Dr. Charlotte Rich
English 362
14 February 2016
Native Americans and Christians: The Stories of Re-creation The landscape of America was shaped by religious and cultural differences long before the arrival and subsequent settlement of Europeans. In this "new world", the indigenous people were naturally separated in their language, landscape, cultural myths, and religious practices with no outside influence. As the Europeans arrived in the Americas, they thought little about the cultural and religious traditions of the peoples they encountered. In fact, the common belief during this period was that the indigenous communities had no culture or religion at all. During this "Age of Discovery", the first to arrive were the Spanish and French. Spanish conquistadors and French fur traders fought for land and wealth, while their missionaries competed to "save the souls" of the natives. It was during this period that the Spanish first encountered the Akimel …show more content…
In the Story of the Flood, Seeurhuh (Older Brother) created a vessel out of the gum of the greasewood tree, and used it solely as a way for him to escape the flood. “And when they were married Seeurhuh, foreseeing what would happen, went and gathered the gum of the greasewood tree.” (Norton pg. 27) Meanwhile in Genesis, Noah made his ark out of wood and used the vessel to save two of each animal that lived upon the earth. “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14) Not only were both arks different in materials and use, but they also differed in type. Seeurhuh's vessel was said to resemble a jar instead of the traditional boat seen in Christian mythology. Despite these fundamental differences, both arks were successfully sealed and allowed those aboard to survive the flood until they could safely exit to begin