Anthropologists and historians believe that the first inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere were migrants from Asia, most of whom most probably came by land between 13,000 B.C. and 9000 B.C. across a hundred-mile-wide land bridge between Siberia and Alaska. About 3000 B.C., some Native American peoples developed better cultivation techniques and began to farm a variety of crops, most notably maize (corn), which resulted in agricultural surpluses that laid the economic foundation for populous and wealthy societies in Mexico, Peru, and the Mississippi River Valley.…
There are a lot of spiritual meanings with animals and nature within these stories. However, how they explain and how they celebrate these meanings is different. Within The Earth on Turtle’s Back they say how the animals can talk and that they are able to dive to bring the earth up.…
This is our collection of links to Seminole folktales and traditional stories that can be read online. We have indexed our American Indian legends section by tribe to make them easier to locate; however, variants on the same legend are often told by American Indians from different tribes, especially if those tribes are kinfolk or neighbors to each other. In particular, though these legends come from Seminole mythology, the traditional stories of related tribes like the Muskogee and Choctaw are very similar.…
In the Cheyenne Myth, “How the World was Made,” and the Hebrew story, “In the Beginning,”…
Iroquois and Blackfoot Similarities and Differences This is amazing on how these different kinds of tribes have so much in common, but have a lot of differences too. These are some of my differences and similarities on the Inuits and Iroquois people. There will be a lot of information on in here about the Inuits and the Iroquois people like their clothes, food, and housing. The Inuits and Iroquois houses are very different from each other. In the Inuits tribe they have Igloo’s made out of big ice blocks.…
Even though Cusick considers his work history, it is a myth. The myth discusses the “foundation” and establishment of the Iroquois world and well as the constant struggle between good and evil. In the work Cusick describes how the land was formed as well as how the sun, moon, and the starts were formed by the good mind twin. “The good mind continued the works of creation, and formed numerous creeks and rivers on the Great Island, and then created numerous species of animals of the smallest and the greatest, to inhabit the forests, and fishes of all kinds to inhabit the waters.” While the good twin was creating thing that were useful to the people of earth the bad twin was busy creating the that were of no use or dangerous to the people of earth. “The bad mind while his brother was making the universe went throughout the Island and made numerous high mountains and falls of water, and great steeps, and also created various reptiles which would be injurious to mankind.”…
The Mohawk people tell an amazing story of how the earth was created, this story uplifts both men and women and give a lot of credit to the women also what we call Mother Nature a great importance to civilization. The story starts by saying that the land was covered by water, there was no sun, stars or moon and the only creatures were the creatures that lived in water. There was a great ruler in the Upper World named Rawennio and one day he pulled up a celestial tree from the roots and saw that there was a deep hole, he called his daughter and told her to look into the whole where there was the Lower World he told her that she must go to the world of darkness. The daughter floated downward, the water creatures saw a big light and his daughter fell out the sky, the animals were frightened but then decided to help the woman and keep her in a dry place so the animals dived deep in the sea to find some earth and most of them died trying, the muskrat eventually floated to the top and some earth was clenched in his hands , they took the earth and called it a great turtle and patted the earth on her back, the turtle started growing bigger and bigger and that’s how North America was known as Turtle Island.…
On the cold, breezy and tall mountains, many stood tall facing the bottom of the earth waiting for the wind to sweep them away into the valley beneath them. Many origin myths usually try and teach a lesson that is relayed to the members of the tribe, usually young children. All of the stories that we read When Grizzlies walked upright, Navajo, and world on the turtles back show different symbols, but all wan’t the same end result- to teach the younger generation about different rules. When Grizzlies walked upright is symbolic in which it teaches the younger generation to always follow the rules of the higher powers and their parents. The Navajo story shows the power and strong influence of wind that goes through the tribe. Finally, world on…
The Iroquois, a Native American tribe, believe that the world was not actually created but that it already existed. There was a sky world and an ocean that laid below. The sky world was full of sky people, and among the sky people was a pregnant woman and her husband. While finding food one day the sky woman fell through a hole to the underworld taking the roots of the tree with her. A muskrat then brought the dirt to plant the tree on the turtle's back. She had her chikd, who was a girk. The daughter then got pregnant by a mysterious man when he laid two…
The Iroquois myth seeks to full 4 main purpose: Explaining social customs, answering the big questions, displaying a sense of awe toward the world, and guiding people through life. The Bible only fulfills two of these purposes: answering the big question and displaying a sense of awe through the world. The Bible places much more importance on faith and devotion to God. This ideology seen in the Bible explains why some Christian decided to become nuns, priests, and ministers. These jobs require someone to be a devout Christian so they can spread God’s words and message to people around the world. The Iroquois tribe places emphasis on the woman and her family not the gods. So the Iroquois do not need to devoted like the Christian because their…
Women in the Iroquois community had a number of social roles, these roles include, being political participates. The clan mothers are the conscience of the clan chiefs, in other words the women directed the chiefs in making important decisions for the clan. Another role that women have in the confederacy is to be a clan mother. A clan mother is a female Iroquois that takes care of the longhouse and owns it too, her jobs are to choose Iroquois men to be chiefs and represent their clan, and if the mother decides that the man is not doing his job, she has the authority to remove him from his place. Some other responsibilities of the clan mother is to clean and care for the longhouse, prepare food for the family, and take care of the children. They also make household items. If a member of the family does not do what was told by the mother or go against her word, the clan mother can refuse to provide food for them. One off the important jobs of a woman in the Iroquois community is to teach their daughters how to cook, clean and do whatever a female in the society was supposed to know and do. For example, a clan mother has to teach her daughter…
Iroquois’ culture and way of life resembles “real world” realities. The Iroquois’ attitudes towards nature are sincere. Myths like these elaborate and confine with the conflict between the differences and similarities of the world. For example in nature there are animals that rely on other species to live. If a species were to extinguish, other species would soon die…
The creation stories “The World on a Turtle’s Back” of the Iroquois and “The Golden Chain” of the Yoruba help to define what they see as their place in the world and what they value most. Values of the Iroquois include nature, balance, and natural cycles. Key values of the Yoruba are diversity, nature, and productivity. Both the Iroquois and the Yoruba tell tales encompassing the importance of nature and its purpose; however, their views on the roles of people on Earth and on new ways of thinking differ from each other, distinguishing the two…
The World on the Turtle’s back is an appealing story written by an Iroquois; is about a woman and what could happen when if she did not do what she was supposed to do. But most importantly the story is to teach and inform the younger people how the people were in Native American times. One way he showed how they were is by using literary devices in his short story, or in other words: creation myth.…
Introduction: As most of us know, Native American’s have a rich history of struggle and also triumph. Many modern Native American traditions reflect the story and struggle Native American’s experienced. These stories are filled with tradition closely tied to Mother Nature. I’m sure many of you have seen Native American art and objects, such as teepees, totem poles, and moccasins. These are articles that tied together Native American life. I’m going to share with you the meaning behind these symbols and traditions, and how they affect modern…