American Mythology

Teelget

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Tradition: Navajo mythology, American Mythology
Alternative Names: Teelget
Category: Deer

The Myth

Teelget is one of the Anaye, the “Alien Gods” of Navajo mythology. He was born from a human woman who had resorted to unnatural and evil practices. His supposed father was an antler. The creature born from this union was round, hairy, and headless. Horrified by what she had produced, the woman cast the creature away, and it eventually grew into the monster known as Teelget.

Teelget resembles an enormous, headless elk or antelope. His body is rounded and covered in hair like that of a gopher, while his enormous antlers serve as deadly weapons. The origin of his name is uncertain, although the “tê” is said to refer to his horns.

Teelget became one of the destructive Anaye that laid waste to the land and slaughtered many people. Coyote served as his spy, helping Teelget and the other Anaye in their destruction.

It was Nayenezgani, the “Slayer of Alien Gods,” who finally set out to destroy Teelget. Armed with his lightning arrows, Nayenezgani tracked the monster to a wide open plain where Teelget was resting.

The plain offered no cover, and Nayenezgani realized that Teelget would notice him if he attempted to approach openly. While he considered how to reach the monster, Gopher appeared and asked why he had come. Gopher explained that nobody ventured into the area because everyone feared Teelget.

When Nayenezgani told Gopher that he intended to destroy Teelget, Gopher gladly offered to help. He asked only for Teelget’s hide as payment.

Gopher excavated a tunnel leading directly beneath the sleeping Teelget, reaching the monster’s heart. He then dug four additional tunnels leading north, south, east, and west so that Nayenezgani could hide in them once Teelget awoke.

Gopher also gnawed away the hair around Teelget’s heart, claiming that he needed the hair to line his nest. This left the monster’s heart exposed.

Nayenezgani crawled through the tunnel until he reached the exposed area beneath Teelget’s heart. He fired a chain-lightning arrow directly into the monster’s heart and immediately retreated into the eastern tunnel.

Teelget awoke in agony and fury. He attacked the tunnel with his enormous antlers, gouging open the eastern passage. But Nayenezgani had already escaped into the southern tunnel.

Teelget destroyed the southern tunnel as well, only to find that Nayenezgani had moved into the western passage. He destroyed that tunnel too. Finally, Teelget thrust one of his antlers into the northern tunnel, but before he could reach Nayenezgani, the wound from the lightning arrow overcame him and he collapsed.

Nayenezgani was uncertain whether Teelget was truly dead. Ground Squirrel volunteered to investigate. He explained that Teelget never paid attention to him and that, if the monster were dead, he would dance and sing upon his antlers.

Ground Squirrel approached the fallen Teelget and celebrated upon his antlers, confirming that the monster had been defeated. He then painted his face with Teelget’s blood. It was said that ground squirrels have retained the streaks on their faces ever since that day. In some versions of the story, Chipmunk takes the place of Ground Squirrel and paints stripes down his back instead.

Nayenezgani took a piece of Teelget’s antler and a piece of his liver as trophies. Gopher then immediately began skinning the monster.

Gopher declared that he would wear Teelget’s skin so that, when humans increased once more, they would be reminded of what Teelget had looked like. According to the story, this is why gophers remain rounded and hairy to this day: they still wear the skin that Teelget once wore.

Sources

Countess Sica. “Teelget.” A Book of Creatures. May 8, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/05/08/teelget/

Snawfus

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Tradition: Ozark folklore, American Mythology
Alternative Names: Snawfus
Category: Deer

The Myth

The Snawfus is a supernatural albino deer from the folklore of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri. Although it possesses supernatural powers, it is not considered dangerous.

According to some accounts, the Snawfus can leap effortlessly into the treetops. Other accounts describe it as having feathery wings, allowing it to fly silently through the air like an owl. Some traditions also give the creature flowering branches instead of ordinary antlers.

Leila A. Wade of Republic, Missouri, extensively studied the Snawfus and reported that the creature emitted spirals of blue smoke. The smoke drifted away from the deer and spread across the Ozark hills, covering them in a magical blue haze.

According to the tradition, this blue haze can still be seen over the Ozarks during autumn.

Sources

“Snawfus.” A Book of Creatures. July 2, 2021. https://abookofcreatures.com/2021/07/02/snawfus/

Păl-raí-yûk

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Tradition: Yup’ik mythology, American Mythology
Alternative Names: Păl-raí-yûk
Category: Crocodile

The Myth

The Păl-raí-yûk is a large and dangerous water monster said to have haunted the waterways between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. In ancient times, these rivers were believed to have been much warmer than they are today, with shorter winters and snow melting as early as February. The warmer climate created extensive creeks, lakes, and marshes where the creatures lived, particularly around the temperate Kuskokwim. Păl-raí-yûk fed on both humans and animals.

The Păl-raí-yûk was one of Raven’s many creations. It would lie submerged beneath the water, waiting for people or animals to approach the shore before attacking them. It was also known to attack boats that entered its territory. Because of this danger, Raven warned First Man to be careful when approaching lakes and rivers.

The Păl-raí-yûk resembles a crocodile or alligator in both appearance and behavior, but it also possesses features associated with the muskox. It is commonly represented on umiaks, masks, and dishes as an elongated, stylized reptilian creature with a long, narrow head and six legs. Depictions sometimes show human remains within its body, emphasizing the grisly nature of its meals.

One Păl-raí-yûk killed by the Sky People had six legs: the hind legs were long, the forelegs were short, while the smaller middle legs hung from its abdomen. It had small eyes and a body covered in fine, dense, very dark fur like that of a shrew. The fur was longest around its feet. A pair of horns grew from its head, extending forward and outward before curving back.

Păl-raí-yûk were large and bulky creatures, yet they were said to be capable of lying upon grass without bending the stems. After death, however, their bodies became extraordinarily heavy and would sink into the ground unless they were supported. Killing one therefore required several hunters, who would hold the creature down with logs while smashing its head with clubs.

The last known Păl-raí-yûk was killed by a hunter after the creature attacked and ate his wife while she was fetching water from a lake.

Sources

Countess Sica. “Păl-raí-yûk.” A Book of Creatures. October 30, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/10/30/pal-rai-yuk

Old Bull

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Tradition: American Mythology
Alternative names: Old Bull
Category: Cow

The Myth

When Stone Boy was returning home, he had been trying to understand why so many buffalo had gathered near the home he shared with his uncles. He approached several groups of young buffalo, but each group fled as soon as it saw him. Stone Boy continued from one group to another, scattering them until he eventually became tired of their cowardice and began making his way home.

When he was about half a mile from home, he encountered an old, shaggy buffalo standing beside a large boulder. The old bull repeatedly rubbed one horn against the stone and then the other, apparently trying to sharpen them.

Stone Boy approached and discovered that the bull was extremely old and nearly blind. His horns were so blunt that he could have rubbed them against the boulder for an entire year without making them sharp enough to hurt anyone.

When Stone Boy asked what he was doing, the old bull explained that he was sharpening his horns for the coming war.

The bull revealed that the chief’s twins had been killed by Stone Boy, who had supposedly driven them over a cut bank deliberately. In response, the chief had ordered all of his buffalo to gather together. Once they had assembled, they intended to kill Stone Boy, his mother, and his uncles.

Stone Boy thanked the old bull for revealing the plan and offered to save him the trouble of continuing to sharpen his useless horns. He pointed out that the bull was too old to participate in such a war and might fall into a hole, stumble, and be trampled by the other buffalo.

The old bull, being nearly blind and unaware of what Stone Boy was doing, stood still, apparently believing that Stone Boy was helping him.

Stone Boy drew an arrow, pulled his bowstring back, and told the old bull that he would spare him the suffering of dying in the coming battle.

He then released the arrow.

The arrow struck the bull behind the foreleg with such force that it passed completely through his body and continued on until it embedded itself in a tree roughly two hundred feet away.

Sources

McLaughlin, Marie L. Myths and Legends of the Sioux. Bismarck, N.D.: Bismarck Tribune Co., 1916. Internet Archive

Mi-ni-wa-tu

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Tradition: Teton Mythology, American Mythology
Alternative names: Mi-ni-wa-tu (“sea monster”)
Category: Cow

The Myth

The Mi-ni-wa-tu, meaning “sea monster,” is a creature from the folklore of the Tetons. It is said to inhabit the Missouri River.

The Mi-ni-wa-tu is an amphibious creature with the body of a buffalo, covered in red hair. It has a single horn projecting from its forehead and a single eye. Its back is notched like a saw or gear.

At night, the creature can be safely seen swimming powerfully upstream. As it moves through the river, it churns the water and glows like fire. In spring, the Mi-ni-wa-tu is said to break up the ice covering the river.

Encountering one during the day is dangerous. Those who see the creature in daylight suffer confusion and loss of sight. Madness then sets in, followed by a day of convulsions, after which the unfortunate victim dies.

Sources

Countess Sica. “Mi-ni-wa-tu.” A Book of Creatures. July 29, 2015. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/07/29/mi-ni-wa-tu/

Long Bug

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Tradition: American Mythology
Alternative names: Long Bug
Category: Cow, Snake

The Myth

The Long Bug is described as the chief of the underwater animals, an enormous serpent-like creature with a body like a gigantic snake.

It possesses two heads, each radically different from the other. One is the head of a cow, complete with two long horns and enormous eyes as large as sunflowers. The second resembles a human head, with a long nose and a single enormous eye set in the center of its forehead. Above this eye rises one great horn.

As ruler of the underwater creatures, the Long Bug combines the forms of serpent, cow, and man into a single monstrous being.

Sources

“Long Bug.” Pantheon: Facts, Information, and Mythology. Accessed August 22, 2026. https://pantheon.org/articles/l/long_bug.html

Timberdoodle

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Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternative names: Timmerdoodle
Category: Cave dweller

The Myth

The Timberdoodle is a strange creature of American lumberjack folklore, described as a squat, heavy-bodied beast with a broad mouth, powerful jaws, and a vicious bite. Its most remarkable characteristic is that once it bites someone, it refuses to release its grip until it hears the sound of thunder.

According to lumberwoods folklore, anyone unfortunate enough to be bitten by a Timberdoodle must simply wait for a storm. No amount of struggling or attempting to pry the creature loose will make it release its victim, and the creature can remain attached for an extraordinarily long time.

One famous victim was Mule McSneed, who was bitten by a Timberdoodle and found himself unable to escape its jaws. He remained trapped until a thunderstorm finally arrived. When the sound of thunder reached the creature, the Timberdoodle released its bite, ending an ordeal that had lasted for two months.

Sources

Schwartz, Alvin, and Glen Rounds. Kickle Snifters and Other Fearsome Critters. New York: Bantam Books, 1978. (archive.org)

Stretching Lynx

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Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternative names: Lynx of Old Man’s Tale
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Stretching Lynx appears as a large wild lynx whose body already resembles that of a modern lynx, though its final appearance is explained through the actions of Old Man, the Blackfoot trickster and culture hero.

One day Old Man encountered a group of squirrels playing a game in hot ashes. The squirrels would bury one another beneath the hot ashes and quickly dig each other out before they were burned. Although they warned Old Man that he would not understand the game, he tricked them into letting him bury them all at once. Instead of rescuing them, he piled on more hot ashes until nearly all the squirrels were roasted alive, sparing only a pregnant squirrel who had begged for mercy.

Old Man built a scaffold from red willow branches and laid the roasted squirrels upon it to cool before eating them. After satisfying his hunger, he lay down to sleep, leaving his Little Brown-Eye to keep watch. While he slept, a lynx quietly approached and devoured every squirrel on the scaffold. Although Little Brown-Eye tried to warn him, Old Man slept through the alarm. Furious when he awoke to find his meal gone, he blamed Little Brown-Eye and burned it with a burning willow stick, creating the origin of the foul-smelling stinking wood.

Old Man then followed the lynx’s greasy tracks until he found it asleep upon a great flat rock. Seizing the animal, he declared that it deserved punishment for stealing his food. He broke off part of its tail, leaving the lynx with its short tail. Standing the animal upright, he grabbed its forelegs and stretched its body until it became long and lean. He then smashed its snout against a rock until it became broad and flat, tore out a handful of hair and fixed it to the animal’s face to create its whiskers, and finally held it over a fire, scorching its sides. These punishments explained why the lynx has its distinctive short tail, flattened face, whiskers, elongated body, and mottled coat.

Afterward, Old Man rested again, but the burn on Little Brown-Eye caused him such discomfort that he repeatedly called for the wind to blow harder to cool it. The wind grew into a violent storm that carried Old Man tumbling across hills and mountains. He grabbed at bushes and trees until only a sturdy birch held firm. When the storm finally subsided, Old Man angrily blamed the birch for ending his wild ride and slashed its bark repeatedly with his knife. According to the tale, the scars still visible on birch trees are the marks left by Old Man’s blade.

Sources

Wissler, Clark, and D. C. Duvall. Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians. Vol. 2, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History. New York: The Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, 1908. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://archive.org/details/mythologyblackf01duvagoog

Splintercat

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Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternative names: None known
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Splintercat is a fierce nocturnal feline that flies through the air at tremendous speed. It is said to smash headfirst into large trees, knocking off their branches and leaving the trunks dead and stripped bare like pale ghostly snags. It performs this remarkable feat to expose raccoons and wild bees hiding inside the trees for food. Constantly battering trees with its head leaves the creature with a perpetual headache, making it notoriously ill-tempered and dangerous to approach.

An alternate tradition from Nova Scotia describes the Splintercat as emerging from trees during winter after spending the summer hibernating inside them. The loud cracking sounds heard in frozen forests are said to be the creature breaking free from its tree. In this version, it has exceptionally long claws, powerful legs, and fur patterned like tree bark, allowing it to remain perfectly camouflaged until it suddenly leaps from the shadows to ambush its prey.

Sources

“Splintercat.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splintercat

Cactus Cat

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Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternative names: —
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Cactus Cat is a legendary creature of the American Southwest, resembling a bobcat covered in sharp, cactus-like spines. Long thorns project from its legs, and its branching, armored tail is likewise covered in deadly spikes. Its coat blends perfectly with the desert, making it almost impossible to spot.

According to legend, the Cactus Cat emerges at night to slash giant cacti with its thorn-covered body. The cuts allow the cactus juice to flow freely. After leaving the sap to ferment for several nights, the creature returns to drink the intoxicating liquid.

The Cactus Cat is closely associated with the harsh deserts of the American Southwest and is often regarded as a living embodiment of the desert itself. It was said to haunt the arid wilderness, where its camouflage and thorny body made it perfectly adapted to its unforgiving home.

The legend was passed down through oral tradition and was later shared among frontiersmen, miners, and cowboys, ensuring that tales of the mysterious, spine-covered feline continued to roam the deserts long after its supposed tracks had vanished.

Sources

“Cactus Cat.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus_cat