Native American mythology includes trickster figures, death as a universal theme, twin myths, and oral tradition. These elements differentiate it from other mythologies and teach cultural truths and values. Trickster figures represent human nature and the potential for change. Death signifies cycles of life and rebirth, while twin myths teach balance and meaning in life. These stories have been passed down orally for generations and have made their way into written literature. The earth mother is a source of life and change, symbolizing the search for balance and personal identity.
Major elements of Native American mythology include trickster figures, death as a universal theme, twin myths, and oral tradition/storytelling. These elements that are present in Native American language and literature, along with unique perspectives on the world, society, and cultures, differentiate Native American legends from Anglo-American and other mythology. All these elements together define the plot of each story and teach cultural truths and values.
Trickster figures, such as Raven, Spider, and Coyote, are characters from Native American mythology that represent the lower portion of human nature. While they aren’t heroes teaching people how to do right, they aren’t villains. Rather, they make it clear that culture is imagined and has the potential to be changed. If there is sufficient motivation for such a change, cheaters will help by showing, for example, why it is dangerous for individuals to limit their identity and always trust authority.
Death is a universal theme in most Native American folklore that usually leads to deceiving the trickster, as in the Coyote myth and the origin of death. Such stories signify cycles of life, death and rebirth. These legends teach the cultural importance of giving others what you want for yourself.
Twin myths feature frequently in many Native American legends, and often one twin is less dominant than the other in terms of depth, power, and presence. Individuals who make positive choices and changes in their lives employ positive forces, and those who sit back and relax but never get anywhere employ the opposite. Thus twin myths, as a major element of Native American mythology, can teach the importance of finding balance, wholeness, and meaning in life.
While some people may believe that Native American mythology is simply false legend or folklore, others believe that there is great truth to the details of Native American literature today. These stories have been passed down orally for generations, often by parents teaching their children key cultural truths. They have made their way from the traditional oral narrative form to written stories, novels and poems.
In Native American mythology, the globe is often considered to be the natural source of the female earth mother and her children, as outlined in the Zuni discourse on early beginnings. The moral of this story is that although people are born into certain environments, they all undergo changes in various aspects of their lives, symbolizing their search for balance. The physical transformations of human beings constitute their personal histories, thus creating their current identities and, in turn, enabling universal communication.
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