I

t is thought that people first came to the

Americas over a narrow land bridge that

connected Siberia with Alaska before sea

levels rose to create the Bering Strait. No

one knows for certain when people first

made this journey – experts’ estimates vary

from as long ago as 60,000 bce to as recently as

10,000 bce. Whenever it occurred, it must have

been a life-changing adventure for those who

actually made it. However, it was merely the

beginning of a series of even longer journeys

that took people southward, some fanning out

across North America, others going still further

until a few finally reached Tierra del Fuego, at

the southernmost tip of South America.

This series of expeditions, no doubt taking

place over thousands of years, separated people

into myriad tribes who adapted themselves to

local conditions all over both continents. In

North America alone

there were probably

at least 2,000 diferent

tribes – but not all have survived. Wars

between one tribe and another and, most

devastatingly, subjugation by the European

settlers who came to North America from the

17th century onwards, have left a mere 300

or so Native North American “nations”.

The old lives of Native North American

tribes varied greatly. Many lived in small and

scattered communities, but some, such as the

Pueblo in the south of the continent, gathered

in large urban settlements. Many of these people

now live on reservations, where small areas of

land have been set aside for them, and where

they now guard their ancestral cultural heritages

with great care. The surviving nations are

custodians of a rich hoard of myths, covering a

variety of origin stories, a multitude of animal

spirits and deities, and numerous nature gods,

tricksters, and culture heroes. According to local

conditions and development, traditions linked

to hunting, agriculture, and warfare all have

special prominence in these mythologies.

THE AMERICAS

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