Description

This book explores Native American mythologies to view the relationships between humans and animals.

Traditional Native Americans view animals as elder brothers who embody the knowledge sets necessary for survival on this Earth. This vantage point facilitates openness within the human to learn from the animals. Animals play the roles of tutelary spirits, helpers, guides, and at times shapeshift from Holy Person to animal or back again. This emphasizes the fluidity between the worlds of spirit and matter and highlights animals as oriented towards being helpful to humanity in a wide variety of ways. As expressed through language and ritual, the details of respect preserve the relationship between the community, the animals, and the natural landscape.

Animals push human beings into interiority. The spirits choose a person and then utilize animals to communicate and transmit spiritual understandings and abilities. It is then up to the individual to bring this vision to usefulness on Earth.