American Hero-Myths: A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent

This study presents a comparative analysis of indigenous American religious traditions by tracing the forms, origins, and meanings of hero-myths and creation stories. It outlines processes of myth building — personification, linguistic play, borrowing, and the interplay of ritual and creed — and applies rigorous source criticism before comparing recurring motifs such as culture-heroes, four-brother groups, earth-diver creation episodes, and a benign, humanlike chief deity. Close readings of Algonkin and Iroquois hero-gods and of virgin-mother and Osirian parallels illustrate methodological limits of cross-cultural comparison, while attention to myths' ethical and social effects argues that these narratives shaped communal sentiments and moral conceptions.