How The World Was Made Analysis

Creation Myths
Creation myths originate from every corner of the earth. Each culture and civilization explains the formation of the world, the beginning of life, and the workings of the natural world in different ways. “How the World Was Made” is an excellent example of a creation myth because it supports social customs, explains elements of the natural world, and also gives an account of how the land came to be.
For example, the sun was placed just above the ground but “it was too hot this way, and Tsiska’gïlï’, the Red Crawfish, has his shell scorched a bright red, so that his meat was spoiled; and the Cherokee do not eat it” (“How the World”). This is an example of a social norm explained by a creation myth. Another social custom construed by the story is the animals being instructed to “watch and keep awake for seven nights, just as young men now fast and keep awake when
Seeking more room, they send the water-beetle to the surface of the ocean where he dives into the depths and brings up some mud which grows into the land. The land is later hung by four ropes and left to float in the sea. The animals “sent out the Buzzard and told him to go and make ready for them… He flew all over the earth, low down near the ground, and it was still soft. When he reached the Cherokee country, he was very tired, and his wings began to flap and strike the ground, and wherever they struck the earth there was a valley, and where they turned up again there was a mountain” (“How the World”). In conclusion, “How the World was Made” is a creation myth because it depicts how the world was created, how the natural world works, and how social customs came into place. There are many supporting details and examples in this story, such as why the Cherokee do not eat the red crawfish, where the land came from, and why women only give birth once a