Name: Top 8 Native American Myths That Turned Out to Be TRUE
Uploaded: 2026-03-20T16:59:25.000Z
Duration: 11 min 13 s
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The spiritual power of this place is an energy that we get thousands of years of ancestors being right here in this place.

today we're counting down our picks for the top Native American oral stories once thought to be unverified, but

were later linked to real historical, biological, or geological phenomenon.

8 Pacific Northwest megathrust earthquakes.

Long before geologists ever discovered the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, indigenous people along the Pacific Northwest already knew it happened.

Their oral traditions describe the land shaking like a living being, villages being swallowed, and

a catastrophic battle between powerful forces.

In some stories, it's told as a clash between the whale and the thunderbird, causing the ocean itself to rise.

While these stories give no exact date, they state that the earthquake was massive and devastating.

Japanese records support this claim with a description of an orphan wave that struck in the 1700s.

Nine hours after the earthquake struck the coast, the waves of the tsunami started to reach Japan.

That's where more of the detailed reports were first discovered.

Centuries later, geological evidence such as sunken forests, coastal drops, and ocean sand eventually confirmed this event.

This goes to show that not all myths are entirely fabricated.

the written stories across 5,000 miles and 300 years all pointed at the same theory that a catastrophic quake was possible in the Pacific Northwest.

Number seven, the waning of the sun myth.

We sit inside as Navajos and reflect on ourselves.

We don't eat, we don't drink, we don't laugh.

That's what we do, as Navajo is we stay inside.

What we now understand as solar eclipse was interpreted differently by many native peoples.

Some believed it marked the meeting of the moon and the sun.

For others, it was a time of transformation or a symbol of rebirth and renewal, often accompanied by silence or reflection.

The sun is called one of the great warriors, the uncle, and

to cover it up is sort of implying that there is a need to set aside war.

In other traditions, it was said a giant frog was attempting to swallow the sun, leading to rituals meant to save it.

So, long before Western astronomy explained solar eclipses, Indigenous nations were already observing and recording them.

Rock art and winter counts appear to document eclipse events.

Notably, eclipses influenced Haudenosaunee Confederacy history and helped to strengthen the authority of Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet.

And so an eclipse occurred in their territory, and

that was a convincing sign to them that the message that was brought to them by the Peacemaker had truth and power.

For hundreds of years, generations carried baskets of dirt from huge borrow pits to make this mound.

The work began before the Vikings discovered the New World and was finished just after the Second Crusades.

The city of Cahokia, an advanced civilization, was once thought a legend.

But this lost city of North America was real.

At one point, it thrived as the largest city of the region, with tens of thousands of residents living in well planned neighborhoods.

Hunters, traders, farmers and even astronomers thrived in this highly organized civilization.

Monumental mounds, such as the massive Monk's Mound served as ceremonial and political centers, showing the city's complex and impressive engineering.

Each mound follows along the exact same alignment to form a city grid.

The grid is centered along a feature rediscovered only today.

Yet by the mid-1300s, the city's population declined, leading many to believe it vanished.

However, recent studies suggest that Cahokia remained habitable even after the 1400s.

While its demise remains a mystery, archaeological findings confirm its former greatness.

Up on top of the mound, you can feel the spirits of all the people who were there before.

You can almost hear the hustle and bustle of people in the village below.

Among the Clallam people of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, there's a powerful story about the Great Flood.

Elders tell of coastal waters turning salty, a warning sign that something was wrong.

those who listened gathered food and fresh water before escaping to the highest mountains nearby.

For centuries, outsiders dismissed these stories as myths.

That changed when an archaeological excavation at the ancient village site of Tzit Huitzen revealed it was all true.

According to findings, this wasn't a one time disaster.

The land was struck by tsunami driven floods multiple times, and

each time survivors managed to return and rebuild homes and communities.

Yet Klallam stories preserved these memories.

It is difficult to be sure about the etymology of the name Mapingoree, but

the main assumption is that it comes from the Tupiguareni indigenous language.

In stories told across parts of South America, a giant grotesque creature called the mapenguari was said to leave destruction in its wake.

Even the bravest of hunters feared it, describing enormous footprints, trees torn apart, and

thunderous footsteps as it moved through the forest.

While its true nature remains unclear, some researchers have noted similarities between these descriptions and giant Ground sloths.

They believe, quite piously, that if you see the animal, you will die.

What did I do to have the devil himself appear before me in the forest?

These massive creatures once lived alongside early humans in the Americas before going extinct 10,000 years ago.

The mapinguari tales may be legend, but fossil discoveries continue to keep the possibility alive.

For enthusiasts, Megatherium reminds me of an old man in carpet slippers.

They're turned over on their side like a man with arthritis.

Number three Mammoth and mastodon encounters.

Mammoths once roamed the open landscape of ancient Britain.

These extinct cousins of elephants had huge curving tusks and thrived during the Ice Age.

once these Ice Age creatures coexisted with humans, with their exceptional tusks, thick furs and towering frames, they were impossible to ignore.

While mammoths were taller and looked more like modern elephants, mastodons were stockier.

Indigenous stories have described them as aggressive beasts that inspired fear.

this animal was actually a lot more common in Ohio than the mammoth.

And this is an example of a male mastodon.

The only problem is these accounts don't name mammoths and mastodons outright.

But archaeological findings fill the gap, confirming early humans shared land with them.

They may just be the same giant creatures native people believed to have encountered.