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Myths sorted by Tribe/Nation

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The Ark On Superstition Mountains Besieged By Starvation The Division of Two Tribes The Flood At Santa Fe The Hidden City of Death Valley Legend Of Crazy Woman's Fork Legends of Indian Territory Little People of Wyoming & the Pedro Mountain Mummy Native American Legends of Arizona Navajo Skinwalkers - Witches of the Southwest Pale Faced Lightning The Queen Of Death Valley Riders of the Desert Sacrifice of the Toltec The Salt Witch of the Nebraska Plains Storied Waters of Oregon Ta-Vwots Conquers the Sun Teihiihan - The Little Cannibals of the Plains The Thunderbird of Native Americans Tamanous Of Tacoma The Voyager Of Whulge The Yellowstone Tragedy Wendigo - Flesheater of the Forests By Tribe: Apache Myths & Legends Blackfoot Myths & Legends Cherokee Myths & Legends Sioux Myths & Legends Zuni Myths & Legends Mythology & Sacred Concepts:
While a Great Spirit constitutes the basis of Indian theory, the tribes believe in multiple deities surrounded by mythology. In accordance with their views of nature and spirit, they constantly appeal to these powers at every step of their lives. They hear the Great Spirit in every wind; see him in every cloud; fear him in sounds, and adore him in every place that inspires awe. While cultures and customs varied among the tribes, they all believed the universe was bound together by spirits of natural life, including animals, water, plants, the sky, and the Earth itself.

Native American culture struggled to survive after the white man invaded their lives. Living through forced moves, war, starvation, diseases, and assimilation, these strong and spiritual people kept their many legends and stories alive. Passed down through the generations, these tales speak of timeless messages of peace, life, death, and harmony with nature.

The sacred beliefs of many tribes are largely formulated and expressed in sayings and narratives resembling the legends of European peoples. There are available large collections of these tales and myths from the Blackfoot, Crow, Nez Perce, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Arapaho, Arikara, Pawnee, Omaha, Northern Shoshone, and others. In these, much interesting information can be found. Though each tribe has its own beliefs and sacred myths, many have much in common.

A deluge or flood myth is almost universal in the Plains tribes and the Woodland Indians. Almost everywhere, it takes the form of restoring the submerged earth by a more or less human being who sends down a diving bird or animal to obtain a little mud or sand. Other tales with common threads are the "Twin-heroes" - the Woman who married a star and bore a Hero" and the "Woman who married a Dog." A star-born hero is found in myths of the Crow, Pawnee, Dakota, Arapaho, Kiowa, Gros Ventre, and Blackfoot. Indian mythologies often contain large groups of tales reciting the adventures of a distinguished mythical hero with supernatural attributes, who transforms and, in some instances, creates the world, who rights great wrongs, and corrects great evils, yet who often stoops to trivial and vulgar pranks. Among the Blackfoot, for instance, he appears under the name of Napiw, also called "Old Man." He is distinctly human in form and name. The Gros Ventre, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Hidatsa, and Mandan have similar characters in their mythology.

The "Old Man" also appears in the mythologies of the adjoining cultural areas, such as the area between the Plains and the Pacific Ocean. Some tales appear similar but are attributed to an animal character with the name and attributes of a coyote. Under this name, he appears among the Crow, Nez Perce, and Shoshone on the western fringe of the Plains but rarely among the Pawnee, Arikara, and Dakota and practically never among the tribes designating him as human. This hero is given a spider-like character called Unktomi among the Assiniboine, Dakota, and Omaha.

In addition to heroes, many animal tales are to be found, which often explain the structural peculiarities of animals due to some accident. For example, the Blackfoot trickster, while in a rage, tried to pull the lynx asunder, causing it to have a long body and awkward legs. In other cases, the tales narrate an anecdote about the origin of life itself. In some tales, the ending includes how some aspect of life was "ordered to be," explaining a natural phenomenon or mythical belief.

There are also tales in which supernatural beings appear as well-known animals and assist or grant favors to humans. In the mythology of the Plains tribes, the buffalo is a favorite character and is seldom encountered in the mythology of other areas. The bear, beaver, elk, eagle, owl, and snake are also frequently referred to but also occur in the myths of Woodland and other tribes. Of imaginary creatures, the most conspicuous are the water monster and the Thunderbird. The former is usually an immense horned serpent who keeps underwater and fears thunder. The thunderbird is an eagle-like being who causes thunder.

Migration legends and those accounting for the origins and forms of tribal beliefs and institutions comprise a large portion of the mythology, formulating a concept of the religion and philosophy of various groups.

Compiled by Kathy Alexander/ Legends of America, updated May 2023.

"In ages past, our old ones were the storytellers. This was the way things were passed along to the generations that followed. For this reason, the aged people made it a point to remember every detail so they could relate it at a later time. They were the word and picture carriers making history and spiritual values alive and important. In recent times we have made our old ones think they are not so important. We spoof their stories and make them feel foolish. The truth is that we are ignorant of what is precious and how to 'a da li he li tse di - appreciate age. Rigidity can creep in and set even the young mind if there are no soft memories, no laughter, no times too deep for tears. Age is grace - a time too valuable to waste."

- Joyce Sequichie Hifler from her book A Cherokee Feast of Days
Also See: Native American Proverbs & Wisdom Native American Rituals and Ceremonies Native American Totems The Role of Astronomy and Mythology In Native American Culture

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The Ark On Superstition Mountains Besieged By Starvation The Division of Two Tribes The Flood At Santa Fe The Hidden City of Death Valley Legend Of Crazy Woman's Fork Legends of Indian Territory Little People of Wyoming & the Pedro Mountain Mummy Native American Legends of Arizona Navajo Skinwalkers -

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Click here for a written version of the Apache creation story

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Indigenous Peoples' Literature

Apache Creation Story

Animals, elements, the solar system, and natural phenomena are revered by the Apaches. That which is beyond their understanding is always ascribed to the supernatural.

In the beginning nothing existed--no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon, only darkness was everywhere.

Suddenly from the darkness emerged a thin disc, one side yellow and the other side white, appearing suspended in midair. Within the disc sat a small bearded man, Creator, the One Who Lives Above. As if waking from a long nap, he rubbed his eyes and face with both hands.

When he looked into the endless darkness, light appeared above. He looked down and it became a sea of light. To the east, he created yellow streaks of dawn. To the west, tints of many colours appeared everywhere. There were also clouds of different colours.

Creator wiped his sweating face and rubbed his hands together, thrusting them downward. Behold! A shining cloud upon which sat a little girl.

"Stand up and tell me where are you going," said Creator. But she did not reply. He rubbed his eyes again and offered his right hand to the Girl-Without-Parents.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, grasping his hand.

"From the east where it is now light," he replied, stepping upon her cloud.

"Where is the earth?" she asked.

"Where is the sky?" he asked, and sang, "I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next." He sang four times, which was the magic number.

Creator brushed his face with his hands, rubbed them together, then flung them wide open! Before them stood Sun-God. Again Creator rubbed his sweaty brow and from his hands dropped Small- Boy.

All four gods sat in deep thought upon the small cloud.

"What shall we make next?" asked Creator. "This cloud is much too small for us to live upon."

Then he created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-Maker, and some western clouds in which to house Lightning-Rumbler, which he just finished.

Creator sang, "Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, earth; I am thinking of the earth," he sang four times.

All four gods shook hands. In doing so, their sweat mixed together and Creator rubbed his palms, from which fell a small round, brown ball, not much larger than a bean.

Creator kicked it, and it expanded. Girl-Without-Parents kicked the ball, and it enlarged more. Sun-God and Small-Boy took turns giving it hard kicks, and each time the ball expanded. Creator told Wind to go inside the ball and to blow it up.

Tarantula spun a black cord and, attaching it to the ball, crawled away fast to the east, pulling on the cord with all his strength. Tarantula repeated with a blue cord to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With mighty pulls in each direction, the brown ball stretched to immeasurable size--it became the earth! No hills, mountains, or rivers were visible; only smooth, treeless, brown plains appeared.

Creator scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers together and there appeared Hummingbird.

"Fly north, south, east, and west and tell us what you see," said Creator.

"All is well," reported Hummingbird upon his return. "The earth is most beautiful, with water on the west side."

But the earth kept rolling and dancing up and down. So Creator made four giant posts--black, blue, yellow, and white to support the earth. Wind carried the four posts, placing them beneath the four cardinal points of the earth. The earth sat still.

Creator sang, "World is now made and now sits still," which he repeated four times.

Then he began a song about the sky. None existed, but he thought there should be one. After singing about it four times, twenty- eight people appeared to help make a sky above the earth. Creator chanted about making chiefs for the earth and sky.

He sent Lightning-Maker to encircle the world, and he returned with three uncouth creatures, two girls and a boy found in a turquoise shell. They had no eyes, ears, hair, mouths, noses, or teeth. They had arms and legs, but no fingers or toes.

Sun-God sent for Fly to come and build a sweathouse. Girl- Without-Parents covered it with four heavy clouds. In front of the east doorway she placed a soft, red cloud for a foot-blanket to be used after the sweat.

Four stones were heated by the fire inside the sweathouse. The three uncouth creatures were placed inside. The others sang songs of healing on the outside, until it was time for the sweat to be finished. Out came the three strangers who stood upon the magic red cloud-blanket. Creator then shook his hands toward them, giving each one fingers, toes, mouths, eyes, ears, noses and hair.

Creator named the boy, Sky-Boy, to be chief of the Sky-People. One girl he named Earth-Daughter, to take charge of the earth and its crops. The other girl he named Pollen-Girl, and gave her charge of health care for all Earth-People.

Since the earth was flat and barren, Creator thought it fun to create animals, birds, trees, and a hill. He sent Pigeon to see how the world looked. Four days later, he returned and reported, "All is beautiful around the world. But four days from now, the water on the other side of the earth will rise and cause a mighty flood."

Creator made a very tall pinon tree. Girl-Without-Parents covered the tree framework with pinon gum, creating a large, tight ball.

In four days, the flood occurred. Creator went up on a cloud, taking his twenty-eight helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents put the others into the large, hollow ball, closing it tight at the top.

In twelve days, the water receded, leaving the float-ball high on a hilltop. The rushing floodwater changed the plains into mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers. Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out from the float-ball onto the new earth. She took them upon her cloud, drifting upward until they met Creator with his helpers, who had completed their work making the sky during the flood time on earth.

Together the two clouds descended to a valley below. There, Girl- Without-Parents gathered everyone together to listen to Creator.

"I am planning to leave you," he said. "I wish each of you to do your best toward making a perfect, happy world.

"You, Lightning-Rumbler, shall have charge of clouds and water.

"You, Sky-Boy, look after all Sky-People.

"You, Earth-Daughter, take charge of all crops and Earth-People.

"You, Pollen-Girl, care for their health and guide them.

"You, Girl-Without-Parents, I leave you in charge over all."

Creator then turned toward Girl-Without-Parents and together they rubbed their legs with their hands and quickly cast them forcefully downward. Immediately between them arose a great pile of wood, over which Creator waved a hand, creating fire.

Great billowy clouds of smoke at once drifted skyward. Into this cloud, Creator disappeared. The other gods followed him in other clouds of smoke, leaving the twenty-eight workers to people the earth.

Sun-God went east to live and travel with the Sun. Girl-Without- Parents departed westward to live on the far horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made cloud homes in the south. Big Dipper can still be seen in the northern sky at night, a reliable guide to all.

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The Indigenous Peoples' Literature pages were researched and organized by Glenn Welker.

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Indigenous Peoples' Literature Apache Creation Story Animals, elements, the solar system, and natural phenomena are revered by the Apaches. That which is beyond their understanding is always ascribed to the supernatural. In the beginning nothing existed--no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon, only darkness was everywhere.

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This Ted Talk not only contains a spoken creation story, but also delves into some of the reasons why these stories are sacred to the people.

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Ute Wisdom, Language and Creation Story | Larry Cesspooch | TEDxYouth@ParkCity

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Written version of the Sioux Creation Story

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Sioux Creation Story (ca. 1910)

There was a world before this world, but the people in it did not know how to behave themselves or how to act human. The Creating Power was not pleased with that earlier world. He said to himself: "I will make a new world." He had the pipe bag and the chief pipe, which he put on the pipe rack that he had made in the sacred manner. He took four dry buffalo chips, placed three of them under the three sticks, and saved the fourth one to light the pipe.

The Creating Power said to himself:"l will sing three songs, which will bring a heavy rain. Then I'll sing a fourth song and stamp four times on the earth, and the earth will crack wide open. Water will come out of the cracks and cover the land." When he sang the first song, it started to rain. When he sang the second, it poured. When he sang the third, the rain-swollen rivers overflowed their beds. But when he sang the fourth song and stamped on the earth, it split open in many places like a shattered gourd, and water flowed from the cracks until it covered everything.

The Creating Power floated on the sacred pipe and on his huge pipe bag. He let himself be carried by waves and wind this way and that, drifting for a long time. At last the rain stopped, and by then all the people and animals had drowned. Only Kangi, the crow, survived, though it had no place to rest and was very tired. Flying above the pipe,"Tunkasllila, Grandfather, I must rest soon"; and three times the crow asked him to make a place for it to light.

The Creating Power thought: "It's time to unwrap the pipe and open the pipe bag." The wrapping and the bag contained all manner of animals and birds, from which he selected four animals known for their ability to stay under water for a long time. First he sang a song and took the loon out of the bag. He commanded the loon to dive and bring up a lump of mud. The loon did dive, but it brought up nothing. "I dived and dived but couldn't reach bottom," the loon said. "I almost died. The water is too deep."

The Creating Power sang a second song and took the otter out of the bag. He ordered the otter to dive and bring up some mud. The sleek otter at once dived into the water, using its strong webbed feet to go down, down, down. It was submerged for a long time, but when it finally came to the surface, it brought nothing.

Taking the beaver out of the pipe's wrapping, the Creating Power sang a third song. He commanded the beaver to go down deep below the water and bring some mud. The beaver thrust itself into the water, using its great flat tail to propel itself downward. It stayed under water longer than the others, but when it finally came up again, it too brought nothing.

At last the Creating Power sang the fourth song and took the turtle out of the bag. The turtle is very strong. Among our people it stands for long life and endurance and the power to survive. A turtle heart is great medicine, for it keeps on beating a long time after the turtle is dead. "You must bring the mud," the Creating Power told the turtle. It dove into the water and stayed below so long that the other three animals shouted: "The turtle is dead; it will never come up again!"

All the time, the crow was flying around and begging for a place to light.

After what seemed to be eons, the turtle broke the surface of the water and paddled to the Creating Power. "I got to the bottom!" the turtle cried. "I brought some earth!" And sure enough, its feet and claws-even the space in the cracks on its sides between its upper and lower shell-were filled with mud.

Scooping mud from the turtle's feet and sides, the Creating Power began to sing. He sang all the while that he shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water to make a spot of dry land for himself. When he had sung the fourth song, there was enough land for the Creating Power and for the crow.

"Come down and rest," said the Creating Power to the crow, and the bird was glad to.

Then the Creating Power took from his bag two long wing feathers of the eagle. He waved them over his plot of ground and commanded it to spread until it covered everything. Soon all the water was replaced by earth. "Water without earth is not good," thought the Creating Power, "but land without water is not good either." Feeling pity for the land, he wept for the earth and the creatures he would put upon it, and his tears became oceans, streams and lakes. "That's better," he thought.

Out of his pipe bag the Creating Power took all kinds of animals, birds, plants and scattered them over the land. When he stamped on the earth, they all came alive.

From the earth the Creating Power formed the shapes of men and women. He used red earth and white earth, black earth and yellow earth, and made as many as he thought would do for a start. He stamped on the earth and the shapes came alive, each taking the color of the earth out of which it was made. The Creating Power gave all of them understanding and speech and told them what tribes they belonged to.

The Creating Power said to them: "The first world I made was bad; the creatures on it were bad. So I burned it up. The second world I made was bad too, so I drowned it. This is the third world I have made. Look: I have created a rainbow for you as a sign that there will be no more Great Flood. Whenever you see a rainbow, you will know that it has stopped raining."

The Creating Power continued: "Now, if you have learned how to behave like human beings and how to live in peace with each other and with the other living things-the two-legged, the four-legged, the man-legged, the fliers, the no-legs, the green plants of this universe-then all will be well. But if you make this world bad and ugly, then I will destroy this world too. It's up to you."

The Creating Power gave the people the pipe. "Live by it," he said. He named this land the Turtle Continent because it was there that the turtle came up with the mud out of which the third world was made.

"Someday there might be a fourth world," the Creating Power thought. Then he rested.

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Exploring U.S. History | native american creation stories

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There was a world before this world, but the people in it did not know how to behave themselves or how to act human. The Creating Power was not pleased with that earlier world. He said to himself: "I will make a new world."

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A list of creation myths sorted by Nation/Tribe

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Indian languages Indian cultures Indian arts and crafts

Native American Creation Stories
World Parent Myths:
Comparison of Huron, Inuit, and Cree creation myths.
Abenaki Creation Story Gluskonba Makes the People Kloskurbeh and the Abanaki:
Abenaki Indian creation myths.
Micmac Creation Myth Creation of the World According to the Mi'gmaq Mi'kmaq Creation:
Mi'kmaw Creation Story Mi'kmaq Creation Myth:
Micmac origin myths.
Creation of the World History of the Anishinaabek Wenebojo Creates the Earth Manabozho and the Muskrat Nanabozho and the Origin of the Earth Waynaboozhoo and the Great Flood:
Different versions of the Anishinaabe Native American creation story.
Achomawi Creation Myth Creation and Longevity:
Achumawi Indian creation myths.
The Lenapé Creation Story Lenape Creation Web:
Lenape myths about the creation of the world.
Nipmuc Creation Story:
Nipmuc legend about the Muskrat helping the Great Spirit to create the earth.
The Sun Dance Wheel Arapaho Story of Creation:
Arapaho creation myths.
The Creation of the World:
The Gros Ventre creation myth.
The Beginning of the Cree World:
Cree creation myth.
Grandmother's Creation Story:
Another Cree myth of creation, this one about the relationship between the first animals and humans.
Blackfeet Creation Tale How The Old Man Made People:
Two version of the Blackfoot myth about the creation of the world.
Great Medicine Makes a Beautiful Country:
The Cheyenne creation myth.
Achomawi Creation Myth Atsugewi Creation Story Creation and Longevity:
California Indian stories of the creation of the world by Silver-Fox and Coyote.
Dotson'Sa, Great Raven Makes The World:
Athabaskan legend about Raven's creation of the earth.
Iroquois Creation Myth:
Cayuga myths about Sky Woman and the creation of the earth.
Mother Corn and the Beginning Arikara Creation Myth:
Arikara legends abou the origin of the world.
Aztec Creation Story:
Aztec myth about the creation of the world.
Mexican Ideas of the Creation:
Origin myths of the Toltec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations.
The Creation And Early Migrations:
Caddo myths about the origin of the world and the first chief, Moon.
The Well-Baked Man A Potawatomi Creation Story:
Native American stories about the Great Spirit's creation of different races. (Note that our volunteers believe that these stories
are intended as humorous tales, not serious creation myths. But other Native people may feel differently.)

Sponsored Links

Recommended Books about Native American Creation Myths
Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links
Remaking The Earth: A Creation Story from the Great Plains of North America:
Picture book based on Blackfoot and Arapaho creation myths in which the world is rebuilt after a great flood.
The Rainbow Bridge:
Children's book illustrating the Chumash creation and migration legends.

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Indian languages Indian cultures Indian arts and crafts World Parent Myths: Comparison of Huron, Inuit, and Cree creation myths. Abenaki Creation Story Gluskonba Makes the People Kloskurbeh and the Abanaki: Abenaki Indian creation myths. Micmac Creation Myth Creation of the World According to the Mi'gmaq Mi'kmaq Creation: Mi'kmaw Creation Story Mi'kmaq Creation Myth: Micmac origin myths.