Navajo Creation Myth Essay
Navajo Creation Myth
For long periods of time, the Navajo tribe has passed down their own creation myths and ideas of how life on Earth was created. The Navajos, one of the world’s largest tribes of American Indians live near the Southwest of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. In order to survive the Navajos trade maize and woven cotton items for basic necessities such as meat and tools. The Navajos believe that in order to live in harmony along with nature, one must seek to maintain balance and peace among individuals and the universe. Also, they consider all living things as their relatives due to their belief that all living things contain their own spirits or inner form. Many of the Navajo Indian games and traditions were developed …show more content…
One similarity between the myths of the Navajos and Greeks is that they both believe that their gods or deities created earth, and believe in anthropomorphic deities. Among the stories of the Native American tribes and greek mythology, the “themes of water appear to play a big factor in the wiping out of evil” (Hamilton 84). The water is symbolizes the cleansing and action of purifying the world. In Navajo myths, many gods worked together along with a few mortal beings to create Earth. Meanwhile, in Greek mythology, it was mainly Zeus who created Earth with the aid of” his five brothers and sisters”(Hamilton 83). Nowhere in Greek mythology have humans helped the Gods create planet Earth. It was only the Gods and powerful creatures that created the world we live in now.
In conclusion, the Navajo tribe is one of the largest American Indian tribes who practice their rituals to show respect to deities. They value deities, “singers”, and every living organism. The Navajo myths, compared to greek myths, share the similarity of water playing a big factor in clearing evil on Earth. On the other hand, their beliefs of who created Earth differ due to greeks believing that only Gods and monsters created Earth while Navajos thought that humans also contributed to the creation of our
For long periods of time, the Navajo tribe has passed down their own creation myths and ideas of how life on Earth was created. The Navajos, one of the world’s largest tribes of American Indians live near the Southwest of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. In order to survive the Navajos trade maize and woven cotton items for basic necessities such as meat and tools. The Navajos believe that in order to live in harmony along with nature, one must seek to maintain balance and peace among individuals and the universe. Also, they consider all living things as their relatives due to their belief that all living things contain their own spirits or inner form. Many of the Navajo Indian games and traditions were developed …show more content…
One similarity between the myths of the Navajos and Greeks is that they both believe that their gods or deities created earth, and believe in anthropomorphic deities. Among the stories of the Native American tribes and greek mythology, the “themes of water appear to play a big factor in the wiping out of evil” (Hamilton 84). The water is symbolizes the cleansing and action of purifying the world. In Navajo myths, many gods worked together along with a few mortal beings to create Earth. Meanwhile, in Greek mythology, it was mainly Zeus who created Earth with the aid of” his five brothers and sisters”(Hamilton 83). Nowhere in Greek mythology have humans helped the Gods create planet Earth. It was only the Gods and powerful creatures that created the world we live in now.
In conclusion, the Navajo tribe is one of the largest American Indian tribes who practice their rituals to show respect to deities. They value deities, “singers”, and every living organism. The Navajo myths, compared to greek myths, share the similarity of water playing a big factor in clearing evil on Earth. On the other hand, their beliefs of who created Earth differ due to greeks believing that only Gods and monsters created Earth while Navajos thought that humans also contributed to the creation of our