Comparing The Iroquois Nation's Creation Myth In Coyote And Buffalo

Shaping the Mindset

In ancient times nature surrounded everything. The Iroquois Indians only knew nature, it is what they were taught. Their storytellers used myths or traditional stories explaining a phenomenon and fables or stories using animals to convey a moral. In the Iroquois nation’s creation myth “The World on the Turtle’s Back” and the fable “ Coyote and Buffalo” by Mourning Dove, both use cultural beliefs, a series of supernatural events, and colorful archetypes to prove to the origin of the earth.

In the Iroquois nation’s creation myth, “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” they highly respect the natural, again, not only because it is all they knew but it is because that is all they had. To better respect nature, they told myths to

In the myth and in Genesis 3, a great fall occurs. In the creation myth, the woman falls from the “Sky World,” pregnant, scared, and alone. She was to create a new world and raise her child alone, seeing that the only interaction she had were the animals. In Genesis, Adam and Eve, man, fall from God’s grace. They weren’t allowed to live in His Garden, for woman (Eve) childbirth would be painful, Adam would rule over Even, and for man (Adam) he would endure back-breaking labor to support himself and his growing family, but for the nations to come. Other additional archetypes include the twins. The Right versus the Left twin, Cain versus Able, a battle between good and bad, jealousy and satisfaction. One twin destroys the other, the murderer gets scolded by the Deity. In “Coyote and Buffalo” we are exposed to the trickster archetype, which are often mischievous and schemers. The Coyote is seen as a trickster due to him deceiving Buffalo Bull: disrespecting him dead and alive and taking his gift for granted. This fable is often compared to the children’s cartoon “Tom and Jerry” due to the use of violence or deceit to their benefit. Additionally, Buffalo would be the wise man because of his kind, wise, guiding personality. Buffalo, who was killed in the beginning of the fable, comes back not only to finish his enemies but to reclaim his herd. He takes a chance on Coyote and grants him and only to, again, be deceived. Not only that, he proceeds to be a profound philosopher and known for his sound