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Chunkey
Chunkey (tchung-kee) is a Native American game involving a rolling disc (or ring) and two teams of players who score by throwing their sticks to land as close to the disc as possible. The game is thought to have originated at Cahokia c. 600...
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The Bear Man
The Bear Man is a Pawnee legend exemplifying the Native American understanding of the natural world and serving as an origin tale for the Bear Dance, which was performed to awaken the bears in spring from their winter hibernation and also...
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Falling Star
Falling Star is a Cheyenne tale of the great hero Hotoketana'ohtse ("Falling Star") who came from the heavens to stand up for those who could not defend themselves, slay monsters, and save the people from starvation. The hero-from-heaven...
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The Ghost Wife
The Ghost Wife is a Pawnee story dealing with loss, grief, the inability to let go of the past, and the danger of dealing with ghosts. It reflects the Pawnee understanding of the unpredictable nature of life, the certainty of death, and the...
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The Debate Between Bird and Fish
The Debate Between Bird and Fish (c. 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian poem dated to the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE) when the genre of the literary debate was especially popular. The poem is the earliest extant on the theme of difficult neighbors...
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Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird
Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird is a Sumerian myth dated to the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE) featuring the hero-king of Uruk, Lugalbanda, father of Gilgamesh, in his younger years as an honorable officer in the army. Lugalbanda's purity of...
Definition
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan, located on the banks of the Usumacinta River in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico, was an important Late Classic Maya centre. The Maya dated the founding of their city to 320 CE, but Yaxchilan flourished between c. 580 and...
Definition
Little Wolf (Eastman's Biography)
Little Wolf (Ohcumgache, also known as Little Coyote, l. c. 1820-1904) was a Northern Cheyenne chief and holy man, best known for his role in the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878 but also recognized for his resistance to US westward expansion...
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The Boy Who Was Sacrificed
The Boy Who Was Sacrificed is a legend of the Pawnee nation highlighting the belief that everything happens for a reason according to the will of Ti-ra'wa ("Father Above"), the supreme creator, and how even the smallest creatures have an...
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Iktomi Tales
Iktomi (also known as Unktomi) is a trickster figure of the lore of the Lakota Sioux nation similar to tricksters of other nations, such as Wihio of the Cheyenne, Nanabozho (Manabozho) of the Ojibwe, Coyote of the Navajo, or Glooscap of the...