Native American Creation Myths Essay

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

Native American tribes wove a complicated tapestry of creation myths because where they came from was important to them; the Puritans likewise spent time writing and speaking about their relationship to the God that brought them into the world but had serious demands about how to live life in return for His Grace. The existential questions of "How did we get here?" and "What should matter to us now that we are here?" were interpreted by the different tribes and Colonial Americans in very different ways as each had their own ideas about how to answer this question.

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

American literature begins with Native American work, such as religious mythology and oral history-related storytelling. An example of this, such as “The Sky Tree”, is an orally passed-down myth, highlighting a common question - how was the Earth created?

David Cusic’s, “The Iroquois Creation Story,” was published at the height of tensions between the Native Americans and the expansion of the United States into their territory, and illustrates how the Iroquois creation beliefs are actually similar in some comparison to that of Christianity. The story is about how The Iroquois Confederacy believed the world was created and their views of good and evil. This writing by David Cusic was extremely significant at the time because it was now the only written account of this orally told story on paper written by a native of the Iroquois. Now by saying that, there was already a version of the story written down before David Cusic, but it was by Frenchmen, Gabriel Sagard, therefore his story did not have necessarily as much authentication and reliability behind it.

While the Native Americans and the Africans inhabited two different continents, their belief system has a plethora of similarities pertaining to their core values. The basis of their religion also, in some ways, epitomizes modern day religion such as rites of passage. Their differences are shallow in context when it comes to what they view as sacred and holy and including religious rituals that are performed for a specific reason or transformation. Both Native American and African mythologies center around the ideology of harmony, balance, and cyclical nature of all beings through animistic symbolization. To a certain degree, all outsiders or nonnatives who study the belief systems of indigenous religions have found that indigenous religion is more than just a religion or belief system but rather an inherent way of living. To name or label indigenous beliefs as “religion” or any other is to have a bias based on our own views of transformation and ultimacy.

Myths are not solely a matter of representation, but are narratives of value within a culture that is paradigmatic, authoritative and applicable. Paden explains that within religious worlds, myths set the foundation that shape people’s way of life. Subsequently, they shape societies moral compasses and beliefs. The creation story in the bible is sort of a grounding prototype that shaped the belief of the catholic church. This story shows how myth is being applied and used to orient people to a higher power both in the past and currently. It is also a characteristic of myth as it tries to explain life’s fundamental questions. This relates to Paden’s thoughts about myth being labelled as more than just a language, but one with an authoritative

For multitudes of people the Bible is a source of justice, of freedom, and of hope. The Bible is inspiration for achieving a prosperous life. However, for some the Bible entails stories that ring true to their own histories, but not in a positive way. Specifically, the story of indigenous populations bears a striking similarity to one of the most frequently referenced stories in the Bible, Exodus. The one outlook from Exodus that is consistently neglected is that of the Canaanites, the indigenous people destined for destruction in order for the previously oppressed Israelites to reach success. When looking at American history, the Native Americans have undergone a near mere image of the Canaanite’s story. To me, this is a major issue and should be considered with weight.

The motifs found in the creation myths are undoubtedly different from those found in any other type of myth. Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of the creation myths is much greater than a primitive attempt to explain the mysteries of creation. Behind each creation myth is a vast variety of symbolism along with a number of motives which are often shared between cultures, despite vast geographical differences. My intention here is not only to discuss the purpose of the creation myths, but also to compare and contrast common themes which can be found in three selected works. These being, an Eskimo creation myth, the Ongwe creation myth and the Navajo creation myth.

Creation holds it’s place in various different cultures. “Who was the creator?” and “How was it created?” are two questions that are asked and explained in the Native American myths and the beliefs of Colonial Americans. Native Americans valued their mythical culture. They used myths to explain the importance of animals, nature, and most importantly, creation in their culture. Puritans valued God and allowed him to be the center of their lives. The Inuit and Mayan myths, along with the Puritan poetry of Edward Taylor, help us to understand how important a divine creator is to their respective cultures. Even though the Native American myths and the Colonial American writings are different, they are also very similar.

Civilisations use sacred origin stories to offer descriptions on God, identity, meaning and the purpose of life. In many cultures these stories are referred to as creation myths. Bernard Doyle further explains, “Creation myths are amongst mankind's earliest attempts to explain some of the most profound questions about the nature and origin of the universe”. In particular when focussing on the Upper Kingdom ancient Egyptian written and visual creation story, the significance of culture and religion is dominant. This text teaches contemporary Australians about the diversity of creation beliefs in religion. This argumentative essay focuses on a historical and social approach, addressing the theme of change in a religious society. It is important

The other important part of the Indians’ religion was their fables explaining the origins of the world. With time, these fables gradually

Every culture and religion around the world has their own beliefs, myths legends and stories of creation about how all things came to be. Some are very similar and others are very unique and take on a whole new perspective and life of their own. One thing that they all have in common is that those beliefs are a direct reflection of their religion and paradigms (the way they see the world) and therefore effect their actions and behaviors. Most of us here in North America and the United States are familiar with Christianity’s biblical version of creation as found in the old testament in the book of Genesis and may be unfamiliar with the Native American creation stories. In this essay I will closely compare the religious beliefs by examining the traditional Christian and Navajo Indian creation stories.

Each creation story highlights the most important aspects of the cultures that wrote them. Not only do they show the values of the people, but they can give us an insight into how these cultures might have been. Comparing the Atra-hasis, Rig Veda, Genesis, Yijing, and Popol Vuh has uncovered many distinct themes when focusing on the time and place the creation story occurred. Patterns found in creation stories from different parts of the world show how similar human beings are.

Classifying one set of Native American religion is nearly impossible, since these religious beliefs and traditions passed from generation to generation by verbal communication only. With the spread of Christianity, some Native American religions were altered; however, they continued to follow a majority of their initial traditions (Ellwood & Alles, 1998). Focus will be placed on the general concepts that relate to the majority of Native American religions.