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Native American cultures are rich in myths and legends that explain natural phenomena and the relationship between humans and the spirit world. According to Barre Toelken, feathers, beadwork, dance steps and music, the events in a story, the shape of a dwelling, or items of traditional food can be viewed as icons of cultural meaning.
Title from cover Imprint varies Official organ of the American Folk-lore Society Humanities index America, history and life Historical abstracts Issues for Jan./Mar. 1984-Oct./Dec. 1984 carry whole numbering and lack vol./internal numbering
In some myths they are benign, in others fearsome and malevolent. [12] The Sun is an important deity; [13] [14] other supernatural characters include Morning Star [13] [8] [14] and the Thunderbirds. [15] [12] [16] A common theme is the making of a journey, often to a supernatural place across the landscape or up to the parallel world in the sky ...
Folklorists have commonly attempted to distinguish between myths, legends, tales, and histories. Myths are sacred accounts that are believed by narrators and listeners to be true. They are set in a period at or before the origins of the world as it is known, and they usually contain strong supernatural elements.
The motif-index and the ATU indices are regarded as standard tools in the study of folklore. For example, folklorist Mary Beth Stein said that, "Together with Thompson's six-volume Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, with which it is cross-indexed, The Types of Folktale constitutes the most important reference work and research tool for comparative folk-tale analysis. [1]
Some claim that author Roger D. Abrahams perpetuated these in his book Afro-American folktales. He pushed the point that African-American folklore is an "immoral reflection" of African religions and "animal tales are a reflection of African's childlike mannerisms". [7] African-American folklore was predominantly used for guidance and protection.
In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed [1] [2] —a minimal unit that is always found shared with other, related mythemes [citation needed] and reassembled in various ways ("bundled") [3] or ...
The haunted highway is a recurring theme in many folklore tales from all over the globe. One of the best examples from the United States of America is Clinton Road in New Jersey, [51] but there are many others. [52] In more rural areas the haunted highway will take on the form of a haunted street, road, or even trails. [53]