Rochelle Walton February 24, 2014 English 1102 Professor Walden

Annotated Bibliography

Woolcott, Ina. "Wolf, Power Animal, Symbol of Wildness, Social and Family Values." Wolf,

Power Animal, Symbol of Wildness, Social and Family Values. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Ina Woolcott begins by sharing how Native American and Celtic customs see the wolf as how

they should find the deepest level of one’s self. The image of the wolf howling at the moon

represents this inner knowing. She also tells how these tribes believe the wolf is their ancestor.

Ina then goes into how wolves have been misunderstood and how they are now viewed today.

The wolf has been miss represented in stories and media. The way that they are portrayed is

opposite of their intelligent and friendly nature. Ina explains how the wolf symbolizes night.

Night is seen as a lonesome time but this is the time when you can dream and really find

yourself, which goes along with Native Americans seeing the wolf as a way to find your inner

self. The wolf teaches you to learn about your inner strength and how to face your fears. Native

Americans believe that wolves need sincerity. After going into detail of what the wolf is to the

Native American custom she goes into the qualities of a wolf. How they hunt in packs, mate for

life, and how they express themselves with body language. Wolves are very intellectual and have

excellent hearing. Lastly Ina explains what a wolf’s medicine is. Their medicine is death and

rebirth. They face death with dignity and courage.

Moonlight. "Native American Werewolves | Werewolves." Native American Werewolves |

Werewolves. N.p., 6 Sept. 2009 Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Moonlight starts out by expressing what the wolf is and has been to Native American Tribes. The

wolf is believed to be a spirit of protection. The wolf is seen as a totem, or an animal that holds

spiritual significance. Moonlight then moves his way into speaking about how many Native

American tribes believe in a man transforming from man to animal. Although many tribes

believe in this transforming, then Navajo are best known for shape-shifting. Skin-walker is

another word for the shape-shifters. The word that the Navajo use is yeenadlooshi which means,

“He walks on all fours”. Traditionally Navajos believe that skin-walkers look different than non-

skinwalkers. Moonlight goes into detail of the physical appearance of skin-walkers. They have

eyes that glow even in the daylight, their tongues are black, representing that their souls are

poison, and their skin is hard impermeable by axe or arrows. It is also believed that skin-walkers

are able to read minds and imitate cried of family and friends to lure people into the woods. The

Hopi tribe believes that shape-shifting can be brought on by a ceremony where the person wears

the skin of the animal that they want to become.

Neilson, Paula I. "Werewolf Beliefs among Native Tribes of North America." Suite. N.p., 2000.

Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Neilson speaks on how Native Americans have great respect for wolves. They try to imitate their

hunting skills and use wolf packs to tell their children about sticking together, mating, and both

Rochelle Walton February 24, 2014 English 1102 Professor Walden

parents caring for the children. Some tribes believe that the wolf is a spirit with powers that can

be used to help a tribe as it deserves. Werewolves are uncommon in Native American tribes and

their beliefs are different that the European belief of a man beast shape-shifting into a human-

killing beast howling at a full moon. For Native Americans, totems are an identification, a tribe

will contain qualities that correspond with the totem. The wolf is seen as a totem of protection

for many tribes. The wolf is used by the Shamans to travel the dead and living world. They

believe that it helps them heal the sick and gain spiritual information. Wolf dances and

ceremonies are used to call upon the wolf spirit to blessing them when they go hunting.

Werewolves are highly unlikely but not completely nonexistent in Native American legends. In

the Navajo and Hopi tribes, skin-walkers are common myths about men and women who become

animals. These tribe members are not werewolves but witches with pelts of whatever animal they

wish to become. Navajos believe that skin-walkers have the ability to read minds and mimic

voices to lure people in. The only way to get rid of a skin-walker is to know the person behind

the skin-walker and pronounce their whole name and three days later the skin-walker will die

from the wrong they’ve done.

Ernst, Alice. "Native Americans Legends - How the Wolf Ritual Began." Native Americans

Legends - How the Wolf Ritual Began. N.p., 22 Oct. 2000. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Ernst explains how the Wolf ritual began. So it goes, a young lady was walking with three

friends and a wolf crossed her path. She said that the wolf was handsome and that she wishes to

marry a man as handsome and strong. That night when the woman went to sleep the wolf came

in and told her that he was going to take her with him. When she woke up she saw a handsome

man standing before her. The two of them went to his house in the mountains. They had two sons

that were half wolf and half man. Back home the girl’s father looked for her and ended up just

believing that she was dead. When the oldest son became a man he asked his mother why he

looked so different than the wolves and she explained to him that he is from another place and

that there is a place away from the wolves where her own father is. The son asked to see where

she was from so she spoke to her husband who eventually let her go. Before they left he taught

her of the wolf ritual. Once she learned it she went home and told her father that she was married

to a wolf and that when they howl at the moon the town must not do anything but learn from

them. Then she taught her father the wolf ritual.

"The Real Quileute Tribe Legends." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

The Quileute believe that they originally came from the wolf. This is the story that they pass

down from generation to generation. The say that they’ve been around for 10,000 years back in a

different time when animals could talk. They believe that the changer went around the world

setting things in balance preparing them for change. The changer, they say, went to the Quileute

land where animals went when they had their “skins” off and were people, but when he went

there, there were no people but there were two wolves so he changed them into people. The

Rochelle Walton February 24, 2014 English 1102 Professor Walden

wolves are said to be the first animals to be turned into people by the changer for the change of

time. The changer then sent them to La Push.

"Quileute Legends." Quileute Legend Myths and Folklore. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

The Quileute live on a small area of land in Washington State. There are only about 750

members left who live on a reservation called La Push. Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight has brought

a lot of acknowledgment to the Quileute tribe, however the Quileute don’t possess the shape-

shifting power that she gives them in Twilight. Quileute legends have characters that are found in

other cultures as well. Q’wati is one of their most important characters. They believe that he

created the first Quileute. They believe that he traveled around showing humans how they should

act. Once he reached a land that had no people so he rubbed his hands together and created

people out of his dead skin and water. Then he reached another part of land without people but

there were two wolves there so he turned them into people. He called them the Quileute people

an d told them, “For this reason you Quileute shall be brave, for you came from wolves”.