While Native myths and legends were educational tools to transmit tribal beliefs and history, traditional American Indian poetry served a ritualistic function in everyday life. Few traditional Native songs, which all poems were, survive; only Mayan and Aztec poems were written, and most of these were burned by a Spanish bishop. In addition, many songs were private possessions, and long chants and rituals at the heart of Indian religions could not be revealed without unleashing the powers they evoked. The sacred quality of traditional Indian songs was paramount. There were sacred songs to greet the day, assure success in everyday activities, lighten the burden of work, accompany the medicine man's healing ceremony, raise morale before battle, bewitch an enemy or lover, celebrate social occasions, and mourn the loss of a loved one. Dream songs came to the dreamer after suffering and loneliness and were often accompanied by binding obligations. Mothers sang their babies to sleep, and every man had a song to sing at the hour of his death. The article includes (1) Chippewa and Ojibway dream songs; (2) Papago and Pima medicine songs; (3) Ojibway and Montagnais-Naskapi hunting songs; (4) Chippewa and Cheyenne death chants; (5) Ojibway, Cree, Malecite, Omaha, and Blackfoot love songs of men and women; (6) Creek, Lillooet, Nootka, Tlingit, and Ojibway women's songs; and (7) a Conchiti poem about Coyote, the trickster. 17 references. (SV)