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Archaeologists belive that the first inhabitants of America have been groups of hunters, coming from Siberia through the Bering Strait about 25,000 years ago.

At that time, most of the continent was covered by ice, and when it started melting the populations moved towards the south until they reached the upper part of South America.
North American Natives had different lifestyles, depending on the environment they lived in, developing skills and traditions that fitted their habitat and its resources the best.

Not only their life was different from zone to zone, but also their mithology, that reflected the world as each of them saw it: tribes that lived hunting, for instance, told stories of animal spirits, while tribes that lived on agricolture worshipped supernatural beings that ruled over the rain and the crops growth.
All these spirits had to be treated with respect and caution because, even if they could be called when help was needed, they could also become dangerous: when dealing with them very complex ritual rules had to be followed. After the arrival of the first European explorers in the 16th Century, many things changed for the natives.

Nowadays big industrial cities cover the ancient hunting lands. Many ceremonies have disappeared and many miths have been forgotten because they have never been written down. Nevertheless some of them still live in totem's sculpture and in paintings, and many are remembered around fires in winter, when the olde people still teach their listeners about the traditions of their ancestors.

Eskimos

Eskimos often justify strange stories saying that they are from times when incredibile things happened, when legendary monsters lived on that land, monsters like Amikuk, the giant viscid sea-snake; or Aziwugum, a dog-like animal, with a black body covered in scales, and a tail so strong that could kill anyone with a single hit. There was also the fierce Palraujuk, a curious being tha looked like a dragon, and then a whole family of human-like creatures called Kukilaluit, with long and sharp claws with which they tore to shreds anyone who was so unlucky to walk on their land. Luckily there were also less dangerous beings, such as the shadow-men, totally invisible to the human eye except for their shadow on the ground.

Naughty dwarves lived in the mountains, always waiting to play tricks to the travellers: they were so fast that you couldn’t even see them. At the far north lived a specie of giants so tall that their heads disappeared behind the clouds. With a step they crossed rivers and mountains; when they went hunting they hanged bears and caribous to their belts. Although this they were considered generally good beings.

Animals

You have to know that indian myths and legends’ animals are not the same that we see today; in the beginning they were way bigger, stronger, and more clever than their likes of today, but because of the cruelty and fierce of the humans these animals left the Earth using the path of the rainbow and they settled down in the skyes where they still live. In the beginning al the animals of the Earth spoke the same language and behaved  the same. As the humans, they were divided in groups, they had leaders, lived in houses, and held councils and ceremonies. At the time many animals had characteristics that disappeared in their likes today: the rabbit, for example, was proud, bold and clever, and it was also naughty and an incorrigible joker. It was because of its jokes that the stag lost its sharp wolf-teeth, the buzzard didn’t have its marvellous tuft of feathers up on its head anymore and the possum lost its thick tail.

Differences and rituals

The tribes that lived in the wide west lowlands meadows believed that in everything lived a supernatural power: in the wind, in the rain, in the thunder, in the sun, in the moon, in the stars and in the animals. The Sioux called it the Wakan Tanka, “the great mistery”.  For them it was the Wakan Tanka that created and controlled the whole universe. The Crows on the other hand believed that the world was originally covered by water, but one day the Old Coyote sent the birds in the depths of this water tu pick up some mud, with wich he created the ground. The Pawnees believed that the world and all the things were created by Tirawa, the spirit that lived in the sky: he sent its messengers (the wind, the clouds, the thunder and the lightening) to give a shape to the world, to sow the fields and to create the rivers.

The Natives also believed that if men would have celebrated the right rites to hounour the spirits, they would have got strength and power to achieve great results in hunting and in war.

For every use and ceremony they said to have received suggestions from the spirits in dreams and visions. Some ceremonies made the men unbeatable in battle, others helped him to capture horses or to hunt bulls; many of these rites were celebrated by warriors (most of the men of the tribes); the warriors protected the village from enemy’s attacks and organised the buffalo’s hunting.
For their ceremonies the warriors wore complicated costumes, painted their face and performed spectacular dances in front of the whole tribe.

The most important ceremony for all the tribes was the one that took place every spring (or at the beginning of the summer) when the tribes riunite again after the winter. It was the dance of the sun. First of all they built a hut, then they knocked down a tree that was put in the middle of the camp. On the upper branches were hung buffalo hides and various offers, all arranged to form an eagle’s nest. After this they usually danced for many days in which the participants, who hadn’t eaten, went round the pole looking to the top and praying in order to get magical poker that often came as visual and sensorial hallucinations.