American folklore

 This article is part of the
Culture of the United States series.

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American folklore is the folk tradition which has evolved on the North American continent since Europeans arrived in the 16th century. While it contains much in the way of Native American tradition, it should not be confused with the actual tribal beliefs of any real band, nation or community of native people. American Folklore, rather, is that strange fusing of European ideals of "civilization" with a European obsession with the "exotic" and the "savage." Anyway you slice it, American Folklore is essentially about immigrants and their misunderstanding of each other, and of the new landscape they found themselves conquering, and of the people that had already been there when the first "white men" arrived.

Ultimately, American Folklore is a constant intertwining of the new and the old, the mechanical and the pastoral, the mundane and the miraculous, for no other purpose it seems than to fill up the space of a lazy afternoon.

Categories of American Folklore:

Table of contents

1 Tall Men and their Tall Tales
2 And some women
3 Native Americans
4 Animals & Creatures
5 Literature
6 History
7 Contemporary folklore
8 Songs and games