Native American cultures
What's new on our site today!Indigenous languages
Native American cultures
What's new on our site today!
This is our index of Achumawi and Atsugewi stories and legends that can be read online. We have organized our Native American folk tales section by tribe to make them easier to locate; however, variants on the same legend are often told by American Indians from different tribes, especially if those tribes are kinfolk or neighbors to each other. In particular, though these legends come from the Atsugewi and Achumawi tribes, the traditional stories of related tribes like the Shasta and Karuk are very similar.
Kwahn (Silver Fox) and
Jamul (Coyote):
Culture heroes of the Achumawi,
Atsugewi, and other Northern California tribes. Together they create the world and teach the people
how to live. Although both are creators, Silver Fox is the more serious and wise of the
two, while Coyote is more of a trickster and prone to make frivolous decisions based on whims,
hunger, or interest in women. Silver Fox is female in some tribal traditions, but in Achumawi and
Atsugewi mythology, both Coyote and Silver Fox are male.
Eagle Woman and Loon Woman:
Coyote's two daughters, they are the subject of many moral instruction stories in Achumawi folklore. Eagle Woman is well-behaved and
always makes good decisions, whilw Loon Woman behaves inappropriately and gets into trouble.
Tinihowi:
Guardian spirits or "spirit guides," who appear to young men and give them special powers.
Pains
(Axe'ki or Tamakoni): Tiny magical spirits who are a source of magical power for the medicine people who
control them (usually called "doctors" by Pit River people.) Pains can be dangerous and may cause disease or madness,
but a skilled doctor can remove them from an afflicted person and use them to increase his or her own healing power.
In Achumawi and Atsugewi folklore pains are usually described as miniature fairy-like spirit beings, but when infecting
or conveying power to humans they sometimes take the shape of a hair, splinter, or other small object.
Water Babies:
Mysterious and dangerous water spirits from the mythology of the Pit River and other California Indian
tribes. They inhabit springs and ponds, and they and their eerie cries are omens of bad luck and death. Atsugewi and Achomawi
legends usually describe them as resembling beautiful human infants.
Black Imps (Je su chin):
Small mountain spirits of Mount Shasta. According to Achomawi and Atsugewi legend, Black Imps
punish people who disrespect the mountain with confusion, insanity, or death.
Achomawi and Atsugewi Myths:Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest:Achomawi Creation Myth:Creation and Longevity:Spider Woman, an Achomawi Myth:The Achomawi Search for Fire:Coyote and Cloud:Fish-Hawk and the Sun's Daughter:Blue Jay And Lizard And The Grizzly-Bears:Mythology of the California Tribes:Annikadel: The History of the Universe: Surviving Through the Days: Translations of Native California Stories and Songs: 
Back to Native American gods
Back to Native American monsters
Learn more about the Pit River tribe
Native American art
Native American geneology
Carijona
Lora's games
Indian tattoos
Would you like to help support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages?
Contacts and FAQ page