American Indian Myths & Mysteries

American Indian Myths and Mysteries is an authoritative and scrupulously researched account of the mythology of the Native American—an all-encompassing collection of American Indian legends, truths, and myths. Although much of this ancient heritage has been lost, a great deal has been saved, and there are men and women alive today who remember the lore of their ancestors. Scholarly, but highly readable and entertaining, this book is a must for students of the Native American culture, ceremony and prophecy. In vivid detail Gaddis traces the forgotten knowledge of the megalithic stone builders; the vast networks of subterranean tunnels and caverns where hoards of Incan gold still lie hidden; the cyclopean ruins of Tiahuanaco and cities lost deep in the Amazonian jungle; and legends of the world-wide cataclysms that destroyed these pre-historic civilizations. This book divides its chapters into two groupings: the Historical Mysteries and the Mystical Mysteries. Section one deals with the origins of the American Indian, artifacts, megaliths, totems, and lost colonies. Section two deals with ritual ceremonies such as the shaking tent, medicine man magic, secrets of the shamans, and other interesting topics. In American Indian Myths and Mysteries the reader will learn the power of the medicine man and be present at a contest of magic between two rival medicine men; he will discover the origin of the curse of Tippecanoe and the secrets of the shamans. This volume sheds new light on the motivations of Native Americans when faced with a deluge of European settlers.