The Gods Of North American Mythology



Once upon a time there were Red Indians. Then along came the Palefaces.

The Red Indians are no longer Red as that might imply Communism, athough their tribes were very communal - and still are on the reservations they've been 'preserved' on. Ironically, many Palefaces have since become Rednecks. But whichever way you look at it, judging people by color is very unwise.

But before all this happened, the many native tribes of what was still to become America had all the space in what was their world. They made good use of it, living close to nature in what might seem like a glorious camping holiday if there wasn't the constant threat of starvation and war.

There was much in the way of free-range food, but hunting wasn't as easy as getting up in the morning, taking a stroll and shooting a few passing bison with your bow. Even Plains societies who lived off the prolific buffalo fell under starvation at times. When herds were found, the people were grateful and thanked the Gods profusely.

The Native Americans had - and still have! - a huge respect for nature. Animals had powerful spirits and it was necessary to thank them and placate them if you wanted to make a meal of them. When corn came by courtesy of the deities, it was also given its due measure of respect.

Living so close to nature, you could see into the souls of the BEAVER, BADGER and Buffaloes as they went about their business. You could feel the THUNDER-BIRD fixing the weather, and revel in the rascality of RAVEN, MANABOZHO and COYOTE with their tantalising tricks.

Say what you like about nature, whenever humans get together there's always the risk of trouble. Many Native American tribes fought terrible wars with each other, especially when the larders were getting bare. Great warriors were held in high esteem, and the Gods smiled upon them - so long as the medicine men did their bit in the ritual department. And at the end, Heaven was the Happy Hunting Ground, much the same as Earth but with better weather and animals that didn't run away.

Until the White Man came, it was a hard but healthy life, with tales round the campfire and no churches, shrines or temples necessary. And it was teetotalism round the TOTEM-POLES as none of the spirits drank spirits. Although they did puff on the peace pipe a bit. We can hardly blame them.



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REGIONS COVERED: North America, Canada and the Arctic bits. Many of the individual place names are covered under the relevant tribe.

TRIBES, CULTURES AND PEOPLES COVERED: Abnaki tribe, Acagchemem tribe, Algonquin people, Apache folk, Arawak tribe, Bella Coola tribe, Blackfoot tribe, Cahuilla tribe, Cherokee people, Cheyenne tribe, Chibcha tribe, Chicasaw tribe, Chippewa people, Chitimacha tribe, Choctaw tribe, Creek folk, Dakota people, Delaware people, Eskimo people, Guarani tribe, Haida folk, Hopi folk, Indians, Huron tribe, Innu tribe, Innuit people, Inuit people, Iroquois people, Kato tribe, Kawaiisu tribe, Kwakiutl tribe, Lakota folk, Lenape folk, Malisseet tribe, Menomini tribe, Modoc tribe, Munsee tribe, Muskogean tribe, Navajo people, Nootka tribe, North East people, Northwest people, Pawnee folk, Passamaquoddy people, Penobscot tribe, Pericu tribe, Pikya tribe, Pima folk, Plains Indians, Pueblo people, Puget tribe, Selish tribe, Shoshone tribe, Sioux people, Skagit tribe, South East folk, Snohomish tribe, Tsimshian tribe, Tsimishian tribe, Tlingit tribe, Tunpa tribe, Wabanaki folk, Winnebago folk, Wintun tribe, Wiyot tribe, Yakima tribe, Yuki tribe, Yuma tribe, Zuni tribe.

AAKULUUJJUSI: Mother Goddess of Creation. And she has the mother of all confusing names.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity
Alternative names : A'AKULUUJJUSI


ABAANGUI: God of the Moon. At least, part of him is. He cut off his nose to spite his face and threw the huge conk into the night sky, where it became the moon. We'll be in big trouble if he should ever sneeze.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Guarani
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AHAYUTA-ACHI: The AHAYUTA-ACHI were Twin War Gods, second-in-command to Sun God AWONAWILONA. We don't know what happened to Achi, but Ahayuta was a glorious warrior.

For protection or victory in battle, carve an effigy of him from a piece of wood which has been struck by lightning. Then bore a hole in it and leave it outside somewhere. Don't attempt to protect it from rain or woodworm. Just leave it alone to do its thing.

Eventually it will wear down and fall apart. And then you make another one.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Zuni
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : AHAYUTA, ACHI


ACHIYALABOPA: Mighty Bird Monster God.

He has feathers as sharp as knives and demands to be respected. We would definitely go along with that.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ACHOMAWI: Creator God of the Aschochimi people of California.

He emerged from a small cloud and met with COYOTE who emerged from a small mist.

So what actually happened is clouded and shrouded in mystery. ???

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Aschochimi of California
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity

ADEKAGAGWAA: The Spirit of Summer.

In the winter he zooms off for six month's holiday down south, leaving a Sleep Spirit in charge. Which is not a lot of use as it doesn't like being disturbed.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


ADLIVUN: The frozen Inuit Underworld, ruled over by SEDNA, Goddess of the Sea.

The spirits who live there are also called the ADLIVUN. When you die, you descend into SEDNA's realm for purification, punishment or preservation. Once you've entered her deathly deep freeze, it can take a very long time to defrost.

Any living person foolish enough to visit must negotiate endless spinning circles of ice, and cauldron stews of seal meat bubbling and boiling forever. Shamans wishing to speak with SEDNA on urgent business are advised to use the trance-induced route which is much quicker.

But ADLIVUN is not the final destination of the dead. It is a kind of limbo place where all Earthly issues are turned to ice and smoothed away. (Or, in the case of evil, hacked off and stamped on.)

At the end of your stay, you will be cleansed and pure, ready for your final journey: to the paradise of the Moon...

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Category : Legendary Place


AGUARA: Fox God. He invented carob bars, the vegan alternative to chocolate. So he could almost be the elusive God of Chocolate we've been searching for all these years.

As anyone who's ever hobnobbed with foxes will know, they're very partial to candy. A wild fox offered flapjacks will practically eat out of your hand.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Tunpa
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AHEA: The Grandmother of all KACHINAS.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Spiritual Being
Alternative names : AHE’A


AHMETO-LELA-OKYA: Rainbow Dancing Girl.

She's one of the KACHINAS.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Spiritual Being


AHOLI: God of the Spring and second-in-command to EOTOTO. He wears a cloak of many colors, symbolising the bright fertile happiness of Spring.

A wooden AHOLI doll will brighten up any home.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pikya
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AHSONNUTLI: God of Wind and Support. He supplied four very large giants to hold up the sky. One in each corner: north, east, south and west. They puff, pant and wheeze a lot causing various winds.

He himself leads a very private life, but is believed to be having an affair with the Turquoise Woman. Which, due to his bisexual nature, may turn out to be himself.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AIRSEKUI: The Great Spirit and God of Worst Case Scenarios.

When things get truly terrible, you can call on him for assistance. But you must offer him first choice of any fresh food. Think of him as some sort of quality control manager.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Huron
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AISOYIMSTAN: God of Snow and Ice.

He is the White God and 'Cold Maker' who blankets the earth with frost and snow.

It is not easy to spot him at work as he is completely white, with white hair and white clothes. He even rides a white horse. You would need to be really close to spot the whites of his eyes.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Blackfeet people of Montana
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AKNA: Eskimo Goddess of Childbirth. Looks after all those frozen deliveries.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


ALEUT: Wife of the Moon.

She worshipped the Man in the Moon and he took her to be his Moon Wife. Imagine her disappointment when she found he did not live in the moon at all but a very ordinary hut somewhere in the sky.

Furthermore she was left very much alone as he was out all night and slept through the day. She wasn't even allowed to look behind the curtain in the corner.

Eventually she allowed herself a glimpse - and found moon masks representing slivers, quarters and horns. Then a voice said 'Now you know my secret.'

And now she has to go out all night and wear the appropriate moon phase mask all night long - while the Moon Man lives a life of leisure and only works once a month doing the mask of the Full Moon.

This is what happens when you wish for the Moon.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Legendary Mortal


ALIGNAK: Moon and Weather God, responsible for the day-to-day manifestations of earthquakes, comets and eclipses.

He also sets the waves in motion and knows a thing or two about gravitational pull.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ALKUNTAM: Sun God.

He's the son of NUNUSO, a female Deity who can turn into a mosquito. So he became the light of her life.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Bella Coola
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : ALK'UNTA'UM, ALK'UMTA'M


ALLOWAT-SAKIMA: The Great Spirit. He's Top God and rules over all. Has the legs of a swiftly running deer, and wears an awful lot of eagle feathers.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Lenape, Delaware, Munsee
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : ALOWATSAKIMA


AMALA: God of Heavy Lifting. Holds up the world as it spins in his hands. A bit like the Greek ATLAS but with fancy ball-play.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois, Northwest, Tsimishian
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : TARHUHYIAWAHKU


AMITOLANE: Spirit of the Rainbow. Rarely seen but very welcome.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Zuni
Location : North America
Category : Spiritual Being


AMOTKEN: Creator God. A solitary but kindly old gent, he lives alone in heaven, pondering profoundly.

He once had five hairy daughters. Perhaps we should re-phrase that. He had five daughters created from five hairs pulled from his head. After a bit of doting he asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. He would refuse them nothing.

Daughter number 1 chose to be Mother of Evil.
Number 2 : Mother of Good.
Number 3 : Mother of Earth.
Number 4 : Mother of Fire
Number 5 : Mother of Water.

To prevent any squabbling he decreed they should take it in turn to rule for a day and a night, starting with Number 1. Naturally this is on a godly timescale - the blink of an eye for them is thousands of years to us. And so Number 1, the Mother of Evil, is still in charge.

Meanwhile, AMOTKEN is still wondering what to have for breakfast. He did let COYOTE out for his morning run, to report on how earthly things are going, but he's not expected back for some time.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Selish
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ANARKUSUGA: Frozen Goddess. She's in charge of whatever is in the deep freeze of North American Arctic coasts.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity
Alternative names : NERRIVIK


ANAYE: This is a monster collection.

Said to be born from the unnatural activities of lesbian ladies, the ANAYE are known as Alien Monster Gods, and very fearsome they are too.

There is THEELGETH, also known as Great Hairy. There is are feathered creatures with the characteristics of HARPIES, and the limbless BINAYE-AHANI who can glare you to death.

Lastly there is another Hairy Monster who grows into the side of cliffs waiting for travellers to come along...

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Both male and female
Category : Demon


ANGAK-CHIN-MANA: The Long Haired Girl of the KACHINAS.

That may sound charming and feminine, but actually the long hair in question is a beard. A bushy red one. She dances around and shakes her beard to spread pollen.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Spiritual Being
Alternative names : ANGAK'-CHIN-MANA


ANGOKOQ: A Shaman who acts as a go-between. He has to go through a Guardian Spirit, which can be of human shape or a special stone, but is most frequently a polar bear. This is all supposed to make hunting food easier.

We don't know if it works on any type of food, but it's tempting to try it the next time we go shopping. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get fresh basil around here.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Legendary Mortal
Alternative names : ANGALKUQ


ANGUTA: Eskimo God of the Dead. Carries the souls of the departed down to the icey ADLIVUN Underworld. They must sleep for a year in the freezer compartment before being defrosted. Now you know what happens when hell freezes over.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ANINGAN: Eskimo God of the Moon. Has an igloo in the sky, from which he emerges to chase his sister the Sun across the firmament.

He also packs in a lot of hunting with his great snow sled. Meanwhile his cousin IRDLIRVIRISISSONG keeps the igloo tidy.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : IGALUK


APIKUNNI: God of Tobacco. Cough. Brought the art of smoking to mankind. Cough cough. Was also the first person to say "take no prisoners" when he killed an enemy on the very first battlefield. Cough cough splutter.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Blackfoot, Plains
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


APOTAMKIN: Native American vampire creature. He's a hairy blighter with long fangs and loves the taste of freshly clobbered children. The only defence is to be several miles away. Spread the word.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Malisseet, North East, Passamaquoddy
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon


APOYAN-TACHI: Sky Father God, formed from the primeval ooze by AWONAWILONA and promoted to Top God.

As well as being a benevolent Sky God, he's also responsible for creating all life on Earth, thanks to his wife AWITELIN-TSTA's remarkably prodigious womb.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Zuni
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ASGAYA-GIGAGEI: Red Thunder God of Lightning - or is it Thunder God of Red Lightning? He also does healing so it may be blood red.

He can change sex to be in sympathy with whoever he is healing, but there is no doubt that he or she is the Red God.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : ASAGAYA-GIGAEI


ATAENTSIC: Sky Goddess. She was married to Sky-chief and expecting, but he heard ugly rumours that the child might not be his and cast her out of heaven.

She would have fallen for ever but was caught by birds and came to rest on an island built on a turtle's back by OTTER and MUSKRAT - then she gave birth to the Wind-Breath Twins HAHGWEHDAETGAH and HAHGWEHDIYU.

They grew up, and soon it was all mating, making, creating, glueing bits together, adding an extension, potting out, planting, make-overs, and it would seem the world has still got the decorators and developers in.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Huron/Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity
Pronunciation : Coming soon
Alternative names : ATAENSIC, ATAHENSIC


ATIUS-TIRAWA: Creator God of the Moon, Sun and Stars.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Pawnee
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


AWONAWILONA: Creator God of Everything. He may be Her, She may be Them; it's hard to tell as AWONAWILONA is quite invisible. But from this Sun Divinity came more of the same ilk to breed and create.

According to the ancient legends, he created everything out of a festering green sea. The scum solidified and broke into two scumbags, which became APOYAN-TACHI, the Sky, and AWITELIN-TSTA, the Earth. Hence the expression 'Scum of the Earth'.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Pueblo, Zuni
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : AWANAWILONAIS


AWITELIN-TSTA: Earth Mother Goddess. She was formed from the primeval slime by Mega-God AWONAWILONA, who blessed her (and husband APOYAN-TACHI) with powers of procreative production and turned her loose on an unsuspecting universe.

The Earth started off bare and empty, but it wasn't long before AWITELIN-TSTA's womb was swelling with life. The universe held its breath. Finally she could contain herself no longer and gave birth to every living thing. Much to the surprise of her husband APOYAN-TACHI, who was hoping for a boy.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Zuni
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity



BADGER: He does a lot of badgering. He is like his animal namesake, digging holes, seldom seen, and whatever he does is thought of in black and white.

One tale tells how he became embroiled in a sporting controversy when his sons played a boisterous game of football with the COYOTE Team. The football turned out to be a fragile and suspiciously sun-like object which caused a lot of damage to the kickers. Which could help to explain why BADGER preferred life underground from then on. See also DZOAVITS.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


BAXBAKUALANUCHSIWAE: Guardian spirit at the End of the Universe, which is in the Arctic. You only ever see the smoke from his cooking in the form of the Northern Lights, rainbows, the Milky Way or pie in the sky.

He's a bit of a cannibal, and strange things happen in his stomach which we won't go into.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being
Alternative names : BAKBAKWALANOOKSIWAE


BEAVER: He abounds - he is bountiful. He beavers away everywhere. Damnation takes on a whole new meaning. Wherever there is a dam and it's near a Native American tribe, BEAVER is at work - with the emphasis mostly on work.

You might say he's the God of Storage, as he loves packing things away neatly ready for the winter months. But he's not averse to a bit of well-intentioned thievery. See SNOQALM.

Among the Lakota he is known as Capa.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Algonquin, Lakota, Northeast, Northwest, Plains
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : CAPA


BIKEH-HOZHO: The God of Speech. A good one to mention in conversation.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


BINAYE-AHANI: Evil Limbless Monster Twins.

Part of the ANAYE team of nasties, they are armless but not harmless. In fact they can kill you with a single glance.

Without limbs of any kind, we don't know how they get about. And we don't particularly wish to.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon


BLACK-GOD: He was mostly a mass of Black Space. But he had a belt with a pouch, so it must have hung somewhere. In this pouch were shiny twinkling crystals, and in an effort to define himself he took to sticking them all over his body like join-the-dots. And there he is to this day, picked out in the most important stars, if you know where to look.

The dog star Sirius was put there by the meddling COYOTE, being a thorough hindrance. The BLACK-GOD wouldn't let him touch the pouch but COYOTE snatched it anyway. He sampled the crystal inside, didn't like the taste and spat it into the face of the Black God, who snatched the pouch back. But there was nothing left but dust, which he shook out, forming the Milky Way

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : BLACK-GOD


BOKWUS: A Forest Spirit. You can feel his presence. You may get a fleeting glimpse of... no, it's gone. Was it a face in the leaves?

If you hear the sound of running water, run in the opposite direction. It is well known that BOKWUS lures travellers into rivers and they are never seen again. Quite how this can be so well-known when the victims are never seen again can only be further proof of how dangerous and mysterious BOKWUS is.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: North West
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


BOTOTO: He's in charge of the KACHINAS Departure Ceremonies.

Six months a year instructing humans and looking after things is considered quite enough. They need a long break.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


CHACOMAT: Joint Leader of the Earth Construction Team, along with CHACOPA. Had a nasty run-in with the huge snake UMAI-HULHLYA-WIT.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


CHACOPA: Joint Leader of the Earth Construction Team. See CHACOMAT.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


CHAKEKENAPOK: Somewhere along the line, when the Great MANITOU was playing with ducks and sticks, and making a raft into a world-sized island, and creation was going at a cracking pace, some mother who had been a deity gave birth to four divine sons.

CHAKEKENAPOK was her last born son, as sadly his mother died at his birth. This was doubly unfortunate for him, as the oldest brother NANABOZHO had declared himself the protector of humanity, and blamed CHAKEKENAPOK for this disaster. Then another brother, CHIPIAPOOS, died and became protector of the dead. CHAKEKENAPOK worked out how to make flints and fire and to take care of winter.

However NANABOZHO would not leave him alone and they fought and knocked hell out of each other when and wherever they met. With a piece of magic deerhorn, NANABOZHO eventually managed to knock poor old CHAKEKENAPOK to pieces. Some became flint, his bones became the roots of mountains, and his squidgy insides turned into grapevines. So it wasn't all bad. The last brother WABASSO took over fire duties.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Algonquin
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


CHEHOOIT: Earth Mother Goddess and personification of the world.

Created by QUAOAR, with a little help from WEYWOT, she is held in position by seven giants who prevent her from falling through space. (We're not quite sure what supports the giants. Perhaps they support themselves.)

CHEHOOIT started life as a barren formless planet, but it wasn't long before a huge helpful frog, along with certain other Godly Animals, tunnelled and burrowed within her and gave rise to hills and valleys, fields and rivers.

One day Nekish, one of those supportive giants, asked her for a cap to keep his head warm. After all, it's chilly work holding up the world in the depths of space. So she gave him a lovely hat made of plant fibre.

But he happened to notice the whole of humanity huddled together in the frozen wastes of the north, so he donated his hat to them. It was so large that they set up camp inside it and lived there for many a cosy year until WEYWOT invited them all down to Southern California.

A most benevolent Earth Mother, CHEHOOIT provides a wealth of herbs and plants with amazingly medicinal properties. Even today her pharmacy does a roaring trade.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Tongva tribe of Southern California
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


CHIBIABOS: Wolf Lord of the Spirit Realm. Also MANABOZHO's kid brother. Could be a cunningly disguised CHIPIAPOOS.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Algonquin
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


CHINIGCHINICH: OWIOT was the son of the Sky God but he pined away before he could find a mate.

Some spirits made him a grand funeral pyre which attracted the attention of COYOTE, who could not resist nicking a tasty tidbit. For him it was barbecue heaven. As he licked his lips, a scrap of skin fell to earth, turning into CHINIGCHINICH, the offspring OWIOT had always wanted.

It seems that even the name was pre-planned (otherwise we would have ended up with OWIOT Junior or OWIOT The Second). Once on earth, the newly-constituted God wasted no time waiting for the right girl to come along like his father. He went straight into procreation using the well-formulated mud doll technique.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Acagchemem
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


CHIPIAPOOS: Protector of the Dead. He was dying to get the job and so he did, due to a nasty accident on the ice. See CHAKEKENAPOK.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Algonquin
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


COPPER-WOMAN: Underwater Copper Goddess.

So, you are the only human being. You live by fishing and it is very lonely. When you cry your nose starts to run. Then you blow it into a crab shell and the next day there is a sort of snotball which slowly metamorphises into a Crabman.

What happens next? Nothing. They just live happily ever after. No populating the world. No crablets. How selfish can you get in the world of shellfish?

So why is she called COPPER-WOMAN? Because she and her husband run the underwater smelting industry.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Haida, Northwest Coast
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


CORN-WOMAN: It was all too good to be true. Suddenly in the middle of the tribe appears this strange woman operating a snack shack - and she cooks an utterly delicious dish she calls 'corn'.

Hmmm, no bones, no fat, no blood. What can it be? Time to spy on her through a crack in the shack. What's that she's scraping into the pot? Ewww! Boils! Sores! Corns! It's not corn on the cob, it's scorn on the scab.

Her disgusted customers don't know quite what to do - the whole tribe have been consuming vast portions with great relish. When confronted, the unperturbed CORN-WOMAN says: "Bury the scrapings in the ground and edible plants will grow. I'll can teach you how to grow crops and you won't have to chase animals every time you get hungry."

This might sound a little corny, but the CORN-WOMAN is so persuasive that husky braves are soon growing things in husks and eating out of her hand. But only after the medicine man has cured her warts.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: South East
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Spiritual Being


COYOTE: The wily, tricky, sneaky, pesky, cheaty God of the Wild West. He's the ubiquitous Trickster God and Cultural Hero of Native American mythology, the original Marx Brother and thorn in RAVEN's side.

Responsible for many things, including the Milky Way (see BLACK-GOD) and the diversity of mankind (see HUMAN-MAKER), there are more stories about him than stars in the sky. He ought to have his own website.

For example, did you hear the one about the Spying Moon? It seems that someone had pinched the moon, and COYOTE offered to stand in as replacement. Everyone agreed that he made a fine moon, but from his elevated position COYOTE could see everything that was going on.

Being of an irritating disposition, he couldn't resist blowing the whistle on friends and enemies alike. "Hey, look what BADGER is doing behind his tepee!" Pretty soon everyone was sick of his snooping and voted him out of the sky.

But nothing can keep COYOTE down for long. Being a boastful old show-off, he loves to impress the girls by juggling his eyeballs. One day he threw one so high it got stuck in the sky and became the star Arcturus. So even now he's keeping an eye on us all. See also BADGER, CHINIGCHINICH, RAVEN.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : AKBA-ATATDIA, FIRST-SCOLDER, OLD-MAN, OLD-MAN-COYOTE




DAJOJI: The Roaring Panther Spirit of the West Wind.

When he roars, the sun takes fright and hides in the clouds.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


DAWN: Sky Goddess. She's huge, gets up very earlier in the morning, and has GENDENWITHA embedded in her forehead.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


DAYUNSI: Once there was only sea and sky. All birds and what there was in the way of animals were crammed into the sky, except DAYUNSI.

Having Beaverish tendencies, he elected to dive to the bottom of the ocean, and bring mud up to the surface which the Creator of the Day hung on ropes to dry. This eventually became the most sought-after development site ever. Welcome to Earth.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


DOHKWIBUHCH: As a Creator God he made a terrible glitch. He built the sky too low. It wasn't long before most of the human race was suffering from concussion. It was just like walking into double glazing.

Fed up with no answers to planning applications, Earthlings decided to take matters into their own hands and rounded up every living creature for the Big Push.

"Altogether now, everyone and everything. One... Two... Three... Shove!" It was all a great success. Only a few creatures forgot to let go and had to develop wings.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Snohomish
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


DOQUEBUTH: A sort of low-budget Noah. He only had a canoe.

As his world was situated in what is now the Northwest of the States we can understand why there are no elephants, giraffes or other tropical animals there. Just bears, beavers, badgers and assorted species with bright eyes and bushy tails. Still - a bigger canoe than any you will ever see.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Skagit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Legendary Mortal


DZELARHONS: She arrived from we know not whence with six very full canoes. She is the Frog Princess, also the Volcano Woman, and married to Bear God KAITI.

It sounds like something from a European fairy tale. Except that after 'Once Upon a Time' the pages seem to have gone missing. Did they live happily every after?

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Haida
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


DZOAVITS: Earthquake Demon. Spent a lot of time chasing a sacred dove and stealing her eggs. She had many friends in the animal world and they rallied to help. Subterfuge, trickery and jiggery pokery were decided upon to trap the demon.

He was fooled into jumping into a hole where he thought the dove was hiding. She was hidden all right, just outside the entrance, and when the demon was at the bottom, BADGER and a flight of birds dropped red hot rocks down until the hole was fully blocked. The demon is still sealed in. Unless there has been a volcano since.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Shoshone
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon


EEYEEKALDUK: Eskimo Healing Godlet. He is tiny and lives inside a pebble.

He has healing ray eyes which can draw sickness from you if you make eye contact. But you must not look at him if you are healthy or it works in reverse. You will already know all this if you are an Eskimo.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


EHLAUMEL: Thunder God. He's the Californian Creator.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Yuki
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


EITHINOHA: Mother Earth Goddess of the Iroquois. She is particularly associated with fertility and with having a daughter, ONATAH, who keeps getting sucked into the Underworld.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


ENUMCLAW: Trouble-making Thunder God.

The son of KANATI the Hunter and SELU the Corn Goddess, ENUMCLAW and his brother KAPOONIS were known as the THUNDER-TWINS.

Having consulted with spirits, ENUMCLAW discovered the secret of making fire spears, while his brother KAPOONIS mastered the somewhat easier art of hurling very large boulders.

Together they caused all manner of mayhem on Earth. Not very amused, Father Sky grabbed both of them up into his domain and put them to use.

Now ENUMCLAW makes lightning by casting his fire spears down to Earth, while his brother hurls thunderous boulders across the sky.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee, Northwest Coast
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


EOTOTO: Chief of the KACHINAS. He's a Top Weather Spirit and controls every gust of wind.

Unlike AHOLI, his second-in-command, EOTOTO has a dull, boring and shabby appearance. But you shouldn't judge by appearances.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pikya
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


ESAUGETUH-EMISSEE: Yet another mud-modelling Creator God.

When the first hill arose from the primal ooze, he built his shack on top and set to work squelching mud. As a model-maker, he was a bit slap-happy. Result: plenty of half-baked people.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Muskogean (Creek)
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


ESTANATLEHI: She zooms from being a baby to an old woman and back again in record time. She is the Goddess of Passing Time, or possibly By-Passing Time, or Time After Time. So she is Timeless unless she is now the Goddess that Time forgot. Had an illicit liason with the Sun, and gave birth to the TWIN-BROTHERS who slew many a monster in their day.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity
Alternative names : ESTASANATLEHI, ESTSANATLEHI


EWAH: Ugly demon. The very sight of him causes manic madness and irreversible insanity. We don't think he has a girlfriend.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: n/a
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon



FLYING-HEAD: Not a nice thing to be heading in your direction. A huge winged head with flaming eyes, and hair streaming in the slipstream. With huge fangs for munching up livestock, he was forever hungry as there was no body to fill.

An old woman roasting chestnuts caused his downfall. "Aha - hot stones" said the FLYING-HEAD to itself, "they smell delicious." And being so gapingly greedy he bypassed the tiddly little things the woman was baking and took the great big ones, along with the fire they were cooking in.

Big mistake - these were hearthstones containing all the heat of the fire. It was all too much and the FLYING-HEAD internally combusted. And that's an old Iroquois chestnut.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon
Alternative names : BIG-HEAD, GREAT-HEAD


GA-GAAH: The Wise Old Crow who's always screeching out his name.

In ages past he flew down to earth from the kingdom of the sun, carrying a precious grain of corn in his ear-hole. This was planted by goodie God HAHGWEHDIYU into the body of his mum, and became the source of all fertility. It takes a wise old crow to think of things like that. And who could blame him for crowing about it afterwards?

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : CROW


GAOH: The Giant in charge of the Four Winds.

He has a special department for each direction with suitable windy managers. The North is in the paws of Bear, blustering and rough. East has Moose, rather wet and morose. West has Panther, not entirely trustworthy and for South a soft and gentle Fawn.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : GA-OH


GAHE: Mountain Gods. Seldom seen, but often heard drum-dancing to their mountain beat. Rock music never sounded so good.

The GAHE are useful Gods to know as they can heal and drive away disease. Best contact them by dancing the mountain dance in the company of four friends painted the appropriate colors.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Apache
Location : North America
Category : Deity
Alternative names : GA'AN, GAAN


GENDENWITHA: She was a princess greatly fancied by SOSONDOWAH, a hunter who had been recruited by DAWN to serve as a guard in heaven. On his days off he flew down to visit GENDENWITHA in bluebird or blackbird form.

Showing off, he foolishly took her on a flight to Heaven. DAWN was furious and now GENDENWITHA is a gem set in the centre of DAWN'S forehead, hanging forever out of his reach. Just call her the Morning Star.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Legendary Mortal
Alternative names : GENDEWITHA


GLOOSKAP: Hero God of Ecology and Nature. Was formed from the dust of TABALDAK's hand, along with his brother MALSUMIS. He's the good guy, with many tricks up his sleeve, while evil MALSUMIS does the dirty work.

Many legends abound. How GLOOSKAP saved the world from an ocean-swallowing frog monster. How GLOOSKAP corrected the climate by binding the wings of the Weather Bird. How GLOOSKAP saved the world's hunted animals by stuffing them into a bag. How GLOOSKAP saved the world's hunters by letting them all out again...

He even negotiated the first environmental treaty to ensure that man and nature could live in harmony. That lasted until the white man came, and now GLOOSKAP is very cross.

Note: He could also be a regional varient of KLOSKURBEH, or the tricky NANABOZHO. Or vice versa.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Abenaki, Algonquin, Penobscot, Wabanaki
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : GLOOSCAP, GLUSCABE, GLUSCABI, GLUSKAB, GLUSKABE, GLUSKAP


GUDRATRIGAKWITL: Creator God from California. Not the 'California Here We Come' but the tribe who were there to begin with. This God holds the whole wide world in his hands and we are all very safe until such time as he chooses to clap.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Wiyot
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


GUNNODAYAK: A warrior taken into Heaven to help the Thunder God.

He was sent to earth on a mission to kill the Great Water Snakes of the Great Lakes. But he got himself eaten. Another deity called HINU had to finish the job and then restore GUNNODAYAK to life, who somehow still managed to retain a Heavenly Work Permit.

His title is Protector of the Lakes. It's quite nice to find a God who doesn't mind his pride being swallowed.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


GYHLDEPTIS: The Goddess of the Forest.

She's very nice - in fact you could say she's environmentally-friendly. You are encouraged to treat the trees with respect.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Haida, Tlingit
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


HAHGWEHDAETGAH: One of the Wind-Breath Twins. He's the bad one, so probably has very bad breath too. Now living underground in disgrace. See HAHGWEHDIYU.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


HAHGWEHDIYU: One of the twin Gods of Wind Breath, HAHGWEHDIYU is the Good Creator God of the Iroquois. He shaped the earth with the palm of his hand and recycled his dead mother (ATAENTSIC) as bits of creation. Her face became the sky, her breasts were made into the sun and moon, and her body emplanted with a grain of corn, transforming it into the source of all fertility (see GA-GAAH).

But all this work wasn't without its setbacks. HAHGWEHDIYU had a jealous twin brother. This is one of the classic goodie/baddie twin brother conflicts. They were both Twin Gods of Wind Breath, but brother HAHGWEHDAETGAH was a real baddie. So he was the God of Bad Breath.

The two started fighting before they were even born. Biff! Thud! Crunch! The final outcome was decided in a big battle under a giant crab-apple tree. HAHGWEHDIYU bashed his brother with a large thorny stick and banished him to the Underworld.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


HAOKAH: God of Thunder. A little back-to-front, he cries when he's happy and laughs when he's sad. Next time there's a thunderstorm, try going outside to see what mood he's in.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Sioux
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


HASTSEOLTOI: Goddess of Hunting. She'll make sure you catch that pesky wabbit.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


HASTSHEHOGAN: House God. Could be male or female. Either way, HASTSHEHOGAN looks after your domestic dwellings.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Navajo
Location : North America
Gender : Both male and female
Category : Deity


HINU: Such a nice reliable Thunder God. And his consort is the gentle rainbow. Went immediately to the rescue of his comrade GUNNODAYAK, killing a Giant Water Snake and resuscitating his fellow diety after a savage swallowing.

Modest and self-deprecating as he is, we are able to reveal that it was his swift action that prevented the Stone Giants from taking over the world. No fuss. He just did the job. Smashed them to bits.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : HINO


HISAKITAIMISI: Somewhat obscure. Known as The Master of Breath and allied in some way to the sun. One of his names means 'The One Who Sits Above', if that's any help.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Creek
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : HISAGITA-IMISI, HISAGITAIMISI, IBOFANGA


HUMAN-MAKER: The Great Magician of the Pima Tribe.

He was the Human Maker. And his chosen material was clay. But due to distractions and interruptions by Godly colleague COYOTE, the baking ended up a bit botched in places, which is why so many folk are too soft, too white, too burnt or only half-baked.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Pima
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : HUMANMAKER, MAGICIAN


HURUING-WUHTI: Two old women who play ball with the sun each day. "Here, catch." They have such a slow game there's time in-between to make clay dolls and give them the kiss of life.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


ICTINIKE: Spider Trickster God of War, Treachery and Mischief.

Forget Spiderman, meet Spidergod. More like a cartoon creation, he seems to have spent most of his time trying to outsmart the Great Rabbit MANABOZHO. (Spidey meets Bugs Bunny).

On one occasion, or should it be episode, he tricked MANABOZHO out of his very skin, and impersonated the lop-eared japester. MANABOZHO had the last laugh as usual by giving ICTINIKE a large cow-hide blanket. What he didn't tell him was that most of it was still attached to a war drum. (We haven't seen the animation so some details are not at all clear.)

Before long there was a frenzy of pounding. Boing! Blam! Whumpetty! Kerplunk! ICTINIKE bounced all over the place. Finally he boinged high into the air, landed heavily on hard ground and broke his neck. Daffy Duck was never like this.

Laugh? You could split your sides. Even the idea of a spider with a neck. We must stop before we have hysterics.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Lakota, Plains, Sioux
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : IKTO, IKTOMI, INKTOMI, UNKTOME


IGNIRTOQ: God of Light and Truth. He was once a much-sought-after deity in the dark winter months.

We understand he's now Executive Director of the Ignirtoq Light Bulb Corporation. Unless, of course, you know different.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


IOSKEHA: Creator Deity who made the frist people and specialised in demon-bashing and magic. He had a lot of trouble with his twin brother TAWISKARA as they fought for world control. Whenever a confrontation took place, they always grabbed the nearest object to battle with. In the final epic duel, TAWISKARA snatched up some thorny rose twigs, but these were no match for the stag antlers IOSKEHA found lying about. TAWISKARA was driven, somewhat battered, into exile, weeping tears of flint.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Huron, Iroquois
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


IRDLIRVIRISISSONG: Demonic Cousin of ANINGAN the Moon God.

Life in the sky igloo is pretty tedious, and every so often IRDLIRVIRISISSONG leaps down to Earth to dance and clown about. But you're advised to turn a blind eye, as the slightest hint of amusement will result in your intestines being freeze-dried and removed for consumption.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Demon


ISITOQ: God of Surveillance and Stern Warnings.

He is a gigantic eyeball who flies around keeping tabs on everyone. He's the holy Big Brother and he's got his eye on you.

Should a bad word escape your lips or a naughty deed be done, ISITOQ will find you out and give a stern ticking-off. Much more efficient than a security camera.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Inuit
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : ISSITOQ


IYA: God of Evil. Carries foul disease and plagues to the four corners, and goes on a devouring rampage whenever the mood takes him.

He's ICTINIKE's brother, but not nearly so handsome. In fact he's downright hideous. Avoid like the plague.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Sioux
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


IYATIKU: Underground Corn Goddess. Everything has to be ship-shape in IYATIKU 's Underground domain. She runs it very much on the principle of the London Underground, but without the buskers and not quite so many delays.

Life is like the Circle Line. There is an exit, where babies emerge screaming through the ticket barrier. Your lifetime is spent wandering around the confusing capital, shopping for goodies, trying to find a decent cup of coffee and dodging taxis. When you die you descend back into the Underground... to emerge at some later date very small and helpless as a baby again.

What it's like inside is not known, but it must be crowded, badly-lit, confused and smelly, with conveyor belts, tracks and warning lights. Visit the London Underground to get a taste.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity



KACHINAS: Spirits of Nature, ruled by EOTOTO. There's millions and billions of the little blighters, and between them they control everything, from rain, wind and animals to spirits of the dead. You have to admire their industry.

Every living thing has its own Kachina, and that includes non-living things, as everything is a living thing even if it's not living. Confused yet?

To the Hopi, everything that exists, including the rocks, the rivers, the rains and the rubbish, has its own Kachina to look after its life-force.

The top KACHINAS are known as the Wuya. Wooden Kachina dolls are very popular, and to show respect, they're only made from dead trees. Which are also living things, but not quite so much.

We hope to round up each and every Kachina eventually, but in the meantime here are some that we know about: AHEA, AHMETO-LELA-OKYA, ANGAK-CHIN-MANA, BOTOTO, KARWAN, KOYEMSI, KWIKWILYAQA, MANA, MOMO, NATASKA, and PALHIK-MANA...

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Both male and female
Category : Spiritual Being
Alternative names : KAT'SINAS


KAITI: Bear God. He is married to the Volcano Woman DZELARHONS. Which is certainly an interesting match.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Haida
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KANANESKI-ANAYEHI: A Spider Goddess of Fire. You don't come across many of those.

She is a spider who took a basket and some sticky thread to bring fire up to the Earth from the Underworld. She is recognisable by the orangey-red hairs on her back.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity


KANATI: The Lucky Hunter.

He's the husband of Grandmother Corn (SELU) and the father of wild boys ENUMCLAW and KAPOONIS, otherwise known as the THUNDER-TWINS. A bit of a folk hero.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Legendary Mortal


KAPOONIS: Trouble-making Thunder God.

The son of KANATI and SELU, he and his brother ENUMCLAW wrested secrets from spirits and used the knowledge to go around causing hassle.

KAPOONIS's special talent lay in his amazing ability to throw very heavy things. Which he did with reckless abandon. This caused no end of trouble until he and his brother were whisked away by an angry Sky Father to become the THUNDER-TWINS.

Now he makes thunder by throwing boulders across the sky, while his brother makes lightning.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Cherokee, Northwest Coast
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KARWAN: One of the KACHINAS in charge of Food Production.

Together with MANA he does the Sprouting Bean Distribution Ceremony.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


KLOSKURBEH: Creative Creator and Maker God. After making Earthly things, he started work on young love and human-making.

Once you start it's difficult to stop, but we have it on good authority that he has officially retired to the North Universe where he is waiting until he is needed. We don't know what for, but he is a God who needs to be needed.

Meanwhile he potters around doing we know not what. Probably not gardening. He's also identified with GLOOSKAP, if that's any help.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : KIOSKURBER


KITSHI-MANITO: Great Spirit. He smokes a pipe. That's all we can tell you. Perhaps he sends smoke signals.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Algonquin
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being


KOKOPELLI: God of Dating and Mating.

He's a jolly hunchback soul who skips around playing the flute and inspiring the fruits of love to blossom. Rather like the horny old PAN, he is a primitive God of carefree lust. And consequently very popular.

His most important organ is uncommonly large - and also detachable. Forget Cupid's arrow; if you're a young maiden taking a quick dip, you could find KOKOPELLI's weapon being fired at you. And while you may enjoy the experience, the patter of tiny feet are sure to follow.

KOKOPELLI also takes part in corn grinding rituals as he loves a good gyration, and can even cause a quick downpour to cool things off afterwards. Life is never dull with Koko the clown. See also TONENILI.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Winnebago, Zuni
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : KOKO, OLOLOWISHKYA


KOSHERE: The ceremony of divine clowns who are let loose at important rituals with much slapstick and tent-shaking.

Beyond punishment, they are outrageous and great fun. We feel that they ought to be more freely available, to attend religious rites overladen with pomposity.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Innu, Pueblo
Location : North America
Category : Legendary Event
Alternative names : KUSHAPATSHIKAN


KOYANGWUTI: Spider Goddess. Helped SOTUKNANG create the world and then made all living things to populate it.

She had lots of trouble with her mankind prototypes malfunctioning and misbehaving. After many attempts, she finally released Human Race Mk V, revision 12a. That's us.

She may also be the Spider Woman who helped NAYANEZGANI and TOBADZISTSINI. Anything is possible.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi
Location : North America
Gender : Female
Category : Deity
Alternative names : SPIDER-WOMAN(2)


KOYEMSI: The Holy Clown of the KACHINAS.

Known as Mudhead, he performs many strange antics from beneath his strange baked clay head.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Hopi, Pueblo
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Spiritual Being
Alternative names : MUDHEAD


KUMOKUM: Creator God. There he was all on his tod, sitting by a lake. So what better than a quick dip and a dive... and yes, mud glorious mud!

"Pat it into shape, make this and make that. Daft sort of doll things. A big round ball... What a load of old rubbish. Well it's worn me out. I'm going to get my head down."

And he has been asleep ever since.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Modoc
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KUMUSH: Old Creator Man of the Ancients.

He made things using bags of dry bones left over from defunct spirits. These seem to have behaved like dehydrated soup or dried beans.

Just add KUMOKUM, water and a pinch of salt and they become wholesome fulfilled human beans.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Modoc
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KUTNAHIN: Trickster God of Medicine, Food Preparation and Hygiene.

He descended to Earth to teach mankind the basics - disguised as a beggar covered in dung. With him as a hygiene teacher, it's surely a miracle the Chitimacha people survived to the end of term.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Chitimacha
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KWA-KWAKALANOOKSIWAE: Scary Raven God of the Hamatsa Secret Shaman Society.

Unlike RAVEN, he is a huge and frightening cannibal bird who takes part in the kind of rituals we try to avoid thinking about.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Kwakiutl
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity


KWATEE: God of Change, Transformation and Improvement. Did his best to change the ancient world for the better, despite a lot of opposition from his contemporaries. Whenever he saw something bad, he did something about it. Dirt was obviously a bad thing, so he transformed it into humans. He also tamed the giant animal people into the cuddly pets we have today.

He's best known for defeating the monster in Lake Quinault, which (according to some sources) had swallowed his mother. He threw hot burning rocks into the water and boiled the monster to death.

Meanwhile his brother TIHTIPIHIN had been swallowed by the beast in a daring rescue operation. He cut through the monster's stomach, saved his mother, and then unexpectedly transformed into the father of all hermit crabs.

Reviewing his life's work, an old and tired KWATEE decided to call it a day, turned himself into stone and is now a mountain somewhere in North America.

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Northwest, Nootka, Puget
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity
Alternative names : KIVATI, KWATYAT, XELAS


KWIKUMAT: Creator God of the Yumas.

KWIKUMAT arose from the sea and made everything he could think of in double-quick time. His name sounds like a high street franchise. Kwik-Kreate? Kreate-u-Like?

VITAL STATISTIX
Area or people: Yuma
Location : North America
Gender : Male
Category : Deity