Native American
18 deities of this pantheon
Origin, Worldview and Mythology of the Native American
Sacred tradition associated with the Native American peoples
Origin and Mythological Worldview
These spirits and deities were worshipped by the many Native peoples of North America, from the Lakota to the Navajo and Iroquois. Their beliefs bind humans to the Great Spirit, to totem animals, and to balance with the land. Passed down orally, they survive in the Indigenous nations that endured colonization.
The sacred stories of this pantheon anchored the moral and civic foundation of ancient settlements, establishing rites of passage, seasonal liturgies, and explanations for terrestrial and celestial cycles.
Principal Deities and Central Figures
Among the 18 deities cataloged in the Codex for this pantheon, several figures hold preeminent standing across cosmic domains and civic life:
- Wakan Tanka — Creation, the Sacred & Cosmos
- Coyote — Cunning, Chaos & Creation
- Thunderbird — Thunder, Storm & War
- Kokopelli — Fertility, Music & Harvest
- Raven — Creation, Cunning & Transformation
Temples, Ritual Practices and Cult
The Sun Dance gathered the Plains nations in fasting and sacrifice around the sacred tree. The Hopi dance with the kachinas, masked spirits of the rains, and the sacred pipe seals prayers and treaties — ceremonies still alive in today's nations.
Priests and traditional lorekeepers guarded the continuity of sacred hymns and divine genealogies, ensuring the benevolence of the gods for agricultural fertility, social harmony, and communal protection.
18 deities
