Creation myths have varying optimistic views on the creation of man. However, most creation myths agree that a god or gods of sorts sculpted man from the Earth’s clay. The creation myths “The Golden Chain” and “The World on the Turtle’s Back” come from two different tribes, the Seneca and the Iroquois, and share an optimistic view of mankind as well as the idea that man is made from clay. Even though both the Seneca and Iroquois tribes both believe that man is made from clay, they believe that man is created using a different method than that of the other. The Seneca tribe believes that man is created by Obatala in a state of abnormality because Obatala is drunk, while the Iroquois believe that mankind was created in a normal state of mind …show more content…
In the Seneca myth “The Golden Chain”, the story agrees with the concept that man is made from clay. Obatala creates man from the clay around the edges of the pond even though he is intoxicated. Because Obatala is under the influence of alcohol, “he had made many of these bodies from the dark earth at the pond's side...but now he wasn't careful and made some without eyes or some with misshapen limbs” (“The Golden Chain”). According to the Seneca Tribe, it is true that all people are created with the same materials, however some people were created under abnormal circumstances and therefore were abnormal themselves.
The Iroquois tribe also believes that man is sculpted from clay. The twins from the story created man from the Earth’s soils. The Seneca myth confirms that, “Man was made of clay, like pottery, and baked in the fire,” but there were people created who, “always lied, and [they] always did things backward. You could never tell what [they were] trying to do because [they] always made it look as if [they] were doing the opposite,” just as the morally crooked, left-handed twin does (“The World on the Turtle’s
Creation myths are fundamental in each mythological universe because ancient men needed to answer some elementary questions, such as why they were created, what is their purpose, and what are their tasks. Like all the other creation myths, “The Creation of Ulligara and Zalgarra” was narrated to answer these questions within Sumerian society. Consequently, it defines the men’s role in the creation process by implicating the idea that the humans are created as servants to the gods. Likewise, Scott Leonard examines the myth on a spiritual level and argues that this myth explains the human being’s place in the cosmos by saying that the gods needed someone to do the daily labor of tending fields, raising livestock, and ensuring that the gods’ rightful offerings are made (Leonard 76). The
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
There are quite a few similarities between the Greeks stories of creation and the Cherokee. In both stories, before anything could be created, water had been everywhere, and surrounded in darkness. It was void-like and wild, primitive almost. Another similarity
Throughout the plot of these four creation stories, it is visible that each culture has varying beliefs on how land was developed. For example, Cherokee Indians conclude that land was created by a water beetle who sculpted soft mud, where as Hawaiians believe that land emerged from the slime in the ocean. Both Europeans and West Africans teach that a supreme being used his or her powers to form land. In Genesis, God was responsible for the land, whereas in the Golden Chain story, a creature called Obatala was deemed accountable for creating the land. One similarity betweens these stories is that they all begin in an almost identical setting. In every myth except for
The Lord God created man in his own image. He used the dust from the ground and molded it to create the first ever human, Adam. The
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
The Iroquois Creation Myth is a detailed and complex myth that has many different versions. The earliest complete transcription and translation of the Iroquois creation myth by David Cusick’s Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations (Cusick, 1828). In different versions of the myth, Sky Woman gives birth to twin boys, and in another, Sky Woman’s daughter gives birth. In similar sequence,
In the beginning of the myth, the gods Plumed Serpent and Hurricane created the first plant life and the mountains on Earth. As time went by, the gods felt there was something missing because there was no noise on the planet. They then created animals to live in the forests. Once the animals were created, the gods had the intention of having the animals speak. Without language, the animals could not worship the gods properly. This left the gods unsatisfied. With this, the gods decided to create humans. The humans would be able to worship the gods and the animals would stay in the forests to serve the needs of man.
One of the first differences between the Iroquois’ beliefs and Christianity is the theory on “the creation of life”. The Iroquois believe in a creator God called ‘Hahgwehdiyu’, which was the good spirit of the twin Gods of Wind Breath. He shaped the world with the palm of his hands and recycled the corpse of his dead mother to create the sky, moon and the sun. He planted a grain of corn in her to give the world fertility. It is believed that when the Sky Woman, or the mother, fell from the sky she would fertilize the earth so her granddaughters could grow and harvest many things. They also believe in a current God called
In the Inuit myth, it was perceived that a Raven was the creature. It was believed that the Raven created man through flaps of his wings creating growing pea-pod plants. Mayan and Puritan cultures both believed that a superior man created mankind. However Mayan culture believed they were created between two Gods one of man and one of feathered spirit.
At the beginning of the story about the creation is different: in Christian story, the first day God created the heavens and the earth. God created the world in seven days, and the world has day time, night time, plants, trees, sky, seas, lands, water, birds, wild animals, foods, the man ? Adam, and his wife ? Eve. On the other hand, in Iroquois, that has two worlds in ancients already ? the lower world was in great darkness and humankind inhabited the upper
In Salinan Indian Creation Story, there are resemblances both to Greek mythology and to the Bible. The myth says, “When the world was finished, there were as yet no people, but the Bald Eagle was the chief of the animals. He saw the world was incomplete and decided to make some human beings. So he took some clay and
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
The Dogon tribe has another piece of art a beautiful wood pieces of men and women together as one. This piece of art can related to us here in the unite state. Many cultures here believe that god made men and from men he made women. It funny, how the Dogon tribe had the same thing. Their god was called Amma and he was a man just like our god here. But there is a big different when it comes to how Amma made men and earth then our story. In the Dogon tribe Amma had made men immortal. Before he did that it was said “that Amma created four male and four female creatures. The males are: Nommo Die, Nommo Titiyayne, O Nommo and Ogo and were created in the form of fish. But Ogo rebelled before he was fully finished, as he wanted to make the creation