Native American nations
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Native American nations
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This is our collection of links to Hupa folktales and traditional stories that can be read online. We have indexed our Native American myths 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 Hupas, the traditional stories of neighboring tribes like the Shasta and Karuk tribes are very similar.
Yimantuwinyai
(also spelled Yimantuwingyai, Yinantuwingyan, Yimankyuwinxoiyan and other ways):
The Hupa culture hero. He is sometimes known as "Old-man-across-the-ocean" in English.
He plays the role of both trickster and transformer in Hupa myths; he is
a heroic monster-slayer who helps shape the world for humankind, but in many stories his
foolish and reckless behavior also causes trouble for himself and the people around him.
Hupa Texts:By The River She Made Baskets:The Story of Dug-from-Ground:Mythology of the California Tribes:Surviving Through the Days: Translations of Native California Stories and Songs: 
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