Edward W. Nelson
collects over 10,000
artifacts to write
The Eskimo about
Bering Straight.James Mooney’s
Myths of the
Cherokee collates
the mythology of
that tribe.Johannes Wilbert’s
collection, Folk
Literature of the
Warao Indians,
is published.A. L. Kroeber’s
Yurok Myths collects
creation myths and
biographies of the
Yurok tribe.G. M. Mullett’s
Spider Woman
Stories recounts
varied tales from
Hopi my t hology.The discoveries
of Russian linguist
Yuri Knorosov
help to decipher
Maya hieroglyphs.Johannes Wilbert and
Karin Simoneau publish
a compilation of Folk
Literature of the
Tehuelche Indians.John Bierhorst’s History
and Mythology of the
Aztecs translates the
Codex Chimalpopoca.hieroglyphs that allowed them to
record their myths in collections
such as the Popol Vuh and the
Codex Chimalpopoca. Other peoples
used different systems to document
their tales. The Inca, for example,
may have used knotted cords.Common beginnings
In general, most American peoples
believed in a creator deity. Many
of the most central myths of the
Americas detail how heaven, Earth,
and all living beings were created.
For the Inca, this was Viracocha,
who made the cosmos. Kóoch, the
Tehuelche sky father, had a similar
role. The Aztecs believed the
universe was initially brought into
being by a dual male-female god
called Ometeotl, who also created
the first four gods. Another key
creator figure was the Earth Mother,who appeared as a spider in many
Native American mythologies and
was humanity’s teacher.
The hero who helped or taught
humanity was a recurring theme in
American myths. The Warao people
of South America honored a figure
called Haburi who invented the
dugout canoe. The Maya “Hero
Twins” helped humans by defeating
the Lords of the Underworld, saving
humans from sacrifice. The Hero
Twins also share characteristics
with trickster gods. These cunning
deities are also popular in North
American myths, such as the
Raven tales of the Inuit and First
Nations peoples.Understanding the universe
The mythology of the Americas is
deeply bound with their indigenous
peoples’ views on spirituality andreligion. In particular, it shows the
deep links between humanity,
the natural world, and the cosmos.
American myths conceptualize
the cosmos in unique ways. The
Cherokee creation myth, for
example, portrays the world as an
island afloat on the sea, held up by
cords, while the Warao envision
their world as a land mass entirely
encircled by the ocean.
American myths often included
the celestial bodies. The rivalry
between the sun and moon is
a common theme, occurring in
several Aztec, Inca, and Tehuelche
myths. For the Aztecs in particular,
existence was based on a cycle of
five suns and eras, each ending in
destruction, and human sacrifice
was essential to preventing the
fall of the fifth and final sun—and
with it, the end of the world. ■THE AMERICAS
1899
1900 1970 1979 1992
1952 1976 1984
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