to a system of sacred beings rather than just a single personified sky god
• Not an actual being, it's more of an energy or spiritual power

The blue jay

• Tribes The Chinook, Chehalis, Coast Salish, and Snoqualmie peoples�
• The blue jay is a trickster who is a messenger and a forest sentry�
• It is an animal spirit �
• There is only one spelling but some people put the two words together as Bluejay
• It can transform, mimic voices, and act as a spiritual messenger between realms

Gitche Manitou

• Tribe(s) Algonquian Anishinaabeg, Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux�
• Means “Great Spirit” in multiple Algonquian dialects�
• It’s a rarely personified creation deity�
• Manitou is innate spiritual power �
• There are many different spellings, such as Gichi Manidoo and Gitchi Manitou depending on the tribe

Tirawa

• Tribe(s) Pawnee, Wichita�
• It means “our father above”�
• The creation god of the Pawnee�
• He is the father of men�
• Also known as Atius-Tirawa

Sky woman

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• tribe Haudenosaunee�
• She created the turtle island
• She fell through a hole in the sky left by the uprooting of the great tree of light
• She brought celestial seeds and plants
• She fell through the sky and the waterbirds caught her fall

Ta’xet

• Tribe: Haida�
• God of violent death, counterpart is the god of peaceful death�
• During Earth’s creation, the raven stole the moon from Ta’xet�
• If we harm the environment too much, the raven will stop protecting us from Ta’xet�
• People who die a violent death go to Ta’xet

The thunderbird

• powerful, giant mythical bird
• Its wings create the sound of thunder It has been seen a benevolent guardian that uses its abilities to fight evil spirits
• Bright flashes of lightning come out of its eyes or its beak
• Brings spring rains needed for crops
• Tribe(s): it is not unique to a single tribe, instead it appears in many different Native American cultures across North America

Wakan Tanka -yuliana

• Represents great spirit or great mystery
• Lives in trees, rivers, animals rocks, and humans
• Connects and animates all things in the universe
• Represents the interconnected web of life
• Tribe(s): Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota known at the Great Sioux Nation

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Raven, aka Kit-ka’ositiyi-qa-yit

• Comes from the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Tahltan Tribes.�
• A Greedy and Mischievous creature.�
• The Trickster God.�
• He is the creator of life, and teaches life lessons.�
• Raven has many different names.

Raven - Phoenix

• Tsimishian and haida tribes�
• Trickster god�
• Some of his stories were used to teach children how to behave�
• His ribal god is the coyote

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• Said to have discovered the first humans, hiding in a clam shell

Wakan Tanka - Phoenix

• Lakota tribe�
• God of creation�
• Said to have formed earth from his blood�
• Wakan means a place or object that is considered sacred, holy, or spiritual�
• Wakan tanka is a presence that can be found in everything

Thunderbird

• Algonquian (Modern Eastern Canada and Northeastern US), Siouan (Around the Great Lakes), Arikara (Modern day North and South Dakota)
• It was believed that the Thunderbird could create thunder with a wing flap and lightning by opening its eyes.
• The Thunderbird has been around for at least 4000 years.
• Some cultures envisioned the Thunderbird’s wings as being made out of Lightning snakes.
• The Thunderbird can shed its form and resemble a human.

Spider Grandmother

• Hopi (Modern day Northeastern Arizona)
• Because the Hopi people communicated most of their mythology orally, there are not many surviving visual depictions of the Spider Grandmother.
• She taught the Hopi people how to weave fabric and spin cotton,
• She helped the sun god, Tawa, create humanity.
• Spider Grandmother is meant to represent wisdom and patience.

Ababinili

• Tribe: Chickasaw�
• Creator god�
• Name’s meaning is similar to “sits above”�
• Associated with the sun�
• Not generally considered to have a human form

Coyote

• Cherokee�
• He is known as the thorn in Raven’s side�
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Raven

• Raven comes from the Tlingit and Tsimshian tribes �
• The Raven is known by many names�
• The Raven is always a magical creature and can take form of humans, animals and objects�
• The Raven is a trickster god�
• He created life and is often a example for teaching life lessons

Horned Serpent

• This creature was believed by many indian tribes such as the Cherokee, Dakota, Lakota, Ojibwe, Anishinaabe, Tewa, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Abenaki indians.�
• What it looked like: large in size, glittering scales, and a diamond on its head.

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• It is interpreted in multiple ways by different tribes. It is either a monster, a god, or a spirit.

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• They live in deep bodies of water.

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• Their abilities consist of: Shape shifting, invisibility, and hypnotic abilities.

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Ocasta the god of knowledge or “stone coat”

• The cherokee indians worshiped this god of knowledge.�
• He wore a coat made up of flint which is where the name “stone coat” comes from.�
• This god was equal parts good and evil.

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• His preferred food: human liver.

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• He has a walking stick that he can throw across canyons to form temporary bridges. �

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White buffalo calf woman

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Raven

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Gitche Manitou

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• Gitche Manitou was a god that was known in Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux, and the Algonquian Anishinaabeg.
• Gitche Manitou was all powerful and well respected by the people.
• Gitche Manitou liked giving the people tobacco plant.
• They believed that every living thing had Manitou like a spirit.
• It is considered to be like the Asian concept of qi.

Coyote

• The Coyote is a creature in the tribes: Achomawi, Atsugewi, Chumash, Dieguenos, Gallinomero, Juaneno, Karok, Luiseno, Maidu, Mi Wuk, Pomo, Rumsen, Shasta, Sinkyone, Wappo, Yana, and the Yokuts.
• The Coyote was known as a Chaotic Trickster.
• The Coyote is often associated with the Raven.
• People Thought that he was a marker of bad or fateful decisions.
• Some tribes thought he was a hero while some thought of him as a villain.

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Trickster (Kokopelli)

• Tribe: Hopi, Zuni�
• “Hump” because of the large burden�
• Plays flute to warm the earth and end the winter�
• Is associated with a robber fly�
• Has unborn children in his pack to distribute to young women (Zuni)

Tawa

• Tribe: Hopi�
• Sun spirit�
• One of the kachinas�
• Appearance: Solar mask, eagle feather headdress�
• Uses different tools for different dances

(bell, sacred spruce tree, flute)

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Wakan Tanka

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• The Lakota People worshipped this god.
• The name means “great sacred” or “great holy”.
• In Lakota, Wakan Tanka represents a sacred presence residing in everything.
• According to them, before creation, Wakan Tanka existed in complete darkness.
• Pronounced: “WAH-kuhn than-kuh

Manitou

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Alignak

• Tribe(s) Inuit�
• God of weather and motion�
• Male�
• Responsible for earthquakes and comets�
• Also the god of the moon

Negafook

• Tribe(s) Inuit�
• god of snow and the north wind�
• Male�
• Necessary for the inuit people as their hunting requires snow(eg. Seals, caribou)�
• Also controls stormy weather

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-Chloe’s slide 1-

The god I chose was Raven. The Raven is a god that conforms to the Native Americans but not to any singular tribe. The raven is known to show trickery, mischief and Mayhem. The Raven has a brother named Logobola who is also known for his intense bickering and teasing. A fun fact about the Raven is he was the first animal off of noah's arc which connects him to the bigger idea of godliness. Many legends credit the Raven with bringing light into a darkened world. The raven is also known for bringing forth the first humans. �

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-Chloe’s slide 2-

The second figure I chose was the god, coyote. The coyote is known for being a hero, being sneaky but also being a cheater. Coyote belonged mainly to the Navajo tribe and the Plateau tribe. A fun fact about Coyote is that the main character of a coyote in looney tunes was based off of him. Coyote is also viewed as a hero in his tribes, as he is responsible for daylight and fire. Coyote is also the most common character in Native American folklore.

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Gahe - Sam Phinn

• Tribe(s), Gahe was worshipped by the apache tribe.�
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• The Gahe are healing spirits�
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https://www.godchecker.com/native-american-mythology/GAHE/

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Gaoh (giant master of winds(God))

• There is no current evidence that Gaoh was worshiped but just regarded as a powerful wind spirit�
• Each direction, (North, East,South,West) all had different managers for that direction�
• Gaoh is seen as the “controller of weather” �
• When he is tired and restless, the wind becomes silent and restless�
• He is able to create storms

Wendigo (cannibalistic ice monster(Creature))

• Wendigo typically came from the Algonquian linguistic groups�
• Was once a human hunter that resorted to cannibalism�
• There are many different spellings and pronunciations for the name “Wendigo” �
• A wendigos heart is encased in ice�
• Believed to be the spirit of Winter