Little people (mythology)

This article is about the mythological race. For other uses, see Little people (disambiguation).

Little people have been part of the folklore of many cultures in human history, including Ireland, Greece, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, Flores Island, Indonesia, and Native Americans.

Native American folklore

The Native peoples of North America told legends of a race of "little people" who lived in the woods near sandy hills and sometimes near rocks located along large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes. Often described as "hairy-faced dwarfs" in stories, petroglyphs illustrations show them with horns on their head and traveling in a group of 5 to 7 per canoe.^[1]

Native legends often talk of the little people playing pranks on people such as singing and then hiding when an inquisitive person searches for the music. It is often said that the little people love children and would take them away from bad or abusive parents or if the child was without parents and left in the woods to fend for themselves.

Other legends say the little people if seen by an adult human would beg them not to say anything of their existence and would reward those who kept their word by helping them and their family out in times of need. From tribe to tribe there are variations of what the little people's mannerisms were like, and whether they were good or evil may be different. Many of the elders still have a belief in these beings, but younger generations tend not to believe in these stories.

One of the common beliefs is that the little people create distractions to cause mischief. They were believed to be gods by some. One North American Native tribe believed that they lived in nearby caves.^{[citation needed]} The caves were never entered for fear of disturbing the little people.

Native American little people

• Nimerigar - Shoshone
• Yumwi - Cherokee
• Nunnupi - Comanche
• Nirumbee^[2][3] or Awwakkulé^[4] - Crow
• Geow-lud-mo-sis-ing
• Menehune - Hawaiian native
• Memegwesi/Memegawensi/Memengweshii/Pa'iins - Anishinaabe^[5]
• Mannegishi - Cree
• Ishigaq - Inuit
• Pukwudgie - Wampanoag

The Native American little people were said to reside in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming. The Pryors are famous for their "fairy rings" and strange happenings that suggest little people still exist and make their home there. Some members of the Crow tribe consider the little people to be sacred ancestors and require leaving an offering for them upon entry to the area.^[6]

Types of little people in mythology

• Faeries
• Brownies / Tomte / Tonttu / Domovoi / Kobolds
• Alfar / Dwarves
• Abatwa
• Di sma undar jordi
• Gnomes
• Nimerigar
• Goblins / Gremlins
• Laminaks
• Leprechauns
• Pixies
• Trows

Types of little people in fictional mythologies

• Hobbits / Kenders

See also

• Homo floresiensis
• Dwarfism
• San Pedro Mountains Mummy

References

1. ^ Furtman, Michael. 2000. Magic on the Rocks. Birch Portage Press.
2. ^ Daniels and Stevens, Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, 1903, p. 1421.
3. ^ Lawrence, Mysteries and Legends of Montana: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained, 1997, p. 18.
4. ^ Frey, The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges, 1993, p. 68.
5. ^ Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
6. ^ Cheung, Theresa. 2006. The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element.

Bibliography

• Daniels, Cora Linn and Stevens, C.M. Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World. Milwaukee, Wisc.: J. H. Tewdai & Sons, 1903.
• Frey, Rodney. The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
• Lawrence, Edward. Mysteries and Legends of Montana: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained. Helena, Mont.: Twodot, 1997.