Native American tribe index
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Native American tribe index
What's new on our site
This is our collection of links to Karok folktales and traditional stories that can be read online. We have indexed our Native American legends 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 Karoks, the traditional stories of related tribes like the Shasta and Yurok tribes are very similar.
Ikxareyavs
(also spelled Ikxaréeyavs, Ikxaréeyavs and other ways):
The inhabitants of the mythic age (sometimes called "spirit people" in English.) Their physical state
is very fluid in Karuk myths, and the Ikxareyavs are variously described as animals or natural phenomena at some times, or as humans at others.
Eventually they transformed into the animals and plants as we know them today.
Coyote.
Coyote is the best known of the Ikxareyavs, sometimes having the literal form of a coyote, other times a man.
Karok stories about Coyote range from light-hearted tales of mischief and buffoonery to more serious legends about the nature of the world.
Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest:Karuk History and Creation Story:Coyote Steals Fire 
The Fire Race The Theft of Fire How Coyote Brought Fire:The Devil Who Died Laughing:The Greedy Father:How Coyote Got His Cunning Fable of the Animals: Surviving Through the Days: Translations of Native California Stories and Songs: American Indian Trickster Tales:
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