There are various diverse creation myths from Native American cultures, though many hold similar characteristics. One of the more common forms of creation myth seems to be emergence myth. Generally, in the emergence myth, instead of seeing how the world is created, we see how the people arrive in an already created world. This particular story type is commonly found in Native American cultures from the southwest (Ryan). The Tewa Pueblo version of this myth, entitled How the People Came to the Middle Place, has been collected and written down by the anthropologists Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin in their book, American Indian Mythology. The myth was told to them by two separate sources, Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso and Leonidas Vigil of Nambe Pueblo. This myth helps to illustrate important parts of their culture and probably held multiple functions for the Pueblo people.
The emergence myth differs greatly from the common western Christian way of thinking. In Christianity, humans were once in a perfect place until they disobeyed God and were sent into the current world, which is thought of as a punishment. In the Tewa Pueblo emergence myth, the people are stuck in a place of darkness until their friend, the Mole, helps lead them to a new world (Marriott, Rachlin 66-67). They do not view this world as their punishment but as a good place, improved from where they were before. Many of the things that appear in this myth are characteristic of other Native American myths as well. For example, Mole is an animal but talks and acts similarly to a human. This shows the great respect that the culture held for animals. They did not believe that they were superior to or dominant over the animals. They recognized their differences to th...
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...me to be and what the constellations are may have been told separately before they were a part of this story. It would not be surprising if this is what happened since most Native American mythology was told orally. In conclusion, this myth was probably very important to the Pueblo people and helps to illuminate some of the most important parts of their culture and beliefs.
Works Cited
Leeming, David. "Native North American Mythology." The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Marriott, Alice, and Carol K. Rachlin. "How the People Came to the Middle Place -- Tewa."American Indian Mythology. New York: Crowell, 1968. 65-72. Print.
Ryan, John Barry. "Native American Creation Myths." Encyclopedia of American Studies. N.p.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
In Native American literature, both creation myths and trickster tales were frequently told and passed down through generations upon generations orally, and then eventually written down. A creation myth is a tale that tells of how the world began or how people first came to live here, while a trickster tale is a short story that tells of a “trickster” with vacuous behavior, whose actions are meant to teach a lesson. Both types of literature are still relevant in modern society, whether it’s through pop-culture or re-told stories, and continue to guide individuals through their life, teach lessons about life on earth, morals, and human nature.
The Jemez people have a famous creation story that they tell their children. There creation story is this “Long ago, Pueblo people lived far away up north. At first they lived underground, in a holy place called Sipapu. Then people climbed up through a hole in the earth into the sunlight. God guided them for many years as they wandered. People suffered many bad things like tornadoes and drought and bad magicians, before they got to a good land where they could settle down”.
The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an ancestor or relative. The Native American’s strongly belie...
"American Native Spirituality." American Native Spirituality. Tahtonka, 28 Feb. 1998. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Print. Waldman, Carl. " Sioux." Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition.
Wheelwright, M. (1942). Navajo Creation Myth. Navajo Religion Series, Vol. 1. Santa Fe: Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art.
to a native interpretation told through the oral tradition and a Native-American point of view, the
Much of the literature written by Native Americans from the Southeastern U.S. draws from traditional tribal myths. Many of these myths have been transcribed and translated into English by various ethnographers and folklorists, and, in the case of the Cherokee, myths have been collected and published in acclaimed books. Anthropologist James Mooney, an employee of the federal government at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, collected a large number of mythological stories from informants during his years of fieldwork among the Eastern Band of the Cherokee in western North Carolina; Mooney incorporated that material into the important compilation Myths of the Cherokee (1900). A century later, folklorist Barbara R. Duncan, a researcher employed by the Museum of the Cherokee...
For the Native Americans to explain their existence, they created stories that described how things came to be. These stories are much like the ones that you would find in the Bible, and are very insightful in getting a better understanding of the Native Americans religious viewings. The Native Americans strongly believed in spirits and beings of another world. In the Iroquois Creation Story, these believes are strongly represented by telling the story of two brothers. This story is a representation of how the world was created. There is a good minded brother and a bad minded brother, which are not just brothers but twins. These unborn brothers and their mother were sent to the back of a turtle that in order to secure them from the dangers of the dark world she fell to. In a hurry to be born, the bad minded brother murders
7. Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub., 2003. Print.
Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discover hundreds of parallels between the myths that make up every culture, including their creation myths. As most are deeply rooted in religion, comparisons based on geographic area, themes, and similar story lines emerge as religions form and migrate. Campbell recognized these similarities an...
other Native American tribes. Although first and foremost the Myth follows an emergence story of how
McGaa, Ed. Mother Earth Spirituality: Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.
The Maori myth is a Polynesian story about the creation of the universe which according to Rosenberg was different from other creation myths because it begins with nothing and then progresses through a process of “nonbeing to thought to the creation of the universe and human beings” (351). Even though it may be different because it goes from “nonbeing to thought” instead of nothingness to a spoken word or action, it has many similarities to other creation myths in how it explains the origins of the Gods and how each one represents a natural event or aspect of nature and humanity. The myth begins with an “idea” that “was remembered” and then “became conscious” and then “a wish to create”, all of which created a “power to live and to grow, even in emptiness” (352). At this point there was still no being, only thought and desire which gives the idea that what is being addressed are the human attributes of feeling, sensing, desire and thought, this is where this story is different from other creation myths.
Edmonds, Margot. and Clark, Ella. "Voices of the Winds:Native American Legends". New York: Facts on File, 1989.