Knowra Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas The diverse traditional narratives, sacred histories, and cosmologies of Indigenous peoples across North, Central, and South America. They include distinct traditions rooted in specific communities, languages, lands, and histories.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas : The diverse peoples with historical and continuing ties to the Americas predating European colonization. These mythologies belong to particular Indigenous communities, not to one unified tradition.
Maya mythology : The diverse sacred narratives and cosmologies of Maya peoples, including accounts recorded in colonial-era texts. The Popol Vuh preserves a prominent Kʼicheʼ Maya account of creation and ancestral history.
Storytelling : The communication of events and ideas through spoken, written, visual, or performed narrative. A narrative’s telling can involve particular occasions, audiences, and responsibilities.
Christianization of Indigenous peoples of the Americas : The spread and imposition of Christianity among Indigenous societies in the Americas, especially during and after colonization. Missionary pressure altered, suppressed, and sometimes intertwined with Indigenous religious practices.
Indigenous data sovereignty : The right of Indigenous peoples to govern the collection, ownership, access, and use of data about them. Digitized recordings and texts raise questions of consent, custody, and community governance.
Oral tradition : The transmission of knowledge, history, and artistic expression through spoken performance across generations. Many narratives endure through communal telling, while practices and meanings vary among traditions.
Navajo religion : The religious traditions of the Diné, including ceremonies, sacred narratives, and teachings about hózhó. Diné emergence narratives connect worlds, ancestral beings, and the pursuit of harmony.
Ritual : A patterned action performed according to social or religious convention. Some narratives are embedded in ceremonies rather than circulated as detached stories.
Cultural appropriation : The adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another, often amid unequal power relations. Decontextualized retellings can treat sacred narratives as public entertainment or generic folklore.
Intellectual property law : The legal systems governing rights in creations, inventions, and other forms of intellectual production. Conventional copyright often fits poorly with collectively held, intergenerational narratives.
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