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Indian Lore One
Native American Folklore & Superstitions-
Children & Life & Death (page 1)
Children
Lakota- Grandmothers-to-be make amulets shaped like sand lizards to protect the unborn child.
Lakota- Lakota children’s ears are ritually pierced to induct them into Lakota custom & belief.
Pawnee- Children are placed in cradles with pictures of the Morning Star, since this star (actually Venus) is helpful to humans.
Arapaho- Owls sometimes kidnap children.
Seminole, Creek, Choctaw- When children wander away from the home, there are small elf-like creatures in the woods who feed the lost children, and instruct them in powerful herb magic; only children and shamans can see these little folk.
Northern Cailfornian Tribes- Children are told not to count the colors of the rainbow, for fear of their fingers falling off.
Lakota- When a child is born, two amulet bags shaped like turtles are made, and in one is placed the umbilical stump when it falls off. The second amulet is a decoy, confusing evil spirits who would gain control over the child through the navel stump.
Life & Death
Eskimo- A person’s voice is an important part of their soul, and may be mimicked to call the dead.
Alsea- Laughter heard in the mountains presages death in the tribe.
Pueblo- Food is offered to the dead, who eat the essence & odor of the food; even though the actual food remains, it should not be eaten by the living since its wholesome essence has been taken by the dead.
Eskimo- During the Feast of the Dead, it is considered very auspicious to give gifts of clothing, food, and other objects of worth to the dead, through their living namesakes. The namesakes must sit on grass mats during the festival to prevent being pulled into the Underworld by confused dead relatives.
Yupik- It is believed that the dead are constantly thirsty, so water is the choice offering to ancestors.
Eskimo- Humans who have seen ghosts must roll in the village dump, where the excrement of the tribe is dumped, to prevent the village from becoming cursed.
Maliseet- If wailing & laughing is heard during a storm, someone will die soon.
Maliseet- Balls of fire (ball lightening) seen also indicate impending death.
Tlingit- Evil witches sometimes have sex with newly-departed spirits, trapping them and not allowing their passage to the next world.
Various Tribes- The shadow on the Moon is considered to be the shadow of the huge oak tree from which the dead get their food.
Zuni- On the fifth day after the death of someone in a household, all of the doors & windows are opened to allow the spirit to leave.
Native American Lore-
Animals & Celestial Bodies (page 4)
Native American Lore-
Plants & Women (page 5)
Native American Lore-
General (page 6)
(credits on Intro Page)
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