Celtic people loved telling stories and teaching children through legends. Also Native American mythology has a very rich cultural history: it was a way to keep Indian culture alive. They were not only stories, they represented their beliefs (= credi), their ways (= modi di vivere) , and their lives. They were – and sometimes still are – almost sacred for many groups of people.
These stories are divided into categories. There are the “hero stories” about people who made something special and are immortalized. There are “trickster stories” (= storie di ciarlatani) , about figures who were both helpful (= utili) and dangerous (= pericolose) for their tribes. There are tales that warn (= metter in guradia) people and teach them how to behave (= comportarsi) . There are stories that could be called religious: they tell about their Gods and their Nature.
Some examples of sacred animals that inspired and were the protagonists of legends.
The eagles (= aquile) were very important animals for Native American people. Their feathers(= piume) composed the war-flags (= bandire di Guerra) and war bonnets (= copricapi di Guerra) , their image was carved (= intagliata) in wood, their stuffed (= impagliata) skin surmounted the council lodges (= abitazioni del North America .
The owls (= gufi) represented wisdom (= saggezza) . Some tribes used stuffed owls as symbols carried by medicine men or on the stones (= pietre) of their council lodges.