World Mythology · Unit 13

Myths of the Americas

Quetzalcoatl, the Popol Vuh, Viracocha, Coyote and Raven

The mythologies of the Americas were largely recorded by the people who destroyed the cultures that produced them, which makes the sources unusually complicated.

The unit covers Quetzalcoatl and the Aztec gods, the Popol Vuh, Viracocha and Inca myth, Turtle Island and other North American creation stories, and Coyote and Raven as trickster figures.

This unit breaks down into 19 short steps and 112 questions, starting at difficulty 2 and building to 4. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 19
Questions: 112
Difficulty: 2-4

What this unit covers

Coyote and Raven
Turtle Island and Native Creation Stories
Quetzalcoatl and the Aztec Gods
Viracocha and Inca Myth
The Popol Vuh

Where this fits

Pairs with History's The Ancient Americas.

Where people slip

The Popol Vuh survives because a Spanish friar transcribed it. The best source for Maya myth exists because of the same process that destroyed most of the rest.

How the unit is structured

Myths of the Americas runs as 19 short steps that unlock in order. 14 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 2 and climb to 4 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 19 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 112 in the unit altogether.

Coyote and Raven

Choose all that applyLevel 2
1. Which are trickster figures from the Americas? Pick all that apply.
- Coyotecorrect
- Ravencorrect
- Iktomicorrect
- Ganesha
Coyote, Raven and Iktomi the spider are all tricksters in different Native traditions.
Match the pairsLevel 2
2. Match each figure to the tradition they belong to.
Answer: Quetzalcoatl = Aztec; Hero Twins = Maya; Viracocha = Inca; Raven = Pacific Northwest
The Americas hold many distinct traditions, each with its own figures.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
3. Which bird is a famous trickster and transformer along the Pacific Northwest coast?
- Ravencorrect
- Flamingo
- Ostrich
- Peacock
Raven is a central figure in many Northwest Coast traditions.
True or falseLevel 2
4. In several Northwest Coast traditions, Raven is credited with bringing daylight into the world.
Answer: True
True. Raven releases the sun, moon or light in many versions.
Fact or fibLevel 3
5. Totem poles of the Northwest Coast record family crests and stories.
Answer: True
True. They are carved records of lineage, rights and events.
Sort into groupsLevel 3
6. Sort each figure by the region of the Americas.
Answer: Huitzilopochtli = Mesoamerica; Kukulkan = Mesoamerica; Inti = Andes; Pachamama = Andes
Different regions of the Americas have their own great traditions.

Quetzalcoatl and the Aztec Gods

Fact or fibLevel 2
7. Tlaloc was the Aztec god of rain, important for growing crops.
Answer: True
True. Farmers depended on his rain, and he shared the great temple with Huitzilopochtli.
Fill the blankLevel 2
8. The Aztec capital, built on an island in a lake, was called ____.
- Tenochtitlancorrect
- Cusco
- Tikal
- Machu Picchu
Tenochtitlan stood where Mexico City is today.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
9. Which Aztec god of sun and war led the Mexica to found their capital?
- Huitzilopochtlicorrect
- Tlaloc
- Xipe Totec
- Mictlantecuhtli
Huitzilopochtli guided them to the place where an eagle perched on a cactus.
True or falseLevel 2
10. Quetzalcoatl was linked with wind, learning and the gift of maize.
Answer: True
True. He was a god of knowledge and life, not only of the sky.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
11. Which are Aztec gods? Pick all that apply.
- Tlaloccorrect
- Coatlicuecorrect
- Mictlantecuhtlicorrect
- Inti
Tlaloc, Coatlicue and Mictlantecuhtli are all Aztec.
Guess the numberLevel 3
12. Which numbered sun or world age did the Aztecs believe they were living in?
Answer: 5 th sun
They lived in the Fifth Sun, which they believed would also one day end.

The Popol Vuh

Fact or fibLevel 2
13. The Maya built stepped pyramids and had their own system of writing.
Answer: True
True. Maya glyph writing recorded history, dates and myth.
Fill the blankLevel 2
14. The Maya underworld in the Popol Vuh is called ____.
- Xibalbacorrect
- Mictlan
- Hades
- Yomi
Xibalba is the place of fear, home of the underworld lords.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
15. What were the first successful humans made from in the Popol Vuh?
- Maizecorrect
- Gold
- Stone
- Feathers
After mud and wood failed, people were made from maize.
True or falseLevel 2
16. In the Popol Vuh, earlier attempts to make people out of mud and wood failed.
Answer: True
True. The mud people crumbled and the wooden people had no hearts.
Type the answerLevel 2
17. Which grain were the first true people made from in Maya tradition?
Answer: maize
Maize, the staple crop, formed the first real humans.
Choose all that applyLevel 4
18. Which Maya sites are famous for pyramids and inscriptions? Pick all that apply.
- Tikalcorrect
- Palenquecorrect
- Chichen Itzacorrect
- Machu Picchu
Tikal, Palenque and Chichen Itza are among the best known Maya cities.

Turtle Island and Native Creation Stories

Build the sentenceLevel 2
19. Build a sentence about a Maya creation idea.
Answer: The first people were made from maize
The first true people were made from maize.
Fact or fibLevel 2
20. The Americas had only one shared mythology before Europeans arrived.
Answer: False
False. Hundreds of distinct peoples had their own languages and traditions.
Fill the blankLevel 2
21. Stories that say people climbed up into this world from earlier worlds below are called ____ stories.
- emergencecorrect
- harvest
- trading
- hunting
Emergence stories are told by several peoples of the American Southwest.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
22. In the Haudenosaunee story, what do the animals do when Sky Woman falls?
- They dive for mud to make landcorrect
- They build a wooden raft
- They fly her back to the sky
- They hide underwater
They dive to bring up mud, which is spread on a turtle's back to make land.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
23. Which are types of creation story found in the Americas? Pick all that apply.
- Earth-diver storiescorrect
- Emergence from lower worldscorrect
- Creation by a maker forming peoplecorrect
- Creation by printing press
Earth-diver, emergence and world-parent stories all appear across the continents.
Put in orderLevel 3
24. Put these Mesoamerican cultures in rough chronological order.
Answer: Olmec -> Teotihuacan -> Classic Maya cities -> Aztec empire
The Olmec came first, then the great city of Teotihuacan, the Classic Maya, and finally the Aztecs.

Viracocha and Inca Myth

Fact or fibLevel 2
25. The Inca kept records with knotted cords instead of writing.
Answer: True
True. The quipu recorded numbers and possibly more.
Fill the blankLevel 2
26. The Inca capital and sacred centre was the city of ____.
- Cuscocorrect
- Lima
- Quito
- La Paz
Cusco was the heart of the Inca world.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
27. Which god did the Inca rulers claim as their ancestor?
- Inti, the sun
- Illapa, the thunder
- Mama Quilla, the moon
- Supay of the underworld
The Sapa Inca claimed descent from Inti, the sun god.
True or falseLevel 2
28. Pachamama is the earth mother in Andean belief.
Answer: True
True. She is still honoured with offerings today.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
29. Which are Andean gods or sacred beings? Pick all that apply.
- Inticorrect
- Mama Quillacorrect
- Illapacorrect
- Tlaloc
Inti, Mama Quilla and Illapa are all Andean.
Put in orderLevel 3
30. Put the Inca origin story in order.
Answer: Viracocha creates the world -> Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo emerge at Lake Titicaca -> The golden rod sinks into the ground -> Cusco is founded
Viracocha creates, the founders emerge from Titicaca, the rod sinks at Cusco, and the city is founded.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 11 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Myths of the Americas

112 questions across 19 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Myths of the Americas

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

Who Is Quetzalcoatl? The Feathered Serpent of MesoamericaQuetzalcoatl was the feathered serpent god of wind, learning and the morning star, worshipped in Mexico for a thousand years. His myths and the Cortes legend.September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

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