Did Native American have a Zodiac-like birth sign tradition?

Question

This "Native American Zodiac symbol" page was shared to me on social media.

In this article, we’ve narrowed the focus to the ‘birth animals’ – the Native American zodiac. Like the modern horoscope, indigenous tribes also believed that a person born under a particular animal sign would derive certain characteristics from it.

It lists twelve animal signs and their associated characteristics.

Another example.

I'm skeptical that such a zodiac has actually been a Native American tradition at all. Did (or do) some Native Americans have this as a tradition?

Do any of those clickbait sites you mention make any claims about which tribal group(s) it's supposed to represent? — user56reinstatemonica8, Jan 31 '16 at 21:37
Not that I've found so far. And some have comments from people asking the same thing. — hippietrail, Jan 31 '16 at 21:38

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 01 '16 at 11:29

This Native American Zodiac mentioned by the OP is a modern invention by Sun Bear (a.k.a. Vincent LaDuke) from the Bear tribe of the White Earth Anishinaabeg reservation in Minnesota.

Sun Bear founded a new group of mostly European Americans, based on New Age beliefs to popularize Native American culture. (Such activites are frowned upon by Native elders and activists.)

The symbols in the question were noted as similar to Sun Bear's Medicine Wheel, as described in the 1980 Simon and Schuster book Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology.

The following summary of the “Native American Zodiac” is from Sun Bear’s book, Medicine Wheel:, co-written by a white member of the Bear Tribe. It draws on Sun Bear's own Ojibwa (Chippewa) culture, as well as several others in combination, notably modern western astrology. It is best understood as a New Age creation, notably because many First Nations do not even live in areas where medicine wheels, sturgeon, or snow geese are found.

Did Native American have a Zodiac-like birth sign tradition?

1 Answers1