Native American Folklore

When studying about The Iroquois Creation Story, The Navajo Creation Story, Hajíínéí; and the trickster tales the Winnebago's Wakjankaga, the Sioux Ikto, and the Navajo's Coyote, Skunk, and the Prairie Dogs, I felt connected to some of the stories through many similarities to Biblical concepts. For instance, the Creation stories have a flood, as in the Hajíínéí, during the Nílch'i Dine'é's visit to the First World.

 I believe in the flood in the Bible: Genesis 7:6-8:22. I find the similarities as being very much evidence of the fact that there was a flood; some people call the Great Flood, since it covered the entire earth. The Bible is the historical record of the human saga since the beginning of time. It just shows that the Bible is more than just a religious text, and more of historical documentation. Many archeological digs are guided by this very book.

I think, also, the Hajíínéí is the Dine'é people's story of how they wound up in the region that is now Northeastern Arizona and Northwestern New Mexico. Each New World they inhabited was the area or region they inhabited before being ran out from other tribes in that area. I say tribe, because we all know that before Columbus found the New World, every race had its own region and language prior to the interactions of the colonial period. That's secular evidence, too, which can back up that statement, too.

Since we know that all human descendants came through Noah's three sons and their wives, it just stands to reason that the Navajos and other native tribes around the globe would have a story about a huge flood. We have floods, sure; but the Great Flood was as catastrophic to implant its history in the hearts of men everywhere. The Navajos weren't introduced to Christianity, yet, for many centuries after they settled in the Southwest; so their story had to be directly retold from all their ancestors from the Great Flood.

The Trickster Tales are what we call fables. I wish these stories would be defined as fables, because it makes it easier to correlate them to European tales. We have Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood and his merry men, Hansel and Gretel, Peter Rabbit, et cetera in European folklore. In America, folklore such as Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyun and Babe the Blue Ox, Pecos Bill, Bloody Mary, and more. Every culture has its folklore, with many variations of those stories. For instance, we have Bigfoot, which is called 'Sasquatch' by Natives.

I was glad to be able to read these exerpts from Native tales. You often hear of Native stories, but you're not told what they are. Sometimes the stories are sacred, so non-Natives aren't given the privilege to hear them. I wish there were more discussion of them, because that would give us an idea of their culture and to enjoy, as well.

The way that we move around today, I know many tribal members leave their homeland for better jobs, the younger generations aren't as involved in the traditional ways as before, etc. So I believe the need to retain these stories is a vital thing to preserve these stories for future Native descendants and to help maintain the multi-faceted collage of American cultures that identifies us. Natives are very much an American treasure, as is their cultures and languages. If it wasn't for the Navajo language, we wouldn't have won World War II.

I have many Apache and Hopi friends. It'd be nice to know what they believed, too. I never asked them, because I didn't want to be disrespectful. My friend, who's Apache, gave me a traditional dress for my daughter when we moved back from Arizona. I'm not going to let her wear it, because I consider it a precious gift from a dear friend.

Anyway, to wrap-up, these Native American tales were very delightful for me. I love to learn about cultures that aren't as studied as, say, Greek mythology. Native American folklore should be studied everywhere.