The Native Americans that can be found in North America have their myths explaining how they were created and the reason as to why they occupy certain regions in America. Moreover, these myths are seen to be very different from each other and have different concepts and ideologies. The reason as to why there is no unified body associated with the mythologies is due to the different tribal groups that make up the Native Americans (Birrell, 1993). The tribes have their own creation stories in relation to how the world came into being, the appearance of people, and the regions that people live and the lives of people in their tribes such as heroes and deities.
There is an immense difference in the variety of mythologies. However, certain themes, stories and characters can be found in numerous cultures. The principle behind these myths is the concept of the existence of spiritual forces felt in the natural world. These forces can be exhibited through winds, clouds, animals and plants, which will be seen in the shapes they sustain at a particular time. The stories explain the actions of the tribes’ heroes’ gods and ancestors and their contribution to the creation of the earth.
Majority of the mythologies explain that the origin of the Native Americans can be traced to the places that their ancestors originally inhabited. There are some stories that show the existence of migration trends. However, it is further explained that the Native Americans descended from the hunting and gathering communities that are from the northeastern part of Asia. This community later traveled through the Bering Sea to the North American side during the Ice Age period. According to many Native American believes, during the Ice Age period in 8000 B.C, a bridge linked Alaska and Siberia since the level of the ocean was low.
Some people in the community from Siberia might have reached Alaska by the use of boats or the large mass of ice by walking. The group of the North American Indians grew and their diversification was experienced in the 1500s after the Europeans colonized the region(Thury & Devinney, 2005, p, 68). Therefore, the mythologies of creation from different tribal groups in the Native American communities can be established through looking at the differences in the myths from one community to another.
Apache
The Apache community has two myths that they believe to have been the reason behind their existence. The first myth gives an illustration that the world did not have anything apart from Gucumatz, who was the feathered serpent and Tepeu. The two are said to have created things from their thoughts as they sat together and came up with the things they wanted through thinking. They started by thinking of the physical things on the surface of the earth such as mountains, sky, trees, animals and the earth itself. They realized that the things they had thought of did not have the strength to praise and worship them.
It made them come up with a more advanced being that was made from clay (Schomp, 2008, P, 57). They realized that this being was not reliable during the rainy season, so they came up with another being made of wood. It was also not reliable as it had a lot of trouble with the earth over who was in control. It made them angry they decided to wipe out the entire earth to come up with a new creation. They had help from the Coyote, Lion, Crow and Parrot, who behaved well as they had expected. The four beings are believed to be the ancestors of the Quiche.
There is also a belief that in the beginning there was nothing, and the earth was filled with darkness. Suddenly, a man who lived above and is believed to be a small man with beards came from his sleep. Indicatively, the man, who has been believed to be the creator, produced a young girl out of rubbing his hands together. This girl did not have parents. When the man rubbed his face using his hands, a Sun-God appeared. He later formed a small boy from rubbing his sweaty brow. From this action, he had created four gods (Thury & Devinney, 2005, p, 72).
He later created Big Dipper, Tarantula, Lightning-Maker, Wind and Lightning-Rambler. All four gods were in agreement, and they rubbed their hands together and the creator decided to mix them with his sweat. He rubbed his palm together to form small balls that were brown in color. The gods kicked the balls, and they grew larger as they rolled away. The wind was told to blow into the balls as Tarantula spun them using a cord.
This exercise was repeated as different cords moved to different directions holding the balls. This action made the brown balls become the earth. Later a hummingbird appeared after the creator rubbed his hands together. The bird was asked to move around the earth and report on what it had seen. The bird came back with the news that there was water on the western side of the earth. However, they noticed that the earth moved, so they devised a way of making it still by making four giant posts from four different directions (Schomp, 2008, P, 64). After the earth was still, it was easy for the creator to make people, animals and everything observable and in existent on the earth's surface.
Another myth implies that there was darkness all over the world, and nothing existed. A thin disk appeared from the darkness and was suspended in midair. One of the sides was white while the other was yellow. A bearded man who is referred to as the creator sat on the disc. He looked into the darkness, and light appeared. A sea of light came from down as he looked down then a dawn of a yellow streak appeared when he looked to the east. He looked to the west, and there was a tint of many colors from everywhere which comprised of clouds of different colors.
He later decided to create three other gods comprising of a Sun-God, a little boy and a little girl. The creator then made the celestial phenomena, the tarantula, the wind and the earth. The sweat from the four gods was used in the formation of a small ball(Jones &Molyneaux, 2004, p, 78). The wind was later told to blow it up after the other gods had kicked it. It made the earth large to its current form.
Chelan
The Chelan community believes that the world was created by the great chief from above who is the then creator. He later made the animals and gave them different names. He later informed the animals that he was going back to the sky and would return to create a human being and give him dominion over the entire creation. After twelve moons, he returned only to discover that some of the animals were annoyed by the names they were given.
The creator was furious with them for disobeying his laws of and decided not to create a human being since the animals had soiled it. He planned to wash it with many shows and moons to make it clean as he wanted. He then took a something from his right side, which turned into a beaver after it was placed in the river. He gave them a law that they would have to take it and divide it into twelve parts then to different regions. They would have to breathe into it for life, and it would turn into a human being. He advised them that he would solely give his powers to one person so long as he would remain good.
All the animals went to their homes apart from the Coyote, who had a special case with the great chief. The Coyote was given power as a great chief and was made the head of all the animals. He was informed that all the animals will sin and eat each other, and it will be up to him to ensure that all the animals are peaceful. Everything that was foretold came to pass, and the Coyote helped them be at peace (Schomp, 2008, P, 89). He later came up with another law that the creator will kill anything or anyone that made fun of him.
The coyote was ensured that everywhere he visited there was peace. It meant that the Coyote had been good. However, this was not the way forward as he wanted to change the laws of the great chief and was chased to the furthest part of the ocean. A young wolf that made the other animals moves into a different direction to of the region to enable the human being to be created later killed the beaver. After the human being had come to life, he was sent to Lake Chelan, and this is the reason as to why the Chelan people occupied the region for a long time.
Cherokee
The people of the Cherokee community have three myths about the creation story. The first myths instigates that an island floated from an ocean. The island was made of a solid rock, and it hung from four thick ropes. The earth was always dark, and there were no people. It was difficult for the animals to see so they decided to put the sun to move on the path from east to west of the island so that they could use it to see.
The Great Spirit had ordered the animals and plants not to sleep for seven days and nights. It was difficult for them, and sometimes they slept. The plants that the spirit noted that did not sleep, were rewarded by always staying green throughout the year(Thury & Devinney, 2005, p, 93). The other plants were always made to shed their leaves during the winter. The animals that were capable of staying awake without sleep were rewarded by being given the ability to walk during the dark. It was then that the people appeared.
The second myth implies that the in the beginning, there was nothing but only water that covered everywhere. All the animals lived on top of the water, and the situation was difficult as the sky was congested. All the animals were interested to know the type of life that dominated the bottom of the water. Dayun who was the water beetle decided to volunteer and explore what was beneath the water.
On the surface of the water, the beetle found nothing although, at the floor of the sea, it discovered a mud that he decided to show to the other animals. After floating on top of the waters, the mud grew larger and spread outwardly to become the earth as we know it. One of the animals decided to attach the land to the sky using four different strings. They discovered that the land was still wet, and the Galun'lati, who was the great buzzard, was sent to prepare it for them. As he flew down to the land, he was exhausted on the way, and his feathers begun to drop down on the Cherokee Land(Schomp, 2008, P, 132). It is believed that the mountains and the valleys found on the land are as a result of the feathers hitting the ground. The darkness was too much for them to bear that they decided to make the sunlight the path they followed from east to west.
The third myth associated with the Cherokee people explains that in the beginning the land was fertile and covered with water. The earth floated above the sea as a great island. Four ropes that were a representation of sacred directions suspended it. At the same time, the sky that it hanged on was very crystal. The land did not have people and the animals enjoyed living on top of the rainbow. However, with the passage of time, they realized that their in habitant was becoming congested; they decided to send the water beetle to search for space underneath the water.
The water beetle returned with mud, which spread quickly as a flat land that was soft and wet. It was difficult for the animals to live, so they sent their grandfather the Buzzard to find out if the land had hardened. As he flew over the land, he discovered that the land had hardened, and he wanted to be sure that it was safe, so he flew closer (Jones &Molyneaux, 2004, p, 90). The wind from his flapping wings made the mountains and the valleys. It is for this reason that the Cherokee land has numerous mountains.
After the land had stiffened, the animals came down from the rainbow. They discovered that there was darkness on the surface of the earth, and they were in need of light. They decided to pull the sun that was behind the rainbow, but it was too hot and bright for them. It made them come up with an urgent solution of making the Shamans pull the sun further from the land. They also made a path for the sun to follow from east to west every day so that every human-being could have a share of the light.
It is after this period they required the help of the creator who placed the plants on top of the surface of the earth. The animals were required to stay awake for seven days and nights. It was difficult for the majority of the animals and only a few of them such as an owl and mountain lions who were able to complete the task. For their diligence, they were rewarded with the gift of being able to see in the dark. The plants that were able to persist in the seven days and night were rewarded with the ability of being green throughout the year. They include the pine, cedar and spruces (Thury & Devinney, 2005, p, 94). The creator then created the people, and the women were given the ability of giving birth to babies after seven days. The population of the human beings grew faster that it was feared that there would be overcrowding on the surface of the earth. This ability was later revoked, and they were told that they would only reproduce once per year.
Chinook
The Chinook community believed that in the beginning there existed only one person who they refer to as Talapas, who is the creator. He provided life to the earth's surface. It grew vividly and in abundance. It was after this that he placed the animals that had the form of the Totem Spirit to the earth where they prospered.
The creator then instructed the thunderbird referred to as the Tsoonato carry the eggs from one the region that they had prospered to the top of Kaheese. It was the top of the mountain that is found near Yakaitl-Wimakl otherwise referred to as the Colombian River. The Old Giantess did not want the eggs to hatch and decided to break them one by one. It made the vengeful bird angry that he flew from Otelagh also known as the sun in pursuit of the Old Giantess. The Giantess was consumed with fire for the injustices she had committed (Schomp, 2008, P, 157). Those eggs remained hatched into the Tsinuk people otherwise known as Chinook.
Chippewa-Ojibwe
The people from the Chippewa community believe into myths of creation that are related to their existence in the world. The first myth begins with the existence of an old woman who lived in the caves. She was lonely as there were no people or animals around to comfort her. She lived in the barriers of the plants that were found near the roots. One night as she was sleeping, a magical dog appeared and crept into the cave where she slept and lay beside her. The dog then began to change, and his body shed off the hair as the limbs grew long and straight. The dog changed his features and became a handsome warrior. After nine months, the woman gave birth to a child who was the first Chippewa (Jones &Molyneaux, 2004, p, 101). It was through him that the other Chippewa people came to existence.
In the second myth, they believe that the earth had a family that comprised of the moon that was the grandmother and the sun who was the grandfather. The earth was a female, as such, it has been referred to as the mother earth since it gives birth to living things. Mother earth was given four spiritual powers in the form of directions.
As mother earth was young, the creator who the Ojibwe people call Gichi-Manidoo, filled her with beauty. He always sent her gifts in the form of swimmers in the water and hummingbirds to sing for her. He also placed trees, plants four legged animals and insects on the land to make her more beautiful. In an act of blowing her kisses, Gichi-Manidoo blew four sacred megis shell from four parts of the mother earth. Arguably, the action resulted to the formation of a two-legged animal referred to as a man (Jones &Molyneaux, 2004, p, 108). The man was the last form of present that the earth was given. From him came the Anishinaabe, who is the original people.
References
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