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Comparing The Golden Chain And The World On The Turtle's Back

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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

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