Indigenous myth

Young Hopi woman forming a sacred bond with the rain spirit as clouds gather over the desert

The Girl Who Married the Rain

by Elizabeth Fabowale

March 11, 2026

American Folktales·Native American Folktales

Dry winds swept across the wide desert mesas, lifting dust into the air and carrying it across fields that had once been green with corn and beans. The land had not seen rain for many months. Springs that once flowed gently from the rocks had slowed to thin trickles, and the soil had grown cracked and pale beneath the relentless

Lightning repeatedly striking near a lone person standing under a stormy sky

American Traditions & Beliefs·American Weather Lore

The Lightning That Chose Its Victim

A quiet unease began to spread through the village after a series of strange storms. At first, the lightning seemed no different from what people had always known. It flashed across the sky, struck the ground, and disappeared as quickly as it came. But over time, something unusual became clear.

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

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

Parchment-style illustration of Rip Van Winkle waking on a Catskill Mountains slope, American folktale.

Rip Van Winkle, The Man Who Slept for Twenty Years: American Folktale of Time and Change

At the foot of the misty Catskill Mountains in colonial New York, there once lived a good-natured man named Rip Van Winkle.

Parchment-style illustration of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in snowy woods, American folktale.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: An American Folktale that Teaches Lessons on Strength, Teamwork, and the Power of Legend

Long ago, in the rugged northern forests of America, where towering pines whispered to the wind and the snow stretched farther than

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