The Iroquois Creation Myth

How does this myth
 fulfill
 the
 four 
functions 
of 
myths? (look 
on 
p.
31
 in 
your
 textbook 
or 
p.
37 
in
 the
 online
book)

The Sioux creation story and the book of Genesis in the Bible both mirror an image of how the world along with human life was created. When forming their creations they were dissimilar in the way they produced water and land. In Genesis God created water by just a spoken word and it would appear. However, the Creating Power would form his creations with objects using his hands to form land from mud the story states “He sang all the while that he shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water to make a spot of dry land for himself.” Additionally, he completely covers everything with land by a command and using feathers from an eagle by waving them over the spot he had produced. Both of these stories reveal that in a previous time their God was unpleased with what he had created so he destroyed the world because of the people’s acts of immorality and unruliness. Also, this gives reflection on the role of the natural world being impure, failed and contaminated by sin and only the grace of “God” can save them. When God or the “Creating Power” recreated the world in their effort to maintain order people needed to understand how powerful and almighty they were by being able to create life or to end it.

According to Canassatego, “We know our lands are now become more valuable: the white people think we do not know their value; but we are sensible that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone.” Canassatego is talking about the land surveyors trying to purchase the Native American land for cheap. Canassatego also notes that “Your people daily settle on these lands, and spoil our hunting.” He is talking about the land scalpers trying to take the Native American land while there gone hunting and the people are scaring off the game they hunt. Canassatego writes that “If you have not done anything, we now renew our request, and desire you will inform the person whose people are seated on our lands, that that country belongs to us, in right of conquest; we having bought it with our blood, and taken it from our enemies in fair war…” He is trying to let the English know that they do not appreciate the land surveyors coming onto their land and trying to take the land that they fought and worked so hard for away from them. Canassatego is desperately informing the English that the settlements spoil Native American hunting, as well as that colonial horses eat grass that is meant for deer.

The survival of the Skywoman in the Iroquois creation myth, or history as Cusick calls it, depends on the concern of the so called monsters. As a modern, non-Native American reader, I immediately assumed that the connotation behind Cusick’s word choice of monster was a negative one. As I began to read of their actions, I was amazed that the monsters of my bedtime stories would help this woman. The footnote explained that Cusick used the imagery to portray the lower world as a yet to be formed universe, with its own air of intrigue. The question is, why do the reader’s minds automatically assume that the monsters are the kind that eat people whole with pointy teeth and bad breath while hiding in a child’s closet?

“The Earth on Turtle’s Back” is a creation myth retold by Micheal Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. The myth suggests that a muskrat ‘created’ the Earth by pulling it up out of the depths of the waters. Similarly, “When the Grizzlies Walked Upright” is also a creation myth retold by Richard Erodes and Alfonso Ortiz. This myth explains that the first Indians were created from a union between the grizzly bear and Sky Spirit. Although the myths reveal that the Onondaga and the Modoc both believe that there is a higher power, each tribe has different views on how their Sky Chief is.

The Iroquois society’s religion and beliefs represent a monotheism religion, which is the belief in a single god or a creator. The society called their god the, "Great Spirit.” They believed that the Great Spirit created everything on Earth. The Iroquois tribe also believed in other forces like the, “Evil Spirit", and the, “Good Spirit". The Good Spirit made all the great things in life. On the other hand, the Evil Spirit made all the dreadful things in life. This tribe also believed in an afterlife. They believed that in the afterlife, they will join the Good Spirit in this astonishing place. The Iroquois tribe believed in a legend. The legend includes this man called, “The Spirit Medicine Man”, and a stranger. The Spirit Medicine Man has

Myths are fascinating pieces of literature. They are very creative, and give an insight on what different cultures believe. As we dig into the story of “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” (retold by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac), we are looking into what some Native Americans believe is how the earth came about. These types of stories are past down to generating to generation, which is what keeps a culture thriving.

Thanks to the contribution of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and the many crew members were able to uncover the unknown land as well as providing valuable information about topography, the bilogical studies, the ecology, ethnic, and linguistic studies of the American Indian as they uncovered the mysteries that lay in the Louisiana

The Iroquois Myth is a story that tells us about the Native-American version of how the world came to be. Its purpose is to explain creation so that the world we know now can be understood. From the title it is apparent that the genre of this text is a myth.

Native American stories have been around before europeans stepped in america. The mayans were one of the oldest native americans to exist.In the myth of the mayans it is implied that it took several attempts for man to be in existence, which the reader is unable to perceive.

While there are many Native American stories regarding the creation of the world, there are three that are widely accepted. The most widely believed story is the tale of the Lone Man. The story begins with a Single Man in the emptiness with the Great Chief. To begin, the Great Chief created the form of the earth, and the Lone Man took sand and created all landforms on the Earth. The Lone Man was very lonely, so he created people. He then turned himself into corn so that he may live with the people on Earth (Neil.). The next most commonly accepted story revolves around two feathered serpents. These two serpents had the power to imagine anything into being, and were eager to create. One day, one serpent created the Earth and the other created all animals. Next, these serpents were eager to create again, but they lacked inspiration. Then, after hearing their frustration, the animals

The story of The Iroquois has plenty in common with the Judeo-Christian tale, one of which being that they both have a sacred tree. This tree is to remain unharmed, and in both stories a woman decides against this rule. Adam and Eve had been taken out of the Garden, and Skywoman fell through her own world. Because of their actions, they became part of a new environment, starting over. Later on, there had been two boys in both worlds, each representing either a good or bad personality. There had been murder because of these boys, though happening to different people.

When reading “The Iroquois Creation Story” there were some parts I found rather hard to understand. I found it to be a very beautifully strange story but I felt there was something lost in translation. This is a constant problem when it comes to oral stories being written down. In some case with the loss of the storyteller the story its self could take on another meaning since now the part of the storyteller is replaced by the reader. I kept getting the feeling that I was missing something while reading it. For me I cannot believe this story to be history. I view the creation story as a mythology which is also how I view the Greek, Roman, or Egyptian stories. Creation stories are good place to start this course because creation stories can

“P’an Ku” and “The World on the Turtle’s Back” both share a mutual relationship between humans and nature. The god, P’an Ku, was sleeping for years until he was ready to wake up and do his purpose of recreating the earth. In the Chinese creation story, the earth forms more beautiful when "every part of P’an Ku became useful to the

The Iroquois Creation Story, this story is very interesting to me, the sky women realized she was going to give birth to twins. She named them Sapling and Flint. These two twins were competing against each other one was good which was Sapling and on the other hand flint wanted to destroy everything that his brother did. My comments on this story is that even back in the day people are still going on against each other just like nowadays when you have people across the world fighting against each other. On the other hand, The Navajo creation took place in four different worlds and how were people and animals were created. But the big question is that without the women who fell from the sky and the twin brothers the earth may not have been created. Overall in my opinion, I think that both twins are necessary for the world to be balanced.