The Creation
The people were created by their parents, the Sun and the Moon. When they first came to Earth, it was covered in water, but the most trusted animal, the elk, was able to coax the winds into removing the water and revealing the soft ground below. The excited elk rolled on the ground, and from his hairs that were left sprang all sorts of foods and plants. The people also found footsteps, and followed them to meet who they belonged to.
Sacred Legend
Over the years, the people became more and more resourceful. They replaced grass clothes with animal hides, created pots to cook the meat in, and built the first tepees, to name a few of their creations. The legend shows the resourceful nature of the Native American people, and how they evolved as the time came.
The Legend of the Peace Pipes
The Chief calls together a council, and adds the owl and woodpecker to it when they come near as if to join. He has a servant go and collect a specific tree, on which an eagle lands and drops a feather. However, it is not the feather he wants, and when he finally gets one from the proper eagle, an imperial eagle, and made peace pipes with its feathers. These pipes were used to settle disputes within the tribe.
Eastern Imperial Eagle
Source: Wikipedia
A Tradition of the Calumet
The Mysterious One told the northern nation of a nation to the south. The northern council decides to attack the southern nation, which angered the Mysterious One, who appeared as an eagle over the chief's daughter. She said that they must not harm the First People, so they cleansed themselves of their actions and made peace with the First People.
The Sacred Pole
While multiple tribes were having a Great Council, a man discovers a powerful tree, and tells his father of it. After the council concludes, the father tells the chief of the tree, and after it is found by runners, has it chopped down and placed inside a special tent. They designed it in the shape of a person, and prayed to it for help, as well as to become a chief.
The Buffalo and the Grizzly Bear
A grizzly bear is walking along a river, and finds a buffalo. He attacks it, claiming it would attack him instead. The buffalo thinks it should attack the bear, and the bear knows it thinks this, and attacks it again. The buffalo then attacks the bear in return, although the bear thought at first that it was scared. They later realize they should be friends due to their similarities.
The Eagle's Revenge
A man heard an eagle eating the deer he had shot, so he shot the eagle. He took the deer home and told the story of the eagle, and his tribe began a dance. A strange man showed up, and began telling how he killed a man, and when he said "Hi!" at the end of the story, one of the men with rattles for the dance died. He did this until all of them were dead, avenging his brother, the eagle.
Unktomi and the Bad Songs
Unktomi is traveling and sees many ducks, geese, and swans on a lake. He tells them he has bad songs in his backpack, and they beg him to sing them for him, which he does while they dance with their eyes closed. He goes around killing them while they dance, but when one doesn't die immediately, it squawks, and the rest escape. He boils the ones he did kill, and leaves them to cook while he sleeps. A mink comes and eats all the meat, and replaces the bones in the pot, leaving Unktomi with nothing but his bad songs.
Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies
The old-woman-who-never-dies has 6 children: 3 sons (the sun, the day, and the night), and 3 daughters (the morning star, the evening star, and The Striped Gourd). Each spring, she sends birds that signal to the Indians what crops to plant. They build scaffolds to feed these birds each year, and perform rituals. They do this again in the fall so as to bring the buffalo to them.
Legend of the Corn
A young man goes hunting, and finds a buffalo standing on top of a hill. He decides to wait for it to move before he kills it, but each day, it stays in the same spot. After a few days, he finds it gone, replaced by a plant, but no signs of where it ran to. He tells his tribe, who see what he does. They defended the plant, believing it to be a gift, and when it is ripe, the young man tries it, and when he does not die, they conclude it was a gift from Wahkoda for them to eat. They shared this gift with other tribes in the following years.
Tradition of the Finding of Horses
The Ponca traveled the river, and found the Comanche. The Comanche had horses, which the Ponca did not, and the Ponca were scared of the horses once the Comanche learned how to fight. After many battles, a Comanche speaks to the Ponca, and they become friendly, sharing their fighting technology and knowledge of horses. However, the Ponca later attacked the Comanche, stealing most of their horses and taking them back home with them.
Comanche atop horses
Source: LegendsOfAmerica
The Ghost's Resentment
A young man died, and his parents had a grave scaffold made for him. Another young man, who is married, hears his father and his friends planning to rob the scaffold for clothing, and they do not listen to him trying to dissuade them. He covers himself in clay and acts like a ghost when they arrive, scaring them off and making them return home terrified. When they get home, he is asleep and they are unaware it was him. He makes fun of them for failing in their mission, and they don't return to the grave.
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