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Analysis Of The First Fire: The Cherokee Myth

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Description: “The First Fire,” a mythological story of how fire came to exist on earth, has been told by Cherokees tribes for many years. According to the myth, the world first began as a cold place inhabited by countless creatures. There were many animals at that point that existed, but the problem was they needed something to keep them warm from the cold. This Cherokee myth states the Thunders who lived beyond the sky sent lightening to strike a hollow sycamore tree on an island. The animals that lived on earth saw the smoke coming from the island and all of them immediately decided they needed to go get some fire and bring it back so that they could stay warm. The animals held a special council to decide who would make the journey to bring back the fire. At first they sent the Raven, but he was unsuccessful. Then they sent some owls, but the owls couldn’t get to the fire either. After that, some snakes volunteered to go, but even the snakes couldn’t get the job done. Finally, the special council sent the Water Spider who could walk on land and …show more content…

However, it also encompasses some explanations that answer questions about why some animals look the way that they do. It seems that the Cherokee people really enjoyed combining the main purpose of the story with other explanations that perfectly describe why things in nature are the way that they are. For instance, after the fire came to into existence, it was also the fire that made the Raven’s feathers black. Researcher James Mooney puts this story under the Cosmogonic Myth section of his book. However, since this tale tells about the origin and creation of fire, it would be considered an etiological myth. This myth also tells about animals and why some animals look the way they do. Therefore, one could also consider this story as an animal myth. Personally, I find it fits the description of the etiological myth category

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