Oral Culture.

Native American culture has been traditionally oral. Indians did not write down their myths and sacred histories; rather, they told and retold their stories. While the tales would, no doubt, change in each generation's retelling, the fundamental vocabulary, intended moral, and mood remained the same. They gave to a tribe a sense of being and a sense that they had much to learn from the spiritual and natural worlds. The myths' repetitions, through the generations, gave them spiritual power and authority. At the same time, as the historian of religion Mircea Eliade has postulated, by hearing a myth, listeners could put themselves into the spiritual sphere just as their ancestors had so placed themselves.

Creation Myths.

One important theme of Native American myth is the creation of the world. Common to all of such stories are...