Re: Sacred Fossils

[pwillis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Paul Willis)]

>The only Native American fossil mythology I know of comes from the
>Mandan-Hidatsa of the Missouri trench area of North Dakota. They attribute
>large fossil bones as the remains of ancient earth-burrowing snakes. [A
>side note; this is a topic that the Hidatsa will speak about only during
>the winter, when the modern snakes are sleeping.]


I also recall that native american indians thought that petrified logs in
Arizona were the bones of extinct giants, trilobites from Utah had their
own indian name meaning "Little water bug in the rock" and that belemnites
were thought to be arrowheads from battles between the gods.

Cheers, Paul


Dr Paul M.A. Willis
Consulting Vertebrate Palaeontologist
Quinkana Pty Ltd
pwillis@ozemail.com.au