Native American Religions,Myths & Origin Stories
Labriola Center
The following bibliography lists reference material dealing with Native American religions, myths and origin stories. These resources include material found in the Labriola Center in the University Libraries at Arizona State University, websites, and other research facilities. This subject guide is also located on the Labriola Center website at http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/labriola.htm
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT RELIGIONS, MYTHS & ORIGIN STORIES
Religion is a basic attribute of humanity cherished by mankind in all ages, races and cultures. This subject guide attempts to provide an overview of research pertaining to Native American religious beliefs, practices and histories.
Overall, a large body of material exists about Native American worldview and sacred beliefs in spirits, the Native American Church, peyote religion, Plains Sun Dances, Navajo Chants, Pueblo ceremonialism, guardian spirits and vision quests, Inuit masks, Iroquois thanksgiving rites, shamanism, and medicine objects. Within this core of research contains the mythology and origin stories of many Native American peoples which incorporates many mythical figures, elemental and seasonal phenomenon, and landmarks and sacred sites.
Books
Encyclopedia of Native American Religions, Arlene Hirschfelder. New York : Facts on File, 1992. A comprehensive reference publication on Native American religions and their components and historical antecedents, myths, and origin stories.
Native American Religions, Paula R. Hartz. New York, NY : Facts on File, 1997. Surveys the history and basic beliefs of Native American religions.
Shamanism, Piers Vitebsky. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. A study of the shamanic worldview, regional traditions, becoming a shaman, shamans and their clientele and an overall understanding of shamanism.
The Jesus road : Kiowas, Christianity, and Indian Hymns, Luke Eric Lassiter, Clyde Ellis, and Ralph Kotay. Lincoln ; London : University of Nebraska Press, 2002. A sample of the Native American experience with Christianity.
God is Red, by Vine Deloria, Jr. New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1973. In God is Red Deloria argues that Christianity has failed today's society, and describes basic tenets that underlie Native religions.
The Creation as the Maidu Told It = Puktim. William Shipley, trans.
Santa Cruz : Native Image Editions, 2002. An original narration of the Maidu
story by the story teller Hancibyjim circa 1900. Translated by linguist William
Shipley.
Sacred Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life, Peggy V. Beck. Tsaile, Ariz. : Navajo Community College, 1977. An informative introduction to traditional and contemporary religious concepts of North American Indians, and a standard reference for all U.S. and Canadian universities.
Shamanism and the Ancient Mind, James L. Pearson. Walnut Creek, CA ; Oxford : AltaMira Press, 2002. Using the theoretical premises of cognitive archaeology and a careful examination of rock art worldwide, Pearson discusses current theories of why ancient peoples produced art-totemism, art-for-art's sake, structuralism, and hunting magic.
Prayer on Top of the Earth, the Spiritual Universe of the Plains Apaches, Kay Parker Schweinfurth. Boulder : University Press of Colorado, 2002. Kay Parker Schweinfurth's Prayer on Top of the Earth: The Spiritual Universe of the Plains Apaches, offers numerous stories recounted by seven self-appointed tribal historians, the last surviving primary repositories of Apache history, born between 1876 and 1903. The Plains Apaches' mystical kinship with the land and the natural environment that the tribes perceived and nurtured is embodied in their four sacred medicine bundles-the no bikagseli, or "prayer on top of the earth."
Creek Indian Medicine Ways: the Enduring Power of the Mvskoke Religion,
David Lewis, Jr., Ann T. Jordan. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
2002. Called the Mvskoke in their language, the Creek Indians of Oklahoma continue
to practice traditional medicine. In Creek Indian Medicine Ways, David Lewis
Jr., a full-blood Mvskoke and practicing medicine man, tells about the medicine
tradition that has shaped his life.
Dine Bahane: The Navajo Creation Story, Paul G. Zobrod. Albuquerque
: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. Paul Zolbrod collates his own transcriptions
of Navajo oral traditions with the records of other scholars from decades past
to create a narration of the Navajo story of creation.
American Indian Myths & Legends, Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz,
eds. New York : Pantheon Books, 1984. A gathering 160 tales from 80 tribal groups
to offer a comprehensive study of the Native American mythic heritage.
Dictionary of Native American Mythology, Sam D. Gill, Irene F. Sullivan, eds. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 1992. A detailed guide exploring the numerous variety of mythical beasts, heroic humans, and nurturing spirits that make up the spectrum of Native American mythology.
Bones in the Basket, Native Stories of the Origin People, Carrie J. Taylor. Plattsburgh, N.Y. : Tundra Books, 1994. A collection of origin stories taken from Chuckchee, Cree, Mandan, Modoc, Mohawk, Osage, and Zuñi legends.
Southern Indian Myths and Legends, Virginia Pounds Brown, Laurella Owens, eds. Birmingham: Beechwood Books, 1985. A compilation of fifty-seven stories from Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole mythology, in such categories as creation and migration of tribes, the origin of tobacco, fire, and other gifts of the Great Spirit, and monsters and heroes.
Theses and Dissertations
“Medicine Bundle Persons: Blackfoot Ontology and the Study of Native American Religions,” Kenneth Hayes Lokensgard. Master’s Thesis, Arizona State University, 1996. A study of the use of medicine bundles in the Siksika religion.
“Native American Religion in the Work of Leslie Marmon Silko,” Marie Soumaley. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1998. Examination of the Native American religious influences in the works of author Leslie Marmon Silko.
Journal Articles
There are several ways to find articles online. Here are a few suggestions.
- From the Hayden Library’s home page, click on Find Articles and More. Under subject, drag to or type in either Religious Studies or American Indians, and click go. You’ll have access to six databases. Humanities Abstracts, for example, has 26 articles from a keyword search of “Native American Religion”. For newspaper articles, search for material in the database entitled Ethnic Newswatch.
Video Recordings
The Navajo [video recording], Donald Coughlin. Flagstaff : Museum of Northern Arizona, 1997. Stories of life on the Navajo reservation including the role of women in religious life.
Everything Has a Spirit [video recording], Ava Hamilton, Gabriele Dech. Denver : Front Range Educational Media Corp., 1992. Documentary on the historical roots of Native American religious persecution and issues such as access and protection of sacred rites, first amendment protection and the use of peyote in the Native American Church.
Seyewailo: The Flower World Yaqui Deer Songs [video recording], Danny Carr. New York: Norman Ross Pub. Inc., 1994. The “enchanted talk” of Yaqui deer songs, which are considered religious expressions of the flower world.
White Shamans and Plastic Medicine Men [video recording], Terry Macy and Daniel Hart. Bozeman : Native Voices Public Television, 1995. A documentary exploring the popularization and commercialization of Native American spiritual traditions.
Sound Recordings
Wycliffe Bible Translations Jiosh Wechij O’ohana: The New Testament in O’odham (Papgo-Pima) [sound recording], s.l., n.d. The Christian bible translated into the Papago-Pima language. Two-sided, 30 minutes each side.
The American Indian Oral History Collection [sound recordings], s.l., n.d. A collection of 30 cassettes offering a broad account of the experiences of being Indian. Tape 16, for example, discusses traditional Indian religions and the similarities among other religions of various tribes and the teaching of Christianity within the Native American Church.
Ephemera
Included are small manuscripts, informational brochures, museum publications, photographs (including slides), radio transcripts, articles and poetry. To find ephemera related to Native American religions, myths and origin stories, search the American Indian Index and the Arizona and Southwestern Index, which are accessed from the University Libraries home page under Electronic Resources. Examples of subjects are: Coyote Tales, Shamanism, Native American Church, Christianity, or Mythology.
Examples of Internet Sites
- Elan Michaels presents a collection of Native American Prayers and Blessings at http://www.angelfire.com/md/elanmichaels/prayers.html
- Official web site of the Native American Church located at http://www.utah-nac.org
- Official web site of the American Indian Religious Rights Organization located at http://www.airr.org
Caution! Before using the information from any web pages in your paper, be certain that your source is legitimate and accurate.
Oral Histories
The American Indian Oral History Collection contains microfilm transcripts of some 700 interviews with members of the Navajo Nation, and from members of the Pueblo Tribes, some of which deal with origin stories and religious activities. Ask for the subject guide for these in the Labriola Center.
The University of South Dakota Oral history collection contains a taped series of interviews conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s with Plains Indians and those non-Indians working actively with them. Participants include Native Christian clergyman Vine Deloria and medicine man Johnson Holy rock.
Michael Lotstein, Library Specialist
Labriola National American Indian Data Center
Arizona State University Libraries
Tempe, AZ 85287-1006
Fall 2002
Page last modified: August 22, 2007
