The Navajo Origin Myth

After reading the Cherokee origin myth it demonstrates that they value the four directions, North, South, East, and West. In the story the directions are named “sacred”, showing that they must have a great deal of importance to the people. The directions were also used to divide the barren land at the beginning of the myth. Without the directions people would have had no way of knowing where they were or where they were going. The directions assisted people in their travels as well. A special path was created to move from east to west. The Creator must have known that the directions were important to create so travelers could explore the land that was made for them. Early in the story it is said that “the earth was a great island floating above

similar events. So it is very likely that there was an original story or event

The Hopi tribe is strongly entrenched in religion, spirituality, morals and ethics, and as a matter of fact, the meaning of Hopi is “The Peaceful People” or “Peaceful Little Ones”. Hopis strive to be respectful of all living things, meanwhile, they follow the instructions of the Massaw, the Earth Guardian. The Hopi are one of the oldest living tribes in existence; to this day they are still living the Hopi way by continuing to conduct ceremonies and traditions meanwhile still speaking their ancient language. The Native American tribe are currently located on a Hopi Reservation in Northeastern Arizona with 19,327 Hopis according to the 2010 census (Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS), 2010).

GGrowing up on the Navajo Nation is an experience, compared to residing in a city. I grew up in Tuba City, an hour north of Flagstaff, AZ. Tuba City, a town with a population a little over 8,500, several restaurants, one grocery store, two high schools, and two stoplights. On the other hand, the town is growing.

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. She is pregnant with twins. Sky woman lands on a turtles back, which ends up growing and becomes a part of island with time. The sky woman gives birth to twin boys, the good mind, and the bad mind. She dies when the bad mind decides to come out of her

The Navajo are a Native American tribe, whose reservation land spreads over 14,000 square miles. Their homes, food, tools, clothing, and culture are not the same as ours. Yet they still have their similarities and differences.

In the myths “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” and “The Navajo Origin Legend”, we get a glimpse of the beliefs of traditional Native American societies. The former myth is one told by the Modoc tribe of Oregon, the other is told by the Navajo tribe of the American Southwest. The different uses of animals, spirits, and women’s roles help create an illustration of society before colonization. These myths do also differ on these themes and on how they are presented. These myths show that these tribes were more different than alike.

Throughout history, many different people have wondered how life on Earth started. Different cultures came up with many different ideas on how life was created and used these ideas to create stories. Today we call these stories origin myths. The Native Americans had many different origin myths. Almost every tribe had their own individual story. “The Earth On The Turtle's Back” by the Onondaga tribe, “When The Grizzlies Walked Upright” by the Modoc tribe, and “The Navajo Origin Legend” by the Navajo tribe are all myths that explain how life was put here on Earth. In all three of these origin myths, the Native Americans show a great amount of respect towards nature and their deities.

Gender as a tool of analysis has been effective when analyzing Native societies. Gender roles in Native society inevitably shaped the tribe or band in which Natives lived in. Matrilineal or patrilineal Native societies controlled the daily operations, social hierarchy, religious influence, and the effects colonization had on that particular society based on the foundation. Using gender as a tool of analysis in Native societies, scholars are able to learn more about Natives because of the affects gender had in the characteristics and foundation of each society. In “Ranging Foresters and Women-Like Men”, A Nation of Women, and “To Live Among Us”, different scholars are able to use gender as a tool of analysis to understand the ways in which

When reading the origin myth from the Cherokee, it is clear that animals and plants were valued for assisting in creating the earth, receiving special gifts, and sharing the land with humans. Throughout the story, animals help with the development of the world. The Water Beetle made the land from mud, while the Buzzard made the mountains and valleys. The animals even positioned the sun perfectly so every creature could enjoy the light wherever they are. Some plants and animals were even singled out to show the unique qualities they were given. Owls and mountain lions were presented with the ability to see in the dark, while cedars, spruces, and pines were allowed to keep their “hairs” in the winter. The Creator had to have valued these plants

The White Buffalo women was a Native American myth where she presented the Lakota people the sacred pipe the showed how all things in life are connected. She would also teach the people how to pray and how to follow the way of the earth and this was important to the Native Americans back then because they had a strong connection with nature. And also what she was really known for was when she left that she left behind lots of groups of white buffalo and that was important and big because that’s what people would mainly feed on and it would feed a whole village too. And one man said that “The arrival of the White Buffalo is like the second coming of Christ” –Floyd Hand, that’s because of all that she would give.

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” (Begay 6). In addition, as it was believed that Changing Woman gave birth to the Hero Twins,

I compare the two tribe is Powhatan and Navajo. Powhatan formed powerful tribes of eastern North American and they worship animal spirits , especially the great hare. Powhatan was an American Indian leader who built the Powhatan confederacy of tribes what is now Virginia. Powhatan Indians dressed in deer skin for hunting. A Famous chief named wahunsonacok known as Powhatan. The Powhatan is first permanent English settlements in North American , Jamestown. Later , the tribes seemed to no longer exist. During in 1900s , several hundred in Virginia and Delaware who claim to belong that tribe.

The topic of focus for my paper was the Long Walk of the Navajo and Navajo Wars during the Civil War period until 1868, as that period is remembered by the Navajo. I believe that a greater understanding of the history of the American Soutwest can be reached taking Navajoes’ memories and perspectives of these events into account. The Long Walk of the Navajo was migration of the tribe to a reservations across the Southwest, most prominently Bosque Redondo, wherein they suffered from a variety of degradations from violence and raids to starvation. This process of migration occurred in waves, and was triggered by warfare and violence at the hands of the Navajo’s enemies, including the United States (or Union), New Mexican citizens, and other tribes

Although Native Americans are characterized as both civilized and uncivilized in module one readings, their lifestyles and culture are observed to be civilized more often than not. The separate and distinct duties of men and women (Sigard, 1632) reveal a society that has defined roles and expectations based on gender. There are customs related to courtship (Le Clercq, 1691) that are similar to European cultures. Marriage was a recognized union amongst Native Americans, although not necessarily viewed as a serious, lifelong commitment like the Europeans (Heckewelder, 1819).