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American Myths

Sacred and symbolic stories that explain creation, natural phenomena, and humanity’s origins.

Parchment-style artwork of Coyote stealing fire from the mountain sisters, Native American folktale

How Coyote Brought Fire to the People: American Folktale

by Ayomide Adekilekun

October 20, 2025

American Myths·Native American Nature & Animal Myths

In the ancient lands of the Pacific Northwest, when the world was still young and the nights were bitterly cold, the people suffered without fire. They shivered under the stars, unable to cook their food or keep the darkness at bay. Fire existed, yes, but it belonged only to three powerful sisters who lived high upon a mountain, where smoke

Parchment-style artwork of the Sun and Moon facing each other in the sky, Cherokee folktale scene.

American Myths·Native American Sun, Moon & Star Myths

The Sun and the Moon Are Man and Wife: Cherokee Folktale (United States)

In the ancient days, before the world found its rhythm of day and night, the Sun and the Moon lived together on earth as husband and wife. They shared one lodge under the vast sky, their home surrounded by whispering trees and flowing rivers of silver light. The folktale of

Parchment-style artwork of Raven releasing the Sun and Moon into the sky, Haida folktale scene.

The Theft of the Sun and the Moon

In the time before time, when the earth was still covered in

Parchment-style artwork of white crow flying with burning coal, Cherokee folktale of courage and fire.

Why the Crow Is Black: Cherokee Folktale

In the time before memory, when the earth was still young and

Glowing cosmic egg hovering over Arctic ice with aurora borealis in the night sky representing Inuit creation myth.

Cosmic Egg Creation (Inuit Myth)

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Far across the Arctic expanse, where ice stretches to the horizon and the sky dances with auroras, the Inuit tell of a time when nothing existed but a vast, endless darkness. The land, the sea, and the sky had not yet been formed, and life had not yet awakened. In

Scenic view of Crater Lake and surrounding mountains representing K’mukamtch’s creation in Klamath tradition.

Klamath World Builder K’mukamtch

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

High above the valleys and forests of southern Oregon, where mist curls over river bends and jagged peaks pierce the sky, the Klamath people tell of K’mukamtch, the great world builder. Unlike humans, K’mukamtch possessed the power to mold the earth itself. He walked across a shapeless land, carefully raising

Lakota woman placing fragments of light in the night sky over Northern Plains, creating stars and constellations.

The Creation of the Stars

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Long before the night sky was filled with stars, the world of the Lakota people existed in a quiet balance. The land was rich with rolling plains, rivers, and forests, but darkness reigned once the sun set. People walked carefully by the light of campfires, relying on memory and intuition

The first elk teaching humans to name features of the land across the northern plains in Blackfoot creation legend.

Blackfoot First Elk and Earth Naming

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Long ago, before the rivers and valleys were fully formed, before the prairies stretched under open skies, the world was young and unsettled. The Blackfoot people tell that in these early days, the land and all its creatures were coming into being, shaped by the will of the spirits and

Wenabozho placing earth on a turtle’s back after the muskrat retrieves soil from deep waters.

Ojibwe Earth‑Diver and Wenabozho

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Before there were forests whispering along the shores of the Great Lakes, before canoes cut across shining waters, before villages sent smoke curling into the sky, the world was covered entirely by water. There was no solid earth where feet could stand. No hills rose against the horizon. No trees

A glowing maiden stepping from the sun in a desert landscape teaching two young men about growing crops.

The Sun Maiden Story (Hopi and Pueblo)

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Long ago, when the desert winds moved across the mesas without villages or planted fields, two brothers wandered beneath the blazing sky. They had emerged into a new world but did not yet understand how to live within it. The land around them seemed harsh and endless. The soil was

A peaceful dawn scene showing land rising from the ocean with sea animals and birds symbolizing Mi’kmaq creation tradition.

Micmac Dawn of the Land

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

In the beginning, before cliffs stood against the sea and before forests whispered in the wind, there was only vastness. The waters stretched endlessly, and above them drifted sky without boundary. There were no villages, no rivers carving pathways through stone, and no shores where waves could rest. The world

A symbolic scene of a woman descending from the sky toward a giant turtle on calm waters representing the Haudenosaunee creation story.

The Emergence of the Sky Woman

February 27, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Long before forests covered the earth and before rivers found their paths, there was only Sky World above and a vast stretch of water below. In Sky World lived beings of light who dwelled in harmony around a great sacred tree. This tree stood at the center of their world,

The Yard Dog standing guard on a mountain ridge overlooking a Kentucky coal mining community

The Yard Dog of Kentucky’s Old Coal Trails

February 19, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

The coal camps of eastern Kentucky lay tucked between steep Appalachian ridges, where narrow dirt trails twisted through dense forest and wooden houses clung stubbornly to the hillsides. By day, the mountains echoed with the clang of pickaxes and the rumble of coal carts rolling along iron tracks. By night,

The Echo Canyon Marksman standing on a canyon ridge watching over settlers traveling below

The Echo Canyon Marksman of the Southwest

February 19, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

Echo Canyon stretched like a stone corridor through the red heart of the Southwest, its towering sandstone walls rising high above the desert floor. Wind did not merely pass through the canyon; it twisted, circled, and returned upon itself, carrying with it sounds that most travelers ignored. To the untrained