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Comparing The Hawaiian Creation Myth And The World On The Turtle's Back

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There are over hundreds of creation stories from many various cultures, religions, or areas. Though we may never know if any are true, creation stories are the basis of every culture and religion. One of the most popular and well-known stories about the foundation of the world is the Catholic creation story about God constructing the Earth in six days and resting on the seventh. Two other recognized legends are the Hawaiian creation myth and the Iroquois creation myth, also known as “The World on the Turtle’s Back.” Each account of creation is diverse in several aspects, but the most interesting thing is they are similar in many points also. The Catholic creation story, found in Genesis 1:1-2:3, is one of the more famous tales. It is very popular and explains the reason for a seven day week. It talks about how God created the light and dark on the first day, water on the second day, land on the third, the sun and moon the next day, then the fish and birds, and finally the animals and humans on the sixth day. The story also emphasizes that there is only one God and true creator. Overall, the story focuses on how God took his time making certain things each day and how God rested and made the seventh day holy. …show more content…

This legend begins with a woman falling from the sky and finding a home on the back of a turtle. Commonly known as “The World on Turtle’s Back,” the Iroquois creation myth is primarily about two twins creating earth and everything on it. The twins are opposites and symbolize good and evil. The left-handed twin is treacherous and cruel, but the right-handed twin is just the opposite by being kind-hearted and nice. After competing in several competitions and fighting many times, the right-handed twin kills his brother and throws him into the ocean, but the left-handed twin still lives somewhere below the

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Comparing Creations Native Americans wrote creation stories to find the reason how the earth came to be. Native Americans believe in multiple gods and multiple creators. The Lakota creation story and “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” have many similarities, which include a similar plot and characters. The Lakota creation story and the Onondaga’s myth are very similar because of the characters and plot that they both include. Both creation stories include turtles, who are the heroes of each story.

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One of the beliefs that are mentioned in the story is the Lapine belief of creation. The Lapine belief was that before the world was created, there was Frith. He created the world with his droppings and then he created the rivers and the mountains. After creating the rivers and the mountains, he created the plants and animals. Another belief that was mentioned in the story is the Lapine

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In every civilization that has graced our planet at some point, each has wondered about how the world, and its people were created. Depending on the location of the civilization, and the influences from other civilizations, each early civilization has created some form of tale to explain how the world and it people were created. For this essay, I would like to review, and compare the Aztec’s creation story, and the Japan’s creation story.

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Long ago, people wondered about how we, as people, came to the Earth. Story-tellers would go around the villages and tell amazing stories about how the Earth, humans, and life were created. Many myths came from these oral stories. Three of these myths that were created are called The Earth on Turtle's Back from the Onondaga tribe, When Grizzlies Walked Upright from the Modoc tribe, and the Navajo Origin Legend from the Navajo tribe. All three of the myths play an important role on if there is a higher power, how we view the world was created, and beliefs on how other creatures and forces helped create what we believe in.

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The Iroquois creation myth, The Woman That Fell from the Sky. Even before

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Hesiod’s account of creation, as outlined in the Theogony offers one of the most detailed and accepted theories of creation in the Greek culture. On the other hand, the Biblical account of creation, regarded as a Hebrew culture creation account, is to date one of the most widely acknowledged and accepted versions across various cultures seeking explanations for the origin of life and the earth. However, even though these creation accounts originate from two different cultures, they share some thought-provoking parallels in terms of their content and intentions, as well as some contrasts that make each of the creation accounts unique. Both Hesiod’s and the biblical creation accounts are similar in that they argue that prior to the beginning of creation events, the earth was merely a void that had no shape or form and this void was filled with darkness.

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Then he separated night and day and created the stars. One of the main differences between the stories is what they respect. In the

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Myths have existed throughout all of human history, explaining how we came to be, why we exist, and how our actions exist to teach lessons. Both myths, “The Story of Corn and Medicine” and “The World on the Turtle’s Back”, explain that humans will make good and bad choices, but these experiences will teach lessons about evil and the choices we must make to change our ways, and to expand our knowledge and advance the world. The first lesson taught but the myths is evil and greed have inherited the earth, and will continue to if humans do not change their actions. The World on the Turtle’s Back uses the wife to explain the root of greed in the world.

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In the Iroquois story Earth was created by a woman .Both of the stories use good and evil. In the both stories there is something that is forbidden. both stories tie up by there being temptation by animals. something that is strange is that many Native American stories tie up with something to do with mother nature.in the indian story earth was created by a sea animal going deep

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How the World Uniquely Begins Native American myths and the Christian Bible both offer stories about how the world began.. In “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” and Genesis 1, both tales have similar values and ideas. These two stories compare in that both tell the importance of water, the fact that Earth came out of the water, and the existence of supreme beings; in contrast, each story has a unique idea of how the world came into being. “The Earth on Turtle’s Back,” a story from the Onondaga tribe, an original Native American group, is a myth which relates a story about the beginning of the world. Water is below the Skyland and it becomes an issue when the Great Tree is uprooted.

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Each every creation myth is unique in its own way. Of course, creation myths have their similarities, but each of them has at least one detail that separates them from every other myth. The question is how those similarities came about, considering for some of these groups that didn’t even know that each other existed. It would have nearly impossible and extremely unlikely for them to communicate with each other let alone, share their stories with each other. Yet, despite this there are some extremely common themes and events throughout these myths.

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In various cultures, traditional stories of a universal beginning relate to the beliefs and rituals that are prevalent within that society. Although these creation stories differ among cultures, all display similar characteristics which constitute archetypal settings of creation myths, such as a great tree, the landmass from a watery chaos, and the fall of man. In the Iroquois’ creation myth, “The World on the Turtle’s Back”, the display of archetypal settings parallels the creation depicted in the book of Genesis, but underlying each similarity are differing interpretations which allow for the stories to relate to its specific culture. In both “The World on the Turtle’s Back” and the Genesis creation story, a prominent characteristic is the great tree connecting heaven and earth.

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There are many pieces of literature that describe the creation of the Universe. In the following paragraphs one will find that there will be two in particular we will be looking at. The first is The Iroquois Creation Story, and the second will be chapters 1-3 out of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. By the end of this essay hopefully one will be able to see most of the similarities and differences between the two works of literature. There are various similarities between the two works of literature, for example in the Bible in chapter 1 verse 1 of Genesis it states that “in the beginning God created the Heavens and Earth”.

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Mythical Origins The Iroquois people are one of the earliest cultures in American history, Their culture remains filled with an abundance of myths and legends that explain the nature of life itself. Their creation story, The World On Turtle 's Back, outlines not only the creation of Earth, but also the complex nature of people. The legend states that the Earth resided on the back of a great sea turtle, constituted first by a pregnant woman. The daughter of whom would birth the twins who would become the duality of deceit and order in every living being. This legend has been passed down through the generations, first through oral tradition and later translated to writing.

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Floating about in all types of literature, there are many legends as to how the earth was created; these legends are known as creation myths. A creation myth offers answers to questions that ask how the earth was created, and explains the social customs of today as well as the workings of the natural world by telling an elaborate story. The Cherokee Indians have spread their beliefs on this topic throughout generations through oral tradition. Recent authors have taken these myths to paper to preserve history and to spread them even further around the world. “How the World Was Made” is a creation myth that not only offers an abundance of information regarding the origin of earth, but also supports the social traditions of today’s society and attempts to explain the intangible, natural workings of the world.

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