Download Mythology of the Americas

Mythology of the
Americas
Incas, Mayan, Aztec, Navajo, Crow,
and Iroquois
The Incan Empire
At first, the Incas were simply a small
tribe that lived in the city of Cuzco.
They worshiped gods of nature. They
believed in omens and dreams.
The Inca empire developed between 1400
and 1500 AD in an area which is now
Peru. Before the 15th century the
Andean region was populated by many
different tribes of people. Under the
military leadership of Pachacuti and his
son Topa Inca, who were Inca emperors
between 1438 and 1493, the Inca state
expanded into a great empire.
Inca Culture
 From a geographic point of view, the Inca empire was not a very
attractive place to live.
 The north-western border --coastal region of the Pacific Ocean, which
is the driest desert on earth. Not a drop of rain has fallen there in over
500 years.
 The towering Andes Mountains begin east of the desert, with steep
slopes that make agriculture a serious challenge. The Inca solved that
problem by creating terraces and filling them with fertile earth
brought up from the mountain valleys.
 To the east of the Andes, lay the vast and humid jungle of the Amazon
River Basin, inhabited by fierce tribes whom the Inca never managed
to conquer.
Inca Culture
 The Inca were incredible builders and architects. Their
irrigation systems, palaces, temples, and fortifications can
still be seen throughout the Andes.
 They had an efficient road system which was mainly used
for government and military purposes. Couriers would
carry messages in the form of knotted cords all over the
empire. Unfortunately, this road network was also used by
the Spanish, which greatly facilitated their conquest of the
Inca Empire.
Inca Culture
 The Incas adopted and improved the agricultural advances of previous
highland cultures, and gave special importance to maize production.
But the potato was fundamental to their empire’s food security: in the
Incas’ vast network of state storehouses, potato – especially a freezedried potato product called chuño – was one of the main food items,
used to feed officials, soldiers and laborers and as an emergency stock
after crop failures.
 Terrace farming was developed as a technique of agriculture by the
Incas as a more efficient way to grow crops in the steep Andes
Mountains of South America. Terrace farming made use of canals to
transport water, and cisterns for storing it. Inca farmers built
sophisticated structures by using stones of specific heights and setting
them at different angles to form the best water system.
Inca History
 The Incas were able to build a vast empire by demanding loyalty from
conquered people. At the height of their power, the Inca Empire was
2,500 miles long, 500 miles wide, and home to 12 million people. These
people called themselves "the Children of the Sun”.
 The Inca empire and culture was largely destroyed by the Spanish in
the most brutal conquest seen on the American continent.
 Under the leadership of Fransisco Pizarro the Spanish stole over
280,000 kilograms of gold from the Inca, destroyed and prohibited all
expression of native religion and culture.
 Yet many traditions managed to survive in the myths and culture of
Peru, Ecuador and Columbia.
Incan Religion
 The Incas believed that their ruler was the direct descendant of
the sun god, Inti. Their ruler was a god. The Incas believed in
many gods. They believed in the god of nature, the moon, of
weather, of rainbows, and of planets. Every mountaintop was a
god. All Incas had little statues in their homes that were the
homes of little spirits. Anything might house a god. Just to be
safe, they prayed to all their gods every day.
 Every month, the Incas held a huge and public religious festival
honoring one of their major gods. At the festival, there was
dancing and feasting and sacrifice. Mostly, the Incas sacrificed
animals. Sometimes, if something really important was going
on, they sacrificed people.
Pachacamac
 The creator god of the Inca,
also known as Viracocha
 The sky god who created
the sun, the moon and the
people
 brought Manco Capac and
Mama Occlo to the world to
civilize people and teach
them skills such as farming
and crafts
Inti
 The sun god and the patron
deity of the holy city of
Cuzco, home of the sun
 The patron god of the Incas
and especially worshipped
by farmers who needed his
warmth and light to grow
crops
 Represented with a human
face in a great disk and is
found on many temples
Manco Capac
•Pachacamac’s son, celebrated
for his courage
•sent to earth to become the first
king of the Incas
•taught his people how to grow
plants, make weapons, work
together, share resources and
worship the gods
Mama Occlo
• the sister of Manco Capac chosen
by Pachacamac for her wisdom to
civilize the people.
• taught the women how to weave
cloth and build houses.
Mayan Empire
 Ancient Mayan culture once
stretched from central Mexico
to Honduras. It also included
parts of what is now
Guatemala, Belize, El
Salvador.
 More than 40 cities were
founded on the Yucátan
Peninsula in Mexico (and
elsewhere).
 Powerful city-states vied for
supremacy, militarily and
culturally.
Mayan Culture

From the third to the ninth century,
Maya civilization produced aweinspiring temples and pyramids,
highly accurate calendars,
mathematics and hieroglyphic
writing, and a complex social and
political order.
 They had a well-developed religion
and divine pantheon, some of which
is described in the Popol Vuh.
 The Maya were well on their way to
becoming a powerful empire when
suddenly the civilization collapsed
and the mighty cities were
abandoned.

One of the mightiest civilizations in
the ancient Americas simply fell into
ruin in a very short time.
 Cities were abandoned and Maya
stonemasons stopped making
temples and stelae (tall sculpted
stone shafts and are often
associated with low circular stones
referred to as altars).
 The dates are not in doubt:
deciphered glyphs at several sites
indicate a thriving culture in the
ninth century A.D., but the record
goes silent after the last recorded
date on a Maya stela, 904 A.D.
Mayan Culture

The Maya strongly believed in the
influence of astronomy on daily life.
Consequently, Mayan knowledge
and understanding of celestial
bodies was advanced for their time:
For example, they knew how to
predict solar eclipses.
 They also used astrological cycles to
aid in planting and harvesting and
developed two calendars that are as
precise as those we use today: the
Calendar Round and the Long
Count. One important idea used in
these calendars was the inclusion of
the placeholder zero.

The first, known as the Calendar
Round, was based on two
overlapping annual cycles: a 260-day
sacred year and a 365-day secular
year. Every 52 years counted as a
single interval, or Calendar Round.
After each interval the calendar
would reset itself like a clock.
 The Long Count calendar worked
the same way that the Calendar
Round did–it cycled through one
interval after another–but its
interval, known as a “Grand Cycle,”
was much longer. One Grand Cycle
was equal to 13 baktuns, or about
5,139 solar years.
Mayan Pantheon
ITZAMNÁ
IX CHEL
 god who invented
 goddess of weaving,
writing.
 the patron of the arts
and sciences as well as
the god of the sky
medicine and
childbirth
 also the ancient
goddess of the moon
 sends floods and
powerful rainstorms
to earth, and is the
wife of Itzamná.
Mayan Pantheon
CHAC


Rain god
associated with creation and life
(also closely related to Kukulcan).
Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl)

one of the three gods that was
thought to have created the Earth.
 serpent in his natural form and was
responsible for teaching the
Mayan's about such things as how to
run a civilization, agriculture, and
medicine.
 had a human form as well as his
feathered serpent form
 would transform into a man
standing about 6 feet tall with long
white hair, but most interestingly he
was a male Caucasian man with
white skin!
Aztec Empire

The Aztecs, who probably
originated as a nomadic tribe in
northern Mexico, arrived in
Mesoamerica around the beginning
of the 13th century.

The capital city of Tenochtitlan was
originally built on an island on Lake
Texcoco, it had a system of canals
and causeways that supplied the
hundreds of thousands of people
who lived there.

From their capital city, Tenochtitlan,
the Aztecs emerged as the
dominant force in central Mexico,
developing an intricate social,
political, religious and commercial
organization that brought many of
the region’s city-states under their
control by the 15th century.
Invaders led by the Spanish
conquistador Hernan Cortes overthrew
the Aztecs by force and captured
Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to
Mesoamerica’s last great native
civilization (disease brought in by
Europeans).
Aztec Culture
 Had an elaborate government
 Ceremonies were very
and society that consisted of
four classes: nobles,
commoners, serfs, and slaves
 Economy was based upon
agriculture, corn being the
most important crop.
 Religion was a staple in the
Aztec culture.
 The Aztecs worshiped
hundreds of gods and
goddesses; each represented a
different aspect of life.
important to the Aztecs during
the agricultural year ensuring
good crops.
 During these ceremonies
human sacrifices were given to
the gods. These ceremonies
included removing a human
heart while it was still beating.
 They felt that human hearts
and blood gave the gods
strength.
 Many of the sacrifices were
war prisoners or children.
Aztec Pantheon
HUITZILOPOCHTLI
(pronounced Weetz-ee-loh-POCHT-lee)
 The Aztec's main god
 Called "Hummingbird on the
Left (South)", "Left-Handed
Humming Bird"
 God of Sun, death, war, young
men, warriors, storms, guide
for journeys.
 His festival was one of 25 days
of a blood orgy with hearts and
blood of prisoners dumped on
his altar.
Aztec Pantheon
Quetzalcoatl

“The Feathered
Serpent” or Precious
Twin.
 God of intelligence and
self-reflection, a
patron of priests.
 Primordial god of
creation, a giver of life.
 With his opposite
Tezcatlipoca he
created the world.
Tezcatlipoca
 “The Smoking Mirror”
 God of the night sky,
ancestral memory,
time and the Lord of
the North, the
embodiment of change
through conflict.
 Together with his
eternal opposite
Quetzalcoatl, he
created the world.
 In this process, he lost
his foot when he used
it as bait for the Earth
Monster Cipactli.
Aztec Pantheon
Chalchiuhtlicue
Tlaloc
 “He Who Makes Things
Sprout”
 God of rain,
 He is a fertility god,
but also a wrathful
deity, responsible for
both floods and
droughts.

"She of the Jade Skirt"
or "She whose Night
robe of Jewel stars
Whirls Above".
 The patron god of
women she controlled
fertility as well as the
oceans, rivers and any
other running water.
 As the wife of Tlaloc
she had a lot of
responsibility in the
Aztec nation.
Navajo Culture

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
The word Navajo comes from the
phrase Tewa Navahu, meaning
highly cultivated lands.
Largely reside in the Southwestern
United States, primarily in New
Mexico and Arizona
Are considered to be the largest
tribe of all Native American Indians.
Originally began their tribes in the
1500’s.
Traded maize (or corn crops) and
woven cotton items such as
blankets for things like bison meat
and various materials that they
could use to make tools and
weapons.

When the Spanish came into their
territory in the 1600’s, the Navajo
who use their sheep for things like
clothing and food.
Navajo Culture

While the Navajo (or Dine) had been
hunter-gatherers in the north where
plants and game were plentiful,
they gave up their nomadic way of
life soon after arriving in the
Southwest and began sheep
herding.
 Families built hogans, single room,
eight-sided houses made up of a
skeleton of logs covered with a thick
coat of mud, in scattered camps
that allowed them to tend their
flocks both summer and winter.
 Navajo society is matrilineal,
structured around the nuclear
family, the mother's extended
family, and her clan.

The Navajo were adaptable and
willing to learn from others,
selectively adopting whatever they
found useful from all the people
they encountered—Spanish, Hopi,
Americans, and others.
 While contact with the Pueblo led
the Navajo to adopt horticulture
and weaving, they acquired
livestock from the Spanish and
became some of the best herdsmen
and riders in the Southwest.
Navajo Mythology
 There is no supreme being in the
Navajo religion.
 Navajo religion worships the
winds, watercourses, sun, and a
number of gods that they
believe intervene in human
affairs.
 These gods are worshipped
often by offerings made to them
and ceremonial dances in their
honor where they are
represented by painted and
masked men.
 They believe that there are two
types of beings, the earth
people and the Holy People.
 Although the Holy People
cannot be seen, the feel that
they either help or harm the
earth people and are extremely
powerful which is why it is
important for them to worship
and perform ceremonies often.
 There are around sixty sacred
ceremonies that can be
performed by the Navajo
Indians.
 In order for these ceremonies to
be effective, they tend to last as
long as four days.
 Four is a sacred number to the
Navajo.
Navajo Pantheon
 Estsanatlehi - Chief goddess
 Nltci - God of wind instruments
 Hastsehogan - House god
 Hastseltsi - God of racing

 Hastsezini - Fire god

 Iyatiku - Mother of humans

and corn goddess
 Nayenezgani - God of war


and wind
Tobadzistsini - God of war
Tonenili - Rain god
Tsohanoai - Sun god and creator
Yei - Creator gods
Yolkai Estan - Sea goddess
Crow Culture

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
The Crow Indians, who were made up of many
small clans, once inhabited the Great Plains
areas of Yellowstone River Valley, which
covers parts of Wyoming, Montana, and
North Dakota. The Crow Indians were farranging people, especially once they acquired
horses.
Horses and firearms revolutionized the
buffalo hunt. The horse made it
possible to approach the herd quickly
and without disguises.
Crow men hunted on horseback for
bison, sheep, deer, elk, and other
game and were skilled at using bows
and arrows and spears to catch their
prey. This culture measured its wealth
by the amount of food it had.
The name of the tribe, Apasaalooke,
meaning "children of the large-beaked
bird,” was a name given by the
Hidatsa, a neighboring Siouan tribe.
White men later misinterpreted the
word as "crow."
Crow Mythology

Death rituals sometimes consisted
of the mourning family inflicting
pain on themselves. As a means of
grieving, they would cut themselves
so it would leave a scar.
 Crow women were known to cut off
their hair as a means of grieving.
 Warriors moved on to become chiefs
of their clan only if they fulfilled
several prerequisites and were then
selected as chief by the council of
chiefs. They needed to defeat
another tribe through war,
physically touch one of their
enemies during battle, steal a horse
from an enemy settlement and take
a weapon from an enemy under fire.

Tribe members customarily fasted
up to three times in their life, in an
attempt to bring themselves closer
to the spirits.
 A sacred pipe was smoked and
passed around by the chiefs before
tribal meetings with the belief that
it would help to solve problems. The
pipe had to be passed in a specific
manner. It was passed only to the
left and was not to be rotated in any
way during the pass.
Crow Pantheon
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Akbatekdia - Supreme god
Coyote - God of creation
Isakakate - The great spirit

The shaman of the tribe was known as
an Akbaalia ("healer").
Cirape ("younger brother") is a
companion of the old coyote trickster
spirit.
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The Mannegishi are bald humanoids
with large eyes and tiny bodies. They
were tricksters and may be similar to
fairies. They have supposedly been
sighted in Massachusetts and are
known there as Dover Demons.
Awakkule is also a trickster spirit, but
occasionally helps people instead.
Baaxpee is a spiritual power that can
cause a person to mature, as well as
unusual events or circumstances that
force maturation.
After transmogrification, the changed
are known as Xapaaliia.
Andiciopec is a warrior hero who is
invincible to bullets.
Iroquois Culture
 The Iroquois Indians are Native
American people that lived in
the Northeastern U.S. and parts
of Canada
 The area is also referred to as
the Eastern Woodlands region
and encompasses New York and
the immediate surrounding
areas.
 The Iroquois originally called
themselves Kanonsionni,
meaning “people of the
Longhouse” (the name of the
shelter they live in), but today
they go by the name
Haudenosaunee.
 Originally five tribes made up
this larger group, but in 1722 a
sixth tribe joined the Iroquois
nation and they also became
known as the Six Nations:
Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Tuscarora and,
Seneca
Iroquois Culture

The Iroquois were hunters and
gatherers, farmers, and fishermen
but the main staples of their diet
came from farming.
 They harvested the three sisters corn, beans, and squash as well as
tobacco for smoking.
 Out of six annual ceremonies, four
of them revolved around the corn
crops: Corn Planting Festival, Green
Corn Festival, Harvest Festival of
Thanksgiving, Maple Festival, New
Year Festival, Strawberry Festival

The Iroquois are very well known for
their masks. These masks are
considered sacred and not meant for
anyone but tribe members to see.
 The Iroquois were very spiritual
people. They believed that
everything took place for a reason
and everything, living and nonliving, had a spirit.
 Stories were passed down verbally
from generation to generation.
 The older tribe members would
customarily sit around longhouse
fires on cold winter nights and tell
stories of how things came to be to
the younger Iroquois.
Iroquois Culture

The longhouse was the center of
Iroquois life. Archaeologists have
unearthed longhouse remains that
extend more than the length of a
football field. These buildings held
anywhere from 8 to 10 families.

Agriculture was the main source of
food. In Iroquois society, women
held a special role. Believed to be
linked to the earth's power to create
life, women determined how the
food would be distributed — a
considerable power in a farming
society.

Women were also responsible for
selecting the sachems for the
Confederacy. Iroquois society was
also matrilineal; when a marriage
transpired, the family moved into
the longhouse of the mother, and
family lineage was traced from her.

The Iroquois society proved to be
the most persistent military threat
the European settlers would face.
Although conquest and treaty
forced them to cede much of their
land, their legacy lingers.
Iroquois Pantheon

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Ataensic - Sky woman and mother
earth
 Eithinoha - Earth goddess
 Ga-Oh - God of the winds
 Gendenwitha - Goddess of the
morning star

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Ha Wen Neyu - The great spirit
Hahgwehdiyu - A creator god
Hawgwehdaetgah - A creator god
Hino - God of the sky
Hodianokdoo Hediohe - Omnipotent
and incomprehensible creator god
Ioskeha - Creator god
Neo - Supreme god
Oki - God of oaths and agreements
Onatha - Goddess of wheat
Sky-holder - Creator
Sone-yah-tis-sa-ye - Great spirit and
creator of the Indians
Taweskare - Malicious creator god
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