Vicente Quintana Ms. Herrera English 3 18 September 2016 Native American Mythology Native mythology are stories about humans, animals and deities that try to explain the origins and values of a given culture. Some examples of native mythology stories are: The Navajo Origin Legend, When Grizzlies Walked Upright, and The Earth on Turtle’s Back. Each of these myths have their own details and certain ways on how the creations went, but they all have similar beliefs and customs. The Navajo Origin Legend is about a ceremony that created the first humans by the power of wind. The people believed that the wind was the god because it is what brought us to life and is what keeps us alive since we breathe out air until we pass away.
Even though the birds did not want to go with the terrible things they used their nets and captured the birds. Then when Yertle the Turtle turned to the other turtles and
As man and woman grew from the corn and emerged from the buckskin they looked upon their new world with the eyes and mind that only a human could possess. Symbols are an important part of stories because they represent larger themes and teach lessons, and show themselves very prominently in the Native American stories “Navajo Origin Myth”, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright”, and “The World On Turtle’s Back”. For example in the “Navajo Origin Myth”, the gods created man and woman from corn, which symbolized life. Because of this, the people who believed this story rubbed themselves with cornmeal. In the story “The World On Turtle’s Back”, the muskrat who swam to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve earth even though she was smaller and weaker
Compare and Contrast the Native American Culture Introduction The Native Americans were the original owners of the United States of America. However, due to the population increase in Europe, the European migrated to America in seek of land for farming, settlement, and spread their religion (Desai, n.p). The two communities lived together and interacted with each other.
Endings never settled kindly in my stomach and this was no exception. Yet there was something positive to be taken from this. My passion for helping animals started on those sunny summer days. Those turtles taught me how to be compassionate, empathetic and most importantly, how to connect to animals and to people as well. I now understand that something as special as turtle catching will live on with me forever.
The Native American origin myth "The Earth on Turtle's Back", retold by Michael Cuduto and Joseph Bruchac, displays how connected the Onondaga individuals are with the spiritual world and their inner self. They rely deeply on their instincts and thoughts related to them to lead them to make important decisions within their lives about the future. their culture has many compelling attributes as well as a strict cultural system and ritualistic bahaviors. The Onondaga individuals adhere to a lifestyle that creates happiness on a level that far surpasses what we, in the modern age, see as acceptable.
Even though they share common ideas, they are quite different, for example, their stories were passed on differently. Native Americans are indigenous natives of the Americas. Their literature incorporated culture with a written language and oral tradition that captured their ideals. For example, stories,
Earth is located beneath the water, and the wife of the Ancient Chief falls through the hole left by the uprooted tree. The animals who live in the water know she is from the Skyland and that she cannot survive in the water. The muskrat saves her by diving into action and bringing the Earth up to the surface. Once the muskrat comes up, she puts Earth on the turtle’s back. After the Earth was placed on the turtle’s back, the wife drops seeds she was holding from the Great Tree onto the land.
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.
The Iroquois creation story is a renowned Native American myth written by a Tuscarora historian, David Cusick. He is also the author of David Cusick’s Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations, which is known to be the first Indian-written history printed in the English language (Radus). The Iroquois creation myth exists in twenty-five other versions. It describes how the world was created from the Native American perspective. It begins with a sky woman who falls down into the dark world.
Native Americans have a really diverse culture and one report is not enough to talk about all of their cultures. They have fourteen tribes so it is obvious that they will have a lot of different cultures and traditions between all fourteen tribes. It is impossible to have fourteen tribes with different people and expect them to all believe in the same things so some of them have different beliefs and different traditions. They worshipped a lot of gods and even some of the gods had dolls made for them. Some tribes worshipped the sun or fire or some serpents.
The Sky Gods vs the Iroquois The stories “The World on the Turtles Back” by the Iroquois, and The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday discuss two different creation myths. “The World on The Turtles Back” is an Iroquois legend that has been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, making it an oral tradition. A creation myth is a traditional story that involves supernatural beings or events that explain how the some aspect of human nature or the natural world came to be. These myths have comparable aspects that are specifically the roles of men, women, animals, and nature.
Native Americans have a very rich and interesting past. The story “The World on the Turtle’s Back” told by the Iroquois Indians is a story of how the world came to be and the good and evils in the world. The story “The Way to Rainy Mountain“ by Scott Momaday, is a story of about the Kiowa traditions and the way that they lived. Both of these stories show how important it is to respect the gods. “The World on the Turtle’s Back” is a myth about a man and a woman that lived in the sky world.
They valued Earth and its surroundings with souls which gave them the obligation to practice rituals that maintained the harmony of nature. The Natives have lived and benefitted from nature, but never overused, what it gave them because they understood the importance of preserving the natural goods. They Native Americans worked together as a community by dividing land within their families and each person or group had one agenda to focus on. They showed approbation towards land and cherished its benefits. Natives cared about others as they did land and the nature surrounding them and
World on Turtle 's Back fulfill the aspects of a traditional Native American creation story. The Iroquois people still consider the story the guide for how to live and thrive in the natural world. The deep rooted connections to nature and animals that has been held by many native tribes relates back to the initial actions taken by the first woman. The twins who symbolized the balance in nature and in humans have parallels all over the world. They are the representation of the constant battle for dominance that wages in the minds of all people.
