The Yauré people of Côte d’Ivoire have a legend I remember. Many years ago the clouds were low, just overhead. If a woman needed some more flavoring for her sauce she could reach up and just pinch off a piece of the cloud for that purpose.

God also lived in those clouds and would come down and converse with people.

One day a woman got into an argument with her husband before he left to go to the fields. All day her anger built up.

When she was making dinner she was pounding the rice in her mortar (see attached photo). Maybe she was imagining the rice was her husband’s head. At any rate, she kept pounding the rice harder and harder.

What she didn’t realize is that the top of the pestle was hitting god, as hard as she was winding up to hit the rice again. God got mad. He left. And he never came back.

Cool story and great pic. Don’t have any favorite Native American legends. I have a favorite African one though.

Forbidden Plateau is an area rich in local history and folklore. The name is derived from a local native legend. Located on the lower slopes of Mount Becher, Forbidden Plateau is better known today as a year round recreation area for biking, hiking, climbing and fishing but, in the history of the Comox First Nations, the Plateau has a much darker side. Slavery amongst the coastal tribes was common at one time and, for the most part, this was carried out by enemies attacking in canoes from the sea. When the Comox where threatened in this way they would send their women and children up to the Plateau for safekeeping. But, on one occasion when they were under attack by the Cowichans, the women and children vanished without a trace and, since then, the Plateau has become taboo for it was believed that it was inhabited by evil spirits who had consumed those they had sent. Hence the name of the area became the Forbidden Plateau.
When I lived in Comox, BC on Vancouver Island I hit a rubbish pit, while digging the foundation of a house, that was filled with the bodies of native slaves from the time before the European Invasion. During the subsequent, archeological dig I made friends with some of the Comox band members and they related this story to me but what they said was that it was the Haida that came with a war party and the Comox band dispatched them all to the last warrior. When they went up to the plateau to bring the elderly, women and children back, they found blood in the snow and the footprints of the Sasquatch or Windego. They sent warriors to track them down, deep into the mountains where the track lead but none returned.

I think their "religion" is more Romantic than the one I grew up in, and less violent. My favorite is this: When the Earth was being formed the great spirit created a widening chasm to separate human beings from the rest of the animal world. At the last moment, the dogs jumped over to stand with the humans.

I have always enjoyed native americans stories. I appreciate that they were handed down verbally for generations. I have always respected their passion for nature and their living outdoors.

Great picture of you, it captures some auburn in your hair.

I love Gilgamesh's legend/epic.
In some Native American lore, just the simple idea that the stars at night are holes punched in the Earth's cover and the Sun is still on the other side just shining through.

Not a legend per se, but I recall Joseph Campbell telling the story of a Navajo sand painter who was showing some of his work for a group of anthropologists. One of them realized that he wasn't finishing the paintings and asked him if he would complete just one, for instance, the one he was doing at that moment. Now, sand paintings are magic. So he laughed and replied, "If I finish this painting, in the morning half the women in the county will be pregnant when they wake up."

Such beautiful legends for your area