Native Americans
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Native Americans
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This is our collection of links to Wiyot 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 Wiyots, the traditional stories of related tribes like the Yurok and Hoopa tribes are very similar.
Gudatrigakwitl:
This means "The Ancient One Above" in the Wiyot language, and is the Wiyot name for the Creator (God.) Gudatrigakwitl
is a divine spirit with no human form or attributes and is never personified in Wiyot myths.
Gatswokwire (also known as
Rakshuatlaketl.) Gatswokwire is the benevolent culture hero of Wiyot mythology (sometimes referred to as a "transformer" by folklorists.)
He shares some similarities with other Algonquian heroes such as the Wabanaki
Gluskap, Anishinabe
Waynaboozhoo, and Cree
Whiskeyjack,
and some of the same stories are told in eastern Algonquian tribes with only the identity of the protagonist differing.
Gudatrigakwitl and the Creation:Why Owl Lives in the Dark:Mythology of the California Tribes:
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