Legends of Indigenous Peoples

I know not if the voice of man
can reach to the sky;
I know not if the mighty one
will hear as I pray;
I know not if the gifts I ask
will all granted be;
I know not if the world of old
we truly can hear;
I know not what will come to pass
in our future days;
I hope that only good will come,
my children, to you.

Wampum beads, made from several kinds of shell, were highly prized by the Indians who lived along the Atlantic coast. Where beads were laboriously cut from the conch shell and quallog clam, while the thick hinge of the clam provided Pink and purple beads.

Wampum beads were used in various ways. They were strung together to form necklaces and bracelets, or used simply to decorate clothing, weapons and utensils. They also served as a form of money to ransom captives, to pay compensation for crimes and injuries and to reward shamans for their services. Most important of all, they were made into belts and used instead of signatures to confirm area ties and agreements between tribes.

The color of the wampum was also important. White was the emblem of peace and good faith. Purple symbolized death, sorrow and mourning. White beads coloured red were sent as a declaration of war or as an invitation to join a war-party. Combinations of these colours were used to convey messages or to record ceremonies and agreements.

It must be remembered that the animals which appear in Indian storiesare not the same as those which exist now. When the world began, animals were much bigger, stronger and cleverer than their present counterparts but, because of man's cruelty and agression, these left the earth and took the rainbow path to Galunlati, the Sky Land, where they still remain. The animals which came after them - those we know today - are weak imitations of those first creatures.

North American Indians tell many stories about the stars - individual stars and groups of stars. Often in these stories, the stars are referred to as "the People of the Sky World."

When the first white people came to the Northwest, Indians of several nations told them about a great bridge of rocks and earth that once spanned the lower Columbia River. When the bridge fell, they said, the rocks made numerous rapids and little waterfalls in the Columbia, near the present city of Hood River. Now the rocks and rapids are covered by the waters above Bonneville Dam.

Ancient One
Anishnabe Migration Story
Apache Creation Story
Aztec Creation Story
Blessed Gift of Joy is Bestowed Upon Man
California Creation Story (Yokut)
Commanche Creation Story
Coyote and Multnomah Falls (Wasco)
Creation of the First Indians (Chelan)
Creation of the [Maya] World - Version 1
Creation of the [Maya] World - Version 2
Creation of the Red and White Races (Flathead/Salish)
Diguenos Creation Story
First Fire (Cherokee)
First Moccasins (Plains Nations)
Flood on Superstition Mountain (Pima)
Gaelic Myths/Legends
Godasiyo the Woman Chief (Seneca)
Grandmother's Creation Story (Creek)
Great Flood (Salish)
Great Serpent and the Great Flood (Chippewa)
How Corn Came to the Earth
How the Great Chiefs Made the Moon and the Sun (Hopi)
How the Hopi Indians Reached Their World (Hopi)
How the Old Man Made People
How Rabbit Brought Fire to the People (Creek)
In the Beginning
In the Beginning (Yuchi)
Men Visit the Sky (Seminole)
Morning Star (Plains Indians)
MicMac Creation Story
Origin of Earth (Tuskegee)
Origin of Fire (Jicarilla-Apache)
Origin of Game and of Corn (Cherokee)
Origin of Medicine (Cherokee)
Origin of Summer and Winter (Acoma/Laguna)
Origin of the Animals (Jicarilla-Apache)
Origin of the Buffalo (Cheyenne)
Origin of the Clans (Hopi)
Origin of the Iroquois Nations (Iroquois)
Origin of the Lakota Peace Pipe (Lakota)
Origin of the Medicine Man (Passamaquoddy)
Origin of the Sweat Lodge (Blackfeet/Piegan)
Origin of the Thunderbird (Passamaquoddy)
Origin of the Winds (Aleuts)
Origin of Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La (Yosemite)
Origin of Yosemite (Yosemite)
Rainbow's End (Dine/Navajo)
Seek Your Father (Seneca)
Spider Rock (Dine/Navajo)
Strange Origin of Corn (Abnaki)
Tlingit Creation Story (Raven)
Warm Wind Brothers vs. The Cold Wind Brothers
When the Animals and Birds Were Created (Makah)
Why the North Star Stands Still (Paiute)
Why the Opussum's Tail Is Bare (Cherokee)
Yellowstone Valley and the Great Flood (Cheyenne)