Comparing Osage Creation Account And The Navajo Creation Myth

Origin myths are traditional stories pass down from generation to generation. The Earth’s on Turtle’s Back, When Grizzlies Walk Upright, and from The Navajo Origin Legend all revealed different customs, attitude, and beliefs. These aspects showed the lifestyles and culture of each tribe and how they all came to be. Each myths are far original and different, yet at the same time similar. They focused on natural aspects of how the world came to be. In the story of The Earth on Turtles Back, the Onondagas believed in the world came from a turtle’s back, this showed their beliefs in the animals are the original owners of earth and respects for the animals. Similarly, the Modoc’s also have great deference to animals and especially to grizzlies.

Have you ever wonder how the world was created from another culture’s perspective? Native Americans used creation myths to explained to their people how the world was developed overtime. Creation myths are a big part of the Native American culture. they have been passed down from generation to generation. In the creation myths, harmony with nature, rituals, and strong social values are shown in each myths. The purpose of having strong social value in these myths is to teach younger Native Americans valuable lesson if they ever do something bad. These myths reveals how the rituals were created and their intentions for doing it. Creation myths has harmony with nature in it to show a very close kinship between them

In the two creation myths of the Osage and Navarro, there are several differences. A major example of this is the origin of humans. In the Osage Creation Account, humans reside in the sky until the mythical Elk helps the human rid water from the landmasses that they would eventually inhabit. The Navarro creation myth states that humans resided inside of the earth and that Badger, another mystical personified animal, helped them reach the surface. Both of the Native American tribes all seem to have the same basic belief, that they are connected to nature and are polytheistic, but lack certain common details. This variety in belief is the result of the environment that they inhabit.

Stories are central to the Lakota way of life, specifically their story of how the world came to be. The Lakota Indians believe that the Great Spirit created everything. They say that there was once another world, but the Great Spirit was upset with those people because they had lost the sacredness of the land, so he destroyed it and made a new one. To bring water, he sang a song, but by the fourth song, the Earth was flooded. The flood killed all of the animals except the crow, Kangi, illustrating the necessity of balance in life. Kangi begged the Great Spirit for a place to rest, so the Great Spirit called forth four animals that could survive under the water, they were an otter, beaver, loon, and a turtle. The Great Spirit then asked them to go and retrieve some mud from under the water.

For thousands of years, scientists have tried to interpret the concept of creation. However, before people had access to modern scientific equipment, they told creations stories. A creation story is a myth that explains how and why the earth was made. A few cultures with differing opinions on creation are Europeans, Cherokee Indians, West Africans, and Hawaiians. Europeans tell the story of Genesis and God creating the earth in seven days and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Cherokee Indians believe that the earth was created by a water beetle. In West African culture, they teach the Golden Chain story, and Hawaiians have the Kumulipo story to explain their beliefs on creation. Although each story follows a basic guideline, they all have distinct disparities.

These Native American spiritual stories can be compared to the book of Genesis. Both of the stories and the book of Genesis all start with water at the beginning of the story. In "How the World Was Made" everything was all water and the animals lived above in the sky. "The Sky Tree" starts with the earth covered in water. The book of Genesis claims that the earth began in water. Another common characteristic between all three stories is how land came after water. In all three stories, land

Creation stories are tools used to try to explain the unexplainable. For centuries humans have been searching for answers to the what, when, why, and how questions that encompass life. Genesis and the Iroquois Creation Myth are two different stories that seek to describe the creation of Earth and the universe that surrounds it. Genesis describes a Christian perspective, particularly one of the most popular Western explanations to life on Earth. The Iroquois Creation Myth, on the other hand, takes a less traditional approach, while only mildly alluding to religion. The similarities between the two lie in the timeless battle of good versus evil.

All different cultures have their own creation stories, mostly all containing the elements of a Higher Power of some sort, how the power created the world, and the creation a human man. The Christian belief in the Genesis story has these key elements , as does the Iroquois creation myth, The World on the Turtle's Back. Although these two creation stories share similarities, they also have some stark contrasts. These contrasts include, how the two cultures of the Native American Iroquois tribe and then Christians view life and aspects of good and evil, the way each culture views nature and the impact that has on their culture, and finally the way the Christian God and the Iroquois gods are portrayed to

There are many familiar archetypes found in the Creation stories of the Native American Indians. The Iroquois and Navajo Creation Stories from The Norton Anthology American Literature Vol. A, contains several archetypes similar to those of the Judeo-Christian Bible. The story of the Iroquois contains similarities such as a virgin mother, characters of good and evil, different steps to creation, Heaven and Hell. Some concepts follow through in the Navajo story, but it also mentions the importance of marriage, twelve tribes, interbred peoples, floods, and a rainbow.

There is an enormous amount of symbolism in the Navajo Creation Story. One important symbol is the number 4. The table below lists several aspects of the story that are related to the number 4.

Often a topic of debate, there are several different takes on the creation story existent in literature. Dependent on one’s religion, different beliefs about how the world we live in was created may arise. Looking deeper into the literature, one will realize there are also many similarities between creation stories. Based on the strong possibility that Genesis was influenced by the Enuma Elish, there are similarities that stem from the fact that they both describe the creation of a new world as well as differences in their interpretations and approaches to creationism.

Many Native Americans tell stories of the creation of earth that explain how they came to be before the Europeans entered North America. Creation myths vary among all cultures; however, they all have one thing in common; heaven and earth. One of the most popular creation myths was the Iroquois creation myth. The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee meaning “People of the Longhouse” (Iroquois Indian Museum, n.d.) consists of six Indian nations that include the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora tribes. In the beginning, there was a belief that before the creation of earth, there were two realms, the sky, and the lower world that consisted of water and water creatures. From the sky, a young woman named the Sky Woman was

The beliefs of the cherokee were somewhat really odd. They said a small water beetle came up from the water and dove back in the water and pushed up all the mud. Also that there was a great buzzard that came through flapping his wings creating mountains and valley. Owls amongst other animals were told to keep watch over the new animals but only the owl and the cougar met the challenge and that's why they are able to see in the dark.

In the story, “Man’s Dependence on Animals,” it is clear that the Native American culture understood the importance of the relationship that existed between man and animals. In keeping with the tradition of storytelling, the storyteller carefully uses his words to describe man as a helpless being, needing his animal friends to survive. “At birth man was helpless. Again it was the animals who assisted the spirit woman in nourishing the newborn infants by bring fruits, vegetables, berries, and drink, while the birds and butterflies brought joy” (Animal 62). This interdependence of man with his environment is clearly illustrated in this story. To further illustrate this interdependence, the storyteller talks about how the animals sacrificed their flesh to feed man. It is clear from the many passages in the story that the Native American understood the close relationship that exists between himself and his fellow animals. The message expressed by the storyteller in the story is clear, conservation of the resources provided by Mother Earth is key to the survival of man. This concept is now referred to as “Going Green” and it involves conserving our limited natural resources. The storyteller goes on to talk about the consequences of not being grateful for the gifts provided by Mother Earth. “At last, weary of service, the

The Iroquois creation story there exists two planes the Nothing and the Great Blue. In the Great Blue there lived a woman who dreamed dreams has a dream about a tree that brings the light, but the blossoms on the tree blocked the light and this frightened her. When she awoke she begs the men of her village to cut down the tree, but not understanding the men dig around of the tree to allow more light to shine through. The tree fell through the hole the men dug and left only darkness. The men blamed the dreamer of dreams for there being no more light and the men grabbed her and threw her through the hole where the tree used to be. As the woman fell a hawk caught her and slowed her fall. The hawk unable to carry her forever called to the other creatures to help find solid land for the woman to live upon. Unable to find dry land the animals dove into the depths and came up with mud which they began to pile on the back of a gigantic turtle. The animals became excite by their work and made the entire Earth. Till this day the Earth