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Iroquois Origin Story Analysis

Decent Essays

Many cultures around the world have beliefs and traditions unique to their way of life. One of the main influences in their culture stems from religious beliefs, that almost always explains the fundamental questions of human existence, purpose and relationship with spiritual beings and nature. These timeless origin stories seem to address these questions in vibrant, creative and powerful ways. They all point to some power, force or being that is responsible for man’s existence and purpose, and in turn determine man’s relationship with them in this world. There is certainly a correlation and influence of the origin stories and their corresponding cultures. For example, when looking at the Iroquois origin story, women play a crucial role …show more content…

When hunting for food they do not claim their skill and weaponry to their successful hunt but revere the dead animal who willingly offered itself as a sacrifice to feed the tribe. For cultures to coexist peacefully, socially and economically, it is extremely beneficial to understand the core beliefs that exist within those cultures. As already explained, the strong influence that origin stories have on their respective cultures, explains the unique lifestyle that may be diverse and rich in how people groups determine what their culture will look like and represent. A coming together of two cultures with opposing or different cultural heritages, can create more conflict and misunderstanding, given the sensitive nature of their belief system especially when an aspect of the divine or spiritual nature of their heritage is desecrated. We see this desecration and conflict take place between the Native Americans and the European settlers. Their differences in beliefs based on their origin stories indicated why there were so many massacres like the one in 1890 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The U.S government was apprehensive about the spiritual movement where they performed the Ghost Dance. The Sioux believe they were defeated because they had angered their gods by forsaking their traditions. As per the article titled, “Wounded Knee” from history.com, “Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of

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