Your search for: blackfeet AND mythology

Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians, originally published in 1908 by the American Museum of Natural History, introduces such figures as Old Man, Scar-Face, Blood-Clot, and the Seven Brothers. Included are tales with ritualistic origins emphasizing the prototypical Beaver-Medicine and the roles played ...

Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians, originally published in 1908 by the American Museum of Natural History, introduces such figures as Old Man, Scar-Face, Blood-Clot, and the Seven Brothers. Included are tales with ritualistic origins emphasizing the prototypical Beaver-Medicine and the roles played by Elk-Woman and Otter-Woman, and a presentation of Star Myths, which reveal the astronomical knowledge of the Blackfoot Indians. Narratives about Raven, Grasshopper, and Whirlwind-Boy account for conditions in humanity and nature. Many of the stories in the concluding group-like "The Lost Children" and "The Ghost-Woman"-were tales told to Blackfoot children.Clark Wissler notes that these narratives were collected very early in the twentieth century from the Piegans in Montana and from the North Piegans, Bloods, and Northern Blackfoot in Canada. Most were translated by D. C. Duvall and revised for Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians by Wissler.Wissler (1870-1947) was curator at the American Museum of Natural History and chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. Among his major works are North American Indians of the Plains and Man and Culture.Introducing this Bison Book edition is Alice B. Kehoe, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Marquette University and the author of North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account.

"I am Nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, sovereign of all things spiritual....I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names, and propitiated with all manner of different rites, yet the whole round earth venerates me." With these words, Isis--the mother goddess of ...

"I am Nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, sovereign of all things spiritual....I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names, and propitiated with all manner of different rites, yet the whole round earth venerates me." With these words, Isis--the mother goddess of Egypt--reveals herself to her devotee, Lucius Apuleius, in his novel The Golden Ass. Just as this great goddess claimed to be universal, mythology itself exists in all cultures around the globe and extends back to the beginnings of human civilization. Plato first coined the term mythologia to mean merely the telling of stories which contain legendary figures. Since his time, and especially now with the resurgent interest in myths, mythology has come to hold greater significance and power as a crucial element of civilization as a whole. Written by a leading scholar of ancient civilizations, A Dictionary of World Mythology presents the powerful gods of Greece, Rome, and Scandinavia, the more mystical deities of Buddhist and Hindu India, and the stern spirits of the African and American continents together in one fascinating volume. Drawing upon hundreds of myths from around the globe, Arthur Cotterell not only reveals the vast differences in these civilizations, but also demonstrates the unity of mankind in its fundamental need for explanations of the unknown. Cotterell divides the chief myths of the world into seven main sections--West Asia, South and Central Asia, East Asia, Europe, America, Africa, and Oceania. Traveling through this vast array of legendary riches, we encounter Gilgamesh, the tyrannical, semi-divine king of Babylonia, who, according to the Gilgamesh Epic, rejected Ishtar and thus caused the ravaging of the earth by Anu, the bull of heaven, and the death of his lifelong friend Enkidu. We learn that Dharma--the term meaning the doctrine of duties and rights of each caste in the Hindu religion's ideal society--was an ancient Hindu sage who married thirteen of Daksha's daughters, and that, according to the Mahabharata, Daksha sprang from the right thumb of Brahma. From East Asian mythology, we discover Tsao Chun, the gentle Chinese kitchen god whose temple exists in a small niche near the cooking stove. Along with the well-known Greek and Roman deities, Europe has also brought us Dagda, the ancient Irish deity of life and death, who could, with one end of his staff, kill nine men and could, with the other end, restore them to life; and Balder, "the bleeding god" of Germanic mythology, renowned for his good looks and wisdom. According to Native American tribes living along the Xingu River in Brazil, a legendary nation called Minata-Karaia once existed with men who had holes in the top of their heads which produced high, loud whistles, and bunches of coconuts growing from their armpits. From Africa, Ogun, the Yoruban war god, descended by a spider's thread upon the marshy waste that existed prior to the formation of the earth. We also meet Papa, the ancestress of Hawaiian people, who functioned as Earth goddess and queen of the underworld, as well as mother of the gods. Each section contains an introduction highlighting the history, lifestyle, and ideology of the particular ancient civilizations, as well as the landscape in which they lived and the reasons why different mythologies arose in different lands.

This new edition is a completely rewritten and revised version of Rose's original, seminal, text. Adding a huge amount of new material, Robin Hard incorporates the results of the latest research into his authoritative accounts of all the gods and heroes.The narrative framework of the book includes ...

This new edition is a completely rewritten and revised version of Rose's original, seminal, text. Adding a huge amount of new material, Robin Hard incorporates the results of the latest research into his authoritative accounts of all the gods and heroes.The narrative framework of the book includes helpful signposting so that the book can be used as work of reference, and alongside the narrative chapters, it includes full documentation of the ancient sources, maps, and genealogical tables.Illustrated throughout with numerous photographs and line drawings, it will remain the definitive account of ancient Greek mythology for generations to come.

The Pawnee Mythology, originally published in 1906, preserves 148 tales of the Pawnee Indians, who farmed and hunted and lived in earth-covered lodges along the Platte River in Nebraska. The stories, collected from surviving members of four bands - Skidi, Pitahauirat, Kitkehahki, and Chaui - were ...

The Pawnee Mythology, originally published in 1906, preserves 148 tales of the Pawnee Indians, who farmed and hunted and lived in earth-covered lodges along the Platte River in Nebraska. The stories, collected from surviving members of four bands - Skidi, Pitahauirat, Kitkehahki, and Chaui - were generally told during intermissions of sacred ceremonies. Many were accompanied by music. George A. Dorsey recorded these Pawnee myths early in the twentieth century after the tribe's traumatic removal from their ancestral homeland to Oklahoma. He included stories of instruction concerning supernatural beings, the importance of revering such gifts as the buffalo and corn, and the results of violating nature. Hero tales, forming another group, usually centered on a poor boy who overcame all odds to benefit the tribe. Other tales invited good fortune, recognized wonderful beings like the witch women and spider women, and explained the origin of medicine powers. Coyote tales were meant to amuse while teaching ethics.