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The World On The Turtle's Back Related To The Iroquois Creation Story

718 Words3 Pages

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. As stated by the Iroquois, “In the middle of the Sky-World there grew a Great Tree . . . The tree was not supposed to be marked or mutilated by any of the beings who dwelt in the Sky-World” (Iroquois 34). Likewise, the tree in …show more content…

In Genesis and “The World on the Turtle’s Back”, shared characteristics include the central tree, a fall from the heavens, and the beginnings of the earth from the primordial sea. Through these similar aspects, however, the Christian god is shown to have dominance over his creation, while the Iroquois gods are depicted to be like the natives, susceptible to weaknesses and temptations. Their reasons for the conditions of their present life differ as well, for the lives of the Iroquois depend upon the woman’s fall, while the loss of eternal life for Adam and Eve interfered with the main reason for their creation. With these interpretations of the archetypal settings, the Iroquois and the Christians perceive the same world through different eyes, giving them a basis for their unique cultures and

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Compare Aztec's Creation Story

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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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Karen Armstrong A Short History Of Myth Analysis

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The most important way to think about myths is that they are symbolic stories that attempt to answer difficult human questions about the universe. For instance, where did we and the world come from? And what is the meaning of life?. “We all want to know where we came from, but because our earliest beginnings are lost in the mists of prehistory, we have created myths about our forefathers that are not historical but help to explain current attitudes about our environment, neighbors and customs” (6). Myth functions as a guidance that explains everything that we come into contact with in the universe.

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Compare And Contrast Christianity Vs Iroquois

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The two stories of creation we 're very similar in both Christianity, and the Iroquois. They both had the same outline, but each of them added their own personal twists that made it their own. Their first similarity was the amount of children they had. They both had 2 kids, that we 're opposites. One of the differences about this was that one of the stories was how in one, the kids we 're dire opposites.

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The Role Of Creation In Hesiod's Theogony

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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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Iroquois And Judeo Christian Similarities

492 Words | 2 Pages

Some differences in the stories Iroquois and the Judeo Christian is having an almighty god. In the Judeo Christian story they believe that god created the heavens and the earth. Unlike in the Iroquois story where they believe that there is no almighty god and that the earth was made on a turtle's back. In the Iroquois story animals play a huge part starting with the two birds breaking Sky Womens fall. Also in a way they are viewed as a god or a power source.

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Compare And Contrast The Judeo-Christian Creation Story

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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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Archetypes In The Garden Of Eden

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It is noteworthy that this story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the foundation of the religion with the largest number of followers worldwide. Why does it continue to resonate with so many people even today? The reason is that this utopia contains archetypes that reflect the collective unconscious that is found across all cultures. This is the result of universal themes in this story about humanity’s needs and desires that we still see occurring in our society today. The story of Genesis contains three archetypal characteristics that illustrate these patterns that still demonstrate humanity’s needs.

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The Earth On Turtle's Back Analysis

707 Words | 3 Pages

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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Essay On The Iroquois Creation Story

1514 Words | 7 Pages

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.

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The Iroquois Creation Story

1106 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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Comparing Iroquois Creation Story And The First Book Of Genesis

479 Words | 2 Pages

And in The Iroquois Creation Story it states “ Among the ancients there were two worlds in existence. The Lower world was in great darkness;- the possession of the great monster; but the upper world was inhabited by mankind”(David Cusick). Now these two sections of writing are abundantly similar. Especially when the bible states that God created the Heavens and the Earth, The Iroquois Creation

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Comparing The World On The Turtle's Back And The Way To Rainy Mountain

355 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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The World On Turtle's Back Summary

805 Words | 4 Pages

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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699 Words | 3 Pages

“The Sky Tree” reveals beliefs about nature, complex religious beliefs and strong social value. “The Sky Tree” shows animals being involved in everyday life. All the animals including, “Beaver, mink, muskrat brought up paw full of soil and placed on turtle 's back until they had made an island”(20).The earth was formed from the animals. “The Sky Tree” also shows complex religious beliefs. After Old Man decided to cut the tree to survive he “cut the tree, it

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