One of the main reasons why the coming of age ceremony differs is based on the Navajo creation myth. In Navajo, Kinaalda represents a girl transforming into womanhood like Changing Woman. This is because Changing Woman is known as the first woman to have her Kinaalda by creating the first pair of Navajo people (Markstrom 304). Although there are various versions describing Changing Woman, she is known to have thought and speech as her parents, but is raised by First Man and First Woman (Young 225). When she had her first period, it was to be done that a ceremony would signify the “occurrence and significance for the girl’s initiation into womanhood”
Comparing Creations Native Americans wrote creation stories to find the reason how the earth came to be. Native Americans believe in multiple gods and multiple creators. The Lakota creation story and “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” have many similarities, which include a similar plot and characters. The Lakota creation story and the Onondaga’s myth are very similar because of the characters and plot that they both include. Both creation stories include turtles, who are the heroes of each story.
Serpent Mound- The creators of the Serpent Mound were Native Americans possibly part of the Mississippi tribes. The Serpent Mounds was dated from 400 to 1100 CE of a formed impacted crater. Module 2 states, “the Serpent Mound was constructed to honor the cosmic rhythms through its form and structure”. The mound is made of several layers which are stone, clay, ash and top soil.
In this literary work, just like in Thomas King's The Truth About Stories, the author discusses, in detail, the story about the 'Sky Woman' who in the other piece was known as 'Charm,' resulting in the creation of "Mother Earth." In my opinion, the author's approach of writing was great to paint a picture of what occurred in a person's mind through the use of symbolism. Although it may seem like any great bedtime story from the first read, if one looks past its basic storyline, they can understand why Indigenous peoples, as well as people in general, like to share it. However, the story was, according to me, very fictional and unrealistic though it may not be to others. The idea of a woman falling out of the sky, onto a turtle's back, then
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.
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.
Vicente Quintana Ms. Herrera English 3 18 September 2016 Native American Mythology Native mythology are stories about humans, animals and deities that try to explain the origins and values of a given culture. Some examples of native mythology stories are: The Navajo Origin Legend, When Grizzlies Walked Upright, and The Earth on Turtle’s Back. Each of these myths have their own details and certain ways on how the creations went, but they all have similar beliefs and customs. The Navajo Origin Legend is about a ceremony that created the first humans by the power of wind. The people believed that the wind was the god because it is what brought us to life and is what keeps us alive since we breathe out air until we pass away.
Comparison and Contrast of Native American Creation Stories The purpose of this paper is to highlight the key similarities, and difference between two Native American stories of how the world and its inhabitants came to be. These two stories are “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” and “The Story of Corn and Medicine.” These stories come from the Iroquois and the Cherokee people respectively, and are their creation stories. “The World on the Turtles Back” tells of a pregnant woman who was pushed from the heavens by her husband.
When living things died, their spirits went to a secret cave where they remained until it was time for them to be born again. Mutjinga was caretaker of this cave.” The belief in spiritual beings and a woman who acts a spiritual leader is a significant element of Dreamtime cosmology that fuels the story and the tale it tells. Aboriginals believed that spirits would return to a cave where Mutjinga was responsible for the totems, or physical representations, to which they would return to, giving her a multitude of powers that tie into the plot of the myth and the themes it wishes to convey. Additionally, another element of Dreamtime cosmology that appears in the myth is the setting in which it is based - and the landscape described correlates to Aboriginal understandings of ancestral beings that shaped the land that they inhabited.
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.
This story correlates to the lives of many Cherokee Indians, alive and dead, The beliefs, history, and culture all go back to this passage How the world was made. (written by Katharine Judson). Imagine what the US would 've been. The Cherokee Nation believed that the earth had been varnished by water but hanged by cords.
The Cherokee Nation stories that are passed down from generation to generation will always have a message behind them that you need to think of with animals. Every Native American tribe has spoken of various terms and stories that correlate to another story. While not everything each tribe speaks of in the story will not be the same, the point of view allows the reader to view what the author was speaking of in the text speaking. Intertwined into this text, the style allows the reader to know what is further directed and said aloud as this is an oral story with terms of tribes, love, betrayal, and animals to represent current times. As moles usually live underground, and in the Cherokee Nation story the mole went back into hiding after people were searching for a love potion.
Ceremony shares its stories by beginning with poems about sisters creating the Universe and four worlds. I relate this to Navajo culture with their vision of how they came into this world. The
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.
As we know, Native American literature includes myths that were orally transmitted for centuries and covered different topics, like the one we read, which belongs to the Trickster folklore. The Trickster tales were often morality tales that taught lessons about proper behavior to children, although they could be told for simple amusement as well as on sacred occasions. Moreover, the typical tale narrates a kind of picaresque adventure in which the Trickster encounters a situation to which he responds with silliness and meets a playful end.
