Mythologis
Native American Mythology: The Complete Guide to Raven, Coyote, Spider Woman, and the Sacred Stories of Turtle Island

Native American Mythology

Native American Mythology: The Complete Guide to Raven, Coyote, Spider Woman, and the Sacred Stories of Turtle Island

From Pacific Raven to Atlantic Glooscap

The unbroken pre-contact mythology of North America: Raven stealing light, Coyote's tricks, Spider Woman weaving creation, Sedna beneath the ice, and the kachina spirits of the mesa.

150 pagesPDFEnglishMythologis Library

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Inside this book

What you will read

  • 11 chapters, primary sources
  • Instant PDF download
  • Original ink illustrations
  • Inline citations to original texts
  • Designed for print quality
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  1. 01Turtle Island: The Land Before Nations
  2. 02Raven and the Theft of Daylight
  3. 03Spider Woman Weaves the First People
  4. 04Coyote: Trickster of the Desert and Plains
  5. 05Wakan Tanka and the Sacred Hoop
  6. 06The Kachina Spirits of the Pueblo World
  7. 07Thunderbird, Bringer of Storms
  8. 08Sedna and the Creatures of the Arctic Sea
  9. 09Glooscap, Culture Hero of the Algonquian East
  10. 10The Winter Count: Memory on Buffalo Hide
  11. 11What Survived Contact and What Endures

About this book

About this Native American mythology guide

The sacred stories of Turtle Island, from Raven's theft of daylight to Sedna's dominion beneath the Arctic ice.

Before the word "America" existed, Turtle Island stretched from ocean to ocean, and every people knew their origin. In the Pacific Northwest, Raven stole the box of daylight and released it into the world. Across the Southwest, Spider Woman wove the first humans from clay and song. In the Arctic, Sedna ruled the sea mammals from her house on the ocean floor. Along the Great Plains, Wakan Tanka breathed life into the sacred hoop. On the Atlantic shore, Glooscap shaped the rivers and taught the people to live.

This book draws on the earliest recorded tellings: the Raven cycle transcribed by Franz Boas among the Tsimshian, the Hopi emergence songs, the Lakota winter counts, the Inuit angakkuit chants, the Algonquian Glooscap tales collected by Charles Leland. You will meet Coyote in his endless schemes, the Thunderbird whose wings make storms, the kachina spirits who bridge the living and the ancestors, and dozens of other figures who still shape indigenous identity today.

Eleven chapters with original ink illustrations and inline citations to primary sources.

What you will discover inside

  • How Raven stole the sun, moon, and stars from the Sky Chief's longhouse
  • Why Spider Woman is called the creator of the first Hopi people
  • What Coyote's tricks reveal about survival and transformation
  • The role of kachina spirits in Pueblo cosmology and ceremony
  • How Sedna became mistress of the sea and its animals
  • Why Glooscap is remembered as the shaper of the eastern forests

Native American mythology book at a glance

TraditionNative American mythology
Chapters11 chapters
Length150 pages
SourcesDrawn from the primary sources, cited inline
Reading levelBeginner-friendly. Every name and place is explained from scratch
FormatPrint-quality PDF
DeliveryPDF within 24 hours

Formats and editions

EditionWhat you getPrice
Instant PDFPrint-quality download, readable on any device. PDF within 24 hours.$7.99
PaperbackA paperback edition is on the way. Sign up on this page to hear when it lands on Amazon.Coming soon

About the author

Guillaume Henry, founder of Mythologis

Guillaume Henry

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Mythologis

Guillaume Henry founded Mythologis to make the world's mythologies readable without losing what makes them strange. Every Mythologis book draws on the primary sources first, cross-references multiple translations, and avoids inventing details that aren't in the originals.

More about the author

Keep exploring Native American mythology

Prefer to read before you buy? These free, fully sourced guides cover the same gods, myths and sources you will meet in the book.

Read the complete Native American mythology guide

Questions about the Native American mythology book

When will I receive my PDF?

Within 24 hours of purchase. Your download link arrives in your inbox automatically.

Is this book based on primary sources?

Yes. The book cites the earliest ethnographic collections: Franz Boas's Tsimshian Mythology (1916) for the Raven cycle, the Hopi emergence narratives recorded by H. R. Voth, the Lakota winter counts analyzed by Garrick Mallery, Charles Leland's Algonquin Legends (1884) for Glooscap, and Knud Rasmussen's transcriptions of Inuit oral tradition. Inline references guide you to the standard published translations so you can read further.

How long is the book?

Eleven chapters, around 150 pages depending on the final layout. Designed to be read in evenings or in one long sitting.

Is this book for beginners or specialists?

Beginners welcome. The book explains every name, place, and concept from scratch. Specialists will find the source citations and translation notes useful for further reading.

Will there be a paperback on Amazon?

The PDF is available immediately. A KDP paperback edition follows once the book has been validated by readers.

Why isn't Hiawatha in this book?

Hiawatha was a historical Iroquois peacemaker, not a mythological figure. Longfellow's 1855 poem borrowed the name but grafted it onto Ojibwe stories of Nanabozho. This book focuses on the pre-contact mythological tradition as recorded by indigenous storytellers and early ethnographers, not literary adaptations.

What formats is this book available in?

Every title is available as an instant PDF, downloaded the moment you buy it: the link appears on the confirmation page and lands in your inbox. Selected titles also have a paperback edition on Amazon. Where the paperback is not out yet, you can sign up to be notified the day it does.

What is the return policy?

The PDF is delivered instantly by Mythologis. If a download ever fails or a file looks wrong, get in touch and we will make it right. Paperbacks bought on Amazon are handled under Amazon's own returns and refund policy.

Can I order from outside the United States?

Yes. The PDF is a digital download, so it works instantly anywhere in the world, with nothing to ship. Where a paperback edition exists, it is sold across Amazon's international marketplaces, with shipping rates and delivery times depending on your country.

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