Native American Creation Stories: Creator Animals, Gods and Goddesses
It was Columbus who gave the North American Indigenous their first western name—Indians—when he mistook the Americas for the extremes of the Indian sub-continent. Columbus seriously underestimated the circumference of the Earth as he set out to find a westward sea passage to the rich spice markets of India, rather than the long overland trek to the east.
The Native Americans, as they are now known, are believed by many scholars to have arrived from Asia via the Bering Strait, moving down through Alaska into mainland America, where they thrived for thousands of years until the advent of the European and the decimation through disease, among other reasons, that came with it.
An illustration from 1904 depicting various Native American cultures and bands. (Public Domain)
