The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

Something Sacred Going on Out
There: Myth and Vision in
American Indian Literature
It is difficult if not impossible at the present time to speak
coherently about myth because the term has become so polluted
by popular misuse. Yet no discussion of American Indian
literature is complete without an examination of what mythic
narrative and the concept of myth itself mean in a tribal context.
Popularly among Americans, myth is synonymous with lie;
moreover, it implies ignorance or a malicious intent to defraud.
Thus, any attitude or idea that does not conform to contemporary
western descriptions of reality is termed myth, signifying
falsehood. Labeling something a myth merely discredits the
perceptual system and world-view of those who are not in
accord with the dominating paradigm. Thus, current dictionary
definitions of myth reinforce a bias that enables the current
paradigm of our technocratic social science-biased society to
prevail over tribal or poetic views just as it enables an earlier
Christian biblical paradigm to prevail over the pagan one.
Indeed, terms such as pagan, tribal, and poetic—often used
interchangeably—imply ignorance, backwardness, and
foolishness. They allow dismissal by western readers, just as
their allied term, myth, does. A definition such as the following
makes it clear that any story called a myth is not to be taken
seriously.
1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some