Native American Myths

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor)

The tribes of North America and their folk tales are deeply fascinating because they are unique amongst the mythologies of the world. The tribes were isolated from outside influence for thousands of years and developed a fruitful, empathetic relationship with their landscape, evolving a tradition that respected and feared nature in equal measure. The same themes can be found in the stories -- of the relationships between humans and animals, of gods and supernatural powers -- all to explain the world around them. The retold tales collected for this new book celebrate the diverse tribal vision of a rich and powerful land that still resonates today.

Part of a new series on The World's Greatest Myths and Legends, these books capture the mystery and drama of ancient legends through all the key stories and folktales featuring gods, heroes, monsters and animals, as well as common themes such as creation, love, death and courage. Each book features an introduction to the history, landscape, characters and culture of the mythology.

Genres: Mythology

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

SF and dark fantasy author but also a writer/creator of practical music books - Beginner's Guide to Reading Music, Guitar Chords, Piano Chords, Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary and How to Play Guitar. Other publications include Advanced Guitar Chords, Advanced Piano Chords, Chords for Kids, How to Play the Electric Guitar, Piano & Keyboard Chords, Scales and Modes and Play Flamenco. Also editor of Mythology books 

Released EP Jakesongs on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, LastFM, etc and on CDBaby. Lifelong passion for fantastic worlds of any kind, from movies to fiction, art to music, posters, album and paperback book covers.

Jake Jackson is the artist name for Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree Press / Flame Tree Publishing.

Reviews

[Dev Taylor]

I found a few of the stories interesting - but many were so brief they were kinda hard to get into. I am also unsure I would have organized the stories in the same way the editor did. But still, overall, this one was an okay (and short and sweet) read.

[Casee Ontko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lovely read. I loved how I could jump from story to story and read what sounded intriguing to me when I wanted to. I loved the creation myths the most, they were such beautiful tales. It is so hard to get ahold of anything about Native Indigenous cultures, and this book taught me a lot about them. It's something I will go back and enjoy randomly too whenever I feel the need to.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read. I felt a lot of older tales must be lost and the tales were part of a younger world. I was surprised at the idea of the white man must be supreme.
I think my favourite parts were the origin stories. Sometimes I felt only horrible things would happen like the end of Roald Dahl's witches where he is always a mouse forever more so native American could be transformed.
I found the introduction very informative and eloquently written; the Native American myths are transformative and talk of world's.
I found I'm even more curious about Native American myths.

[airy xie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and easy to understand. Bad edit in one page, but not disrupt the story. When I need to know further about some stories, I found some name spelling quite difficult to Googled. But this books series are really helpful. Thank you.

[Anna C · Rating 2 out of 5]

We need more quality books about indigenous culture.... but this isn't it. This is just public domain texts slapped together as cheaply as possible.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting. I like all of the different twists and turns the tales take.

[Katie Heath · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reveals little sources, seems to have done absolutely no work with the Native American people whose Oral Traditions it’s selling. There are many editing mistakes, typos, and so on.
Overall if you’re genuinely interested in learning more about Native American spirituality and traditions there are much better sources & books which still present them in an accessible & respectful way without these issues.

I could go on and on, but overall this is not the resource I would suggest when trying to learn about Native American spirituality.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a long time finishing. The stories are similar and thus repetitive, as they cross the various First Nation's Myths. I am so happy to get this off my list. I am also glad I was able to finish it. The Myths have great and useful tales of wisdom. I do not recommend this book unless you love Native American Myths.