Two Brothers and their Grandmother

By Evan O'Brien

The following creation story began with the Seneca people of the Iroquois nation:

Long ago, before this earth existed, humans lived in the sky, and they were ruled by a great chief. This chief's lodge was near a tall tree that had white blossoms and that every year produced corn for the people to eat. When this tree bloomed, there was light, but once its blossoms fell, darkness descended until its next flowering.

Once this chief's daughter became ill with a disease no one had seen before. Despite her people's best efforts to cure her, she did not get well, and all the people were worried. Someone in the tribe dreamed that she would be cured if the tree was pulled up by its roots. No one in the tribe wanted to do that, so they ignored the dream as an aberration. This person had another dream that the people must dig a trench around the tree and uproot it to save the chief's daughter, but again the dream went ignored. Only after a third such dream did the people begin digging. They dug a trench around the tree, severing the roots as they went. When the last root was cut, the tree disappeared into the ground, into what seemed to be a bottomless hole.

Many of the people were distraught, and one young man in particular complained about the destruction of the tree. The chief's daughter had been brought to the tree in hopes that she would be cured, and the young man was so angry that he kicked her into the hole. Soon she disappeared from the view of her people as she fell into the apparent abyss.

The young woman fell through darkness, but eventually it became light and she saw that she was falling into water, and in fact there was no land at all in sight. The animals saw her, however, and they resolved to save her. At the loon's direction, the fishhawk flew up to catch her, and the fishhawk deposited her on the turtle's back. Even Turtle grew tired of holding her, however, and the animals decided they needed land on which to place her. Several dove down to find mud in the water, but they failed until Toad tried and came back with some wet dirt. Soon the other diving animals did likewise, and Beaver patted the mud down on Turtle's back to make an island. Before long the island was quite large, and bushes began to grow at its banks.

The young woman recovered from her disease, and in fact she soon gave birth to a daughter. She raised her daughter on the island, and they ate potatoes that they grew there. When they went out to dig potatoes, she warned her daughter that she must always face the west. This was so that the west wind could not enter her and make her pregnant. The daughter nonetheless disobeyed, and soon she was heavy with child. She could hear twins inside her debating how to exit her body. One was born naturally, but the other was born through his mother's armpit, and she died from the wound.

The two brothers grew up together, but the younger was disagreeable and angry. They decided that the island needed more life, so they the made the forests and lakes. One day they divided the island in half, with each to make his own animals. The older brother made human beings, and he breathed life into them. He also made many animals that were fat and slow moving, he made the sycamore tree bear fruit, and he made the rivers flow both ways, with one half going upstream and one half going downstream. The younger brother also made many animals, including a huge mosquito that knocked down trees when it flew, and he made his half of the island rocky and full of ledges and precipices. The younger brother tried to make humans, but he could only make ugly animals, and in his anger he vowed that he would make animals that would eat humans.

The two brothers returned home to their grandmother's lodge, and decided that the next day they would go out to see what each other had done. First they went to the younger brother's half, where the older brother was distressed at the huge mosquito that could kill his people. He grabbed the mosquito and rubbed it between his hands until it was tiny, and it flew away when he blew on it. Then they went to see the older brother's half of the island, where the younger brother was disgusted because life would be too easy for the humans. He took many of his brother's animals and made them smaller and faster so they couldn't be caught, and he made the fruit of the sycamore tiny and unpalatable, and he made all the rivers flow downstream so that humans would have to work to travel.

Soon the two brothers got into a terrible fight about how each had changed the other's half of the island, and in their battle the older brother was killed. The older brother went to his home in the sky, where those who live good lives go to join him, and the younger brother went on to spread evil, and when evil people die they are tormented by him because he could not make a human.

Source: Jeremiah Curtin and J.N.B. Hewitt, 1918, Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths: Thirty- Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for 1910-1911, p. 37- 819. (J84.SI2.1 1910-1911)

Analysis

This story is an interesting selection because of its clear parallel to Turtle Island. However, the creation of land animals between the two brothers illustrates the dichotomy between good and evil as well as the struggle to survive and extends a much deeper argument towards the indigenous TEK. There is an understanding that humans are part of a natural balance, where there are positive and negative forces upon them that maintain this balance. The Seneca also had a belief that those who lived good lives were rewarded once they ended by living back home in the sky, described as a positive sanctuary free from the worries of getting by on earth. All of these characteristics demonstrate a parallel between human nature and the natural world and create a sense of oneness between humans and nature.

The Moon and the Morning Star

By Evan O'Brien




The Moon and the Morning Star is a creation story from the Wichita people:



In the beginning there were neither sun, nor stars, nor anything else that we know today. For a long time, the only man was Man-never-known-on-Earth. He created everything. When he created the world, he created land and water, but they were not separate, and still everything was dark. Then Man-never-known-on-Earth created a man who was known as Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light and a woman named Bright-Shining-Woman. Everything that they needed, they dreamed of, and it was there when they awoke. Bright-Shining-Woman received an ear of corn and knew that it would be the food of generations to come.

Still there was nothing but darkness. Without knowing why, Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light began a journey to the east, moving slowly through the darkness. He came to a stranger who told him that there would be many villages and many people in the future, and that it would be up to Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light to teach them. As they talked, a voice from the east called to this stranger to shoot a black-and-white deer that would follow a white deer and a black deer out of a stream nearby. Four times the stranger had to tell the impatient voice that he was preparing a bow and arrow to shoot the deer. Finally he emerged from his lodge as the deer jumped out of the water, and he shot the black-and-white deer. This meant that the earth would turn, that the stars would move, and that there would be day and night. The stranger, whose name was Star-that-is-always-moving, went to follow the deer that he had wounded, but Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light stayed by the shore. From where the voice had spoken, he now saw the sun rise for the first time. He returned to his home, but he traveled much faster now that it was light. That night he saw three stars in the sky, with another star nearby, and he concluded that they were the three deer and the man who followed them.

After there was light, villages and people multiplied, as the stranger had predicted. Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light and Bright-Shining-Woman went from village to village, teaching the people. Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light taught the men about bows and arrows, and he taught them to play the ball game and the shinny game.

Bright-Shining-Woman taught the women about corn, how to grow corn, how to feed the people with corn, how to offer some corn at each meal to Man-never-known-on-Earth, how take four kernels and rub them on their child as a prayer. She also taught them the double-ball game. She told them that, after she was gone, they could look at her face to tell when their monthly bleeding should occur, and by counting her appearances they could keep track of when their children would be born. Then she left them, and that night the first moon came up, because she was the Moon.

Man-with-the-Power-to-Carry-Light taught the men that they must offer some of the game that they caught to the moon and to the stars and to the other supernatural beings. He told them that he would leave them, but that they would see him sometimes in early morning. When they saw him, they were to take their children to drink and bathe in the river, which would give them long life. Then he left them and became the Morning Star.

Source: George A. Dorsey, 1904, The Mythology of the Wichita: Washington, Carnegie Institution, 351 p. (E99.W6 D718).

Analysis



The Moon and Morning Star illustrates the focus of the Wichita religion on the worship of celestial bodies as demonstrated by their offerings to the "moon and to the stars and to the other supernatural beings". The TEK of the Wichita people depended on their understanding of astrological events to aid with growing corn. The lunar cycles were also extremely important for women to understand their reproductive timing and potential. The Wichita acknowledged the origin of their existence was because of the formation of the celestial bodies, and that all life in their world was dependent upon them. The important balance of night and day is also demonstrated by the hunting of the black and white deer and the pursuit of the three deer by Star-that-is-always-moving. These three celestial bodies- the sun, moon, and stars- were revered by the Wichita because of their connection to and parenthood of life on Earth.

Between Heaven and Earth

Post by Arreana Abernethy

This is the truncated version of the story found on this website: “http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSHeaven&Earth.html”

Maori Creation Myth

The ancestors of all humans, Rangi (heaven) and Papa (earth) clung close together in the beginning and all was in darkness. Eventually they had six sons, the six sons as well as all other beings lived in this darkness.

Finally, the sons decided that something must be done. Tu-matauenga – father of the fierce human beings – urged his brothers to slay their parents. However, Tanemahuta – father of forests and their inhabitants – proposed they simply separate them and make Rangi the sky and Papa the earth. The brothers agreed to this plan, except for Tawhirir-ma-tea – father of winds and storms, and they preceeded with the plan.

Rongo-ma-tane – father of cultivated food – tried to wiggle his way between his parents, but he failed. Tangaroa – father of fish and reptiles – failed as well. Haumia-tikitiki – father of food that grows without cultivation – also struggled in vane, as did Tangaroa, and Tu-matauenga. Finally Tanemahuta attempted it. He put his head against the earth, and pushed the skies with his feet, slowly wrenching them apart. Though his parents were distraught to be separated thus, Tane kept pushing until the sky was far away from earth. Light spilled down on the brothers and revealed the multitude of humans Rangi and Papa had created.

Tawhiri-ma-tea was the only one displeased by Tane's success. Enraged, he hid with his father in the sky to plot his revenge, and soon was sending down storms and squalls and fiery clouds and hurricanes to punish Tane and Tangaroa. Tangaroa, frightened by the great swells and whirlpools dove deep into his oceans to escape it all. In doing so he abandoned his two grandchildren – father of fish and father of reptiles. Therefore, the fish and reptiles were left to debate about how they too should escape. Finally the reptiles fled to land and hid in the forests and the fish fled to their grandfather. Well, Tangaroa was not pleased that the reptiles had betrayed him for Tane and began his own struggling with the father of the forest. He sent waves to attack the shores of the forest, while Tane responded by proving canoes, spears and fish-hooks from the trees and nets woven from plants.

But Tawhiri-ma-tea also attacked his brought Haumia-tikitiki and Rongo-ma-tane, however Papa Earth-mother protected her two sons from his fury by closing them up within her.

This left on Tu-matauenga withstanding Tawhiri-ma-tea's wrath and he proved impervious. When Tawhirir finally ran out steam, Tu-ma plotted a little revenge of his own against his cowardly, weak brothers. From Forest Father Tane he stone the leaves of the whanake tree and made snares in the forest where he caught Tane's offspring. From Tangaroa Tu-ma stole his children of the seas. With a hoe and basket he dug up the children of Haumia and Rongo

Tu-ma thus consumed all four of his brothers on earth and they became his food, only Tawhiri remained unconquered and to this day remains so.

Analysis

I chose this story for the startling contrast it added to the other “animal teacher”-esque stories already discussed. It is evident through the creation story that Tu-ma is subject to both the sharpest temper, and the harshest behavior. He is no stranger to vengeance and destroyed his brothers for abandoning him. At the beginning of the story he also promotes the murder of his own parents.

In contrast, brother Tane (father of forests), is show to be wise in his suggestion of separating his parents, and of all the brothers is the only one capable of separating Rangi and Papa. It's Tane's strength that also threaten's Tu-ma, and eventually encourages the betrayal of Tane.

If anything this rather unique relationship between humans and nature lends itself to idea that humans conquered the forests, and yet humans are prone to a fierce temperament and general lack of patience and wisdom.

"Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark", Analysis and Final Thoughts by Caitlin Margitan

Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark

This version of the legend comes from Frank Linderman's 1915 collection Indian Why Stories.

It was a hot day, and Old-man was trying to sleep, but the heat made him sick. He wandered to a hilltop for air; but there was no air. Then he went down to the river and found no relief. He travelled to the timberlands, and there the heat was great, although he found plenty of shade. The travelling made him warmer, of course, but he wouldn't stay still.

 

"By and by he called to the winds to blow, and they commenced. First they didn't blow very hard, because they were afraid they might make Old-man angry, but he kept crying:

 

"'Blow harder -- harder -- harder! Blow worse than ever you blew before, and send this heat away from the world.'

 

"So, of course, the winds did blow harder -- harder than they ever had blown before.

 

"'Bend and break, Fir-Tree!' cried Old-man, and the Fir-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Pine-Tree!' and the Pine-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Spruce-Tree!' and the Spruce-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, O Birch-Tree!' and the Birch-Tree did bend, but it wouldn't break -- no, sir! -- it wouldn't break!

 

"'Ho! Birch-Tree, won't you mind me? Bend and break! I tell you,' but all the Birch-Tree would do was to bend.

 

"It bent to the ground; it bent double to please Old-man, but it would not break.

 

"'Blow harder, wind!' cried Old-man, 'blow harder and break the Birch-Tree.' The wind tried to blow harder, but it couldn't, and that made the thing worse, because Old-man was so angry he went crazy. 'Break! I tell you -- break!' screamed Old-man to the Birch-Tree.

 

"'I won't break,' replied the Birch; 'I shall never break for any wind. I will bend, but I shall never, never break.'

 

"'You won't, hey?' cried Old-man, and he rushed at the Birch-Tree with his hunting-knife. He grabbed the top of the Birch because it was touching the ground, and began slashing the bark of the Birch-Tree with the knife. All up and down the trunk of the tree Old-man slashed, until the Birch was covered with the knife slashes.

 

"'There! that is for not minding me. That will do you good! As long as time lasts you shall always look like that, Birch-Tree; always be marked as one who will not mind its maker. Yes, and all the Birch-Trees in the world shall have the same marks forever.' They do, too. You have seen them and have wondered why the Birch-Tree is so queerly marked. Now you know.

Source: Linderman, Frank. "Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark." Archived American Indian Legends. Native Languages of the Americas. 9 Dec 2008 .

 

Analysis:

            I choose this story for my last post because it demonstrates how specific creation stories can be in terms of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge they provide.  The story on the surface discusses the insanity of an old man, but with a closer look gives a description of the important components of one of the species in the Black Foot tribe’s bio-region.  From an outsider’s perspective one can see from reading creation stories and looking at the contents cultural and subsistence value in tribes members’ physical lives it becomes evident that all that is discussed in creations stories explains the value of the elements of the environment in terms of those species individual existence, the use for subsistence they provide, and their importance in terms of spirituality.  Creation stories show organisms’ existence for themselves separate from their uses in the lives of the humans that share their land. In the story above the Birch-Tree says "'I won't break,' replied the Birch; 'I shall never break for any wind. I will bend, but I shall never, never break.'(Linderman)  This quote reflects on the flexibility of the Birch-Tree designed for survival in extreme weather.  The Black Foot do not just recognize that the tree will not break they understand why.  Scientists are always trying to understand why, and they would say that the Birch-Tree has a higher tolerance for wind because the wind blows strongly in the regions where it resides.  Therefore there is no real difference in these two explanations messages accept for that of the indigenous society provides more.   In the creation story there is also a representation of how to identify the Birch-Tree; they identify it be the scares that the old man gave it when it would not break.  This element alludes to the Black Foot’s skill at ethno-botany in the sense that they can separate the Birch-Tree from the other kinds of trees with its exterior appearance as well as its interior ability.

            When the story gives the explanation of how those exterior markings got there it is more then just a description of the tree’s markings, but an explanation of the Black Foot’s spiritual connection to the tree.  This story provides original instructions of how to treat the tree, and use its attributes within subsistence without harming its attributes designed for itself.  The only element of TEK that the story leaves out, but implies is how the tree can help in term of subsistence.  In the story one see that a tree with wood that bends, but not breaks would be good to use in the construction of a canoe or a basket.  Most would not be flexible enough and strong enough to fulfill those tasks, but the Birch-tree provides bark that is capable of those two things among others. 

In all three of my posts now I have addressed what I can gather about the TEK found in the creation stories of indigenous tribes across the US, but until now I have not acknowledged that to truly understand what these stories provide one has to learn from the tribal elders of that community.  To often anthropologists give an etic viewpoint and claim to understand the ecologic knowledge and actions of other communities.  What I have expressed comes from my knowledge gained from reading about these different tribes lifestyles, reading their creation stories, and what I learned about native communities and their environmental  knowledge in my class at the University of Washington, environmental anthropology, Anthro 210.  I would rather this knowledge be shared by a member of the emic community so that misinterpretations are not made.  I want to learn myself from those individuals as well, but we must recognize that they must be willing to share that knowledge first.  The TEK of a community is sacred and cannot/should not be taken as general knowledge by the rest of global society.  If that were done it would be an example of exoticism of native knowledge, and degrade their culture.

Mi'kmaq post is by Tyson Wine

Agulabemu, the Great Bullfrog (Mi'kaq)

TRADITIONAL ETHICS

One of my favorite aspects of indigenous stories is their ability to teach ethics. Indeed, the story-process itself has replaced the need for punishment due to its amazing ability to prevent crime. We learned about this in the beginning of the course when we were learning that the reestablishment of culture for American Indians helped reduce crime and substance abuse. However, it is more than the mere establishment of community; it is also, I believe, the establishment of crime as a possibility. As Devon Pena was expressing in lecture, it is the establishment of the prison that leads to the requirement of prisoners to fill it. I believe that American Indians would agree to this, for there appears to be a belief in what the modern industrial nations refer to as "The Law of Attraction:" that is, like attracts like. I believe that American Indians would agree with the existence of this law due to their practice of gambling, which is highly misunderstood by most westerners. The American Indian gambles for two reasons: First, s/he believes in her/his ability to change the outcome of supposedly "random" events, such as the roll of a die or the side of the peach pits. Thus, winning at gambling portrays the strength of the mind. Second, losing is humbling and informative. These games continue to day and are far from the Western idea of gambling for "the big one."

Anyway, this story is not about the law of attraction or gambling, but I love it for its ability to teach without punishment. Before I delve into it I want to point out that in many place-based cultures, differences in behavior are normal to the extent that the mentally challenged are treated the same as the rest of the tribe. I believe that our focus on differences (in attention span, mental capacity, race, etc) leads to much more crime than anythings else.

At the bottom of this post, I will list the books I refer to in this intro:

One more thing - I can't help but draw connections between Delbert's story and this story of the Great bullfrog. Tell me what you think!

AGULABEMU, THE GREAT BULLFROG

This story begins in a Mi'kmaq village of happy, easy-going people that were entirely dependent on a little brook for all of their water needs, as their was no rain and no other source of water in the land. While the brook was usually plentiful, it began to diminish and eventually ran dry, making the people themselves very dry and concerned. They sent a messenger to find out what was happening to their beloved stream.

Three days of traveling brought the messenger to a dam that had been built upon the little stream, allowing no water to flow downhill to the village. There was a village at the dam and he asked to see the chief to discover why this dam had been built and ask for its removal. The chief, whom he was led to, turned out to be a "whale of a man" in human form, very intense, with great yellow eyes. The messenger gasped

Gehdoo samqwai!
Geespasee!
I am thirsty!
I am dry!

The monster replied:

Do as you choose, do as you choose, do as you choose.
What do I care? What do I care? What do I care?
If you want water, Go somewhere else!

Photo of Mi'kmaq native with canoe "Mi'kmaq Village PEI." Mr. Martin Mitchell. Photo by Crushed Ferret, 2008.

The messenger expressed his suffering and described the suffering and unhappiness of the people in the village. This appeared to please the monster, and he bored a small hole into the dam, allowing a trickle of water to drip out of the reservoir, and forced the messenger to be gone.

Upon returning, the messenger told of the water and in time a tiny stream flowed through the village, but it quickly dried up. The people, who were very honest and kind, did not know what to do. Deciding to send their bravest hunter to demand the dams removal or knock it down, the villagers were left with a difficult and uncomfortable decision. Fortunately, the great Glooskap understood their sorrow and came to their aid, from where no one ever knows, and promised to go as the bravest of the villagers to speak with this monster and, if necessary, break down this dam.

Glooskap was very intimidating, with his face painted the color of blood and a large eagle upon his shoulder. When he walked into the village up stream, all of the villagers feared him greatly, and he sat down by the dried-up creek bed and asked a boy for a drink of water. The boy, fearful of the frightening deity, ran off and returned with a dirty glass of water, not to Glooskap's liking.

Sculpture of the diety Glooskap, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, photo by Simon P.

Glooskap decided to go and find this chief who had insulted him and denied the villagers water.

"Give me water to drink,and the best, at once, you Thing of Mud!"

The beast told him to get lost, so Glooskap thrust a spear into his belly All of the water that should have been running downstream gushed out of the monsters belly, as he had consumed it all himself. The deflated monster was now tiny, and glooksap caught him and crumpled him in his hand. Ever since, the monster has been the tiny bullfrog with Glooksaps punsihment seen in his wrinkled back.

Downstream, the villagers were gone! They had been at the river dreaming of what they would do with all of the water in the world. When this daydream was granted, they opted to enjoy the water instead of remaining in the village.

The one who wished to live forever in the soft mud and always be wet and cool became the leech.
The one who wished to plunge and dive from rocks, drinking as he dove, became the spotted frog.
Another wished to flow up and down with the tides, living in land but always in water, and so he became the crab.
Lastly, one wished to swim always and forever, and so he became fish.

As it was the hour of granted wishes, these creatures came into being upon their wishes. This is the story of the first sea creatures.

ANALYSIS
I think that this story is great in its interpretation of similarities between animals and humans. While we do this sometimes in the Westernized world, we rarely due this with sea life, which just shows greater than ever the lack of a culture/nature dichotomy among native cultures. This lack of separation is not merely shifted to include those parts of nature that we can associate with as primates or mammals, as westerners often do, but incorporates all nature to prove there really does not exist a barrier between nature and culture.

Pritchard also points out the greatness of this story with the physical punishment of the monster being visible on the bullfrog's back, so that children can go out into nature and see this story for themselves, talk about it, and share enthusiasm with eachother about it. This is one attribute of the importance of story-telling in community development and upbringing. Ethics through stories seems to be effective in these societies.

My favorite part of this story is what I can only describe as the "emotionalization" of nature that the natives use to interpret the various animals. While we use our scientific discourse to interpret the naimal kingdoms based on biology, the Mi'kmaq view these animals as living life through their desires - in this case their desire to be wet, to swim, to dive, to drink.

Most important, this is one more tale of the balance of water and earth that is so essential and so often spoken of in oral traditions. I'm reminded of a story of a South American people, I forget which, who told the westerners that they should not take resources out of the earth as this was the planets blood, and while the westerners laughed, it only became evident later that removing these resources (oil) was indeed killing the planet. This form of ecological knowledge, that is the knowledge of the balance of the earth and the need to avoid overexploitation, is often so simply put that scientific discourse laughs it off. However, we can see in this story that the balance of water and earth has been important to both women/men and biological diversity for millenia.

In addition to this balance is the ethical balance of good and evil. This story is a great emphasis of "what goes around comes around." What's more, the story does not threaten punishment at any given point, it merely flows from what is necessary, and the end result is not death, but reciprocity. The bullfrog loses because that is the balance of nature, not because he deserved it in the interpretation of the people.

This book, Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing, by Robert Wolff is a great book and helped me understand a lot of the concepts that I speak of in these interpretations. I highly recommend it.

How the World Was Made

by Rebecca Mortensen

This is the ancient Filipino account of the creation.

How the World Was Made

Thousands of years ago there was no land nor sun nor moon nor stars, and the world was only a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The water was the kingdom of the god Maguayan, and the sky was ruled by the great god Captan.

Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Captan had a son known as Lihangin, the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the wind.

Three sons and a daughter were born to them. The sons were called Licalibutan, Liadlao, and Libulan; and the daughter received the name of Lisuga.

Licalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave; Liadlao was formed of gold and was always happy; Libulan was made of copper and was weak and timid; and the beautiful Lisuga had a body of pure silver and was sweet and gentle. Their parents were very fond of them, and nothing was wanting to make them happy.

After a time Lihangin died and left the control of the winds to his eldest son Licalibutan. The faithful wife Lidagat soon followed her husband, and the children, now grown up, were left without father or mother. However, their grandfathers, Captan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded them from all evil.

After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power, and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on Captan in the sky above. At first they refused; but when Licalibutan became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.

When all was ready the three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could not beat down the gates of steel that guarded the entrance. Then Licalibutan let loose the strongest winds and blew the bars in every direction. The brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the angry god Captan. So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Captan, furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after them.

The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden Liadlao, and he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan, and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and became what is known as land.

In the meantime the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She went toward the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Captan, blind with anger, struck her too with lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.

Captan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on Maguayan to come to him and accusing him of ordering the attack on the sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and answered that he knew nothing of the plot as he had been asleep far down in the sea.

After a time he succeeded in calming the angry Captan. Together they wept at the loss of their grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga; but with all their power they could not restore the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.

And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun, and copper Libulan the moon, 

while the thousands of pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven. To wicked Licalibutan the gods gave no light, but resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Captan gave Maguayan a seed, and he planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part of Licalibutan's huge body.

Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out. The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the parents of the human race. Their first child was a son whom they called Libo; afterwards they had a daughter who was known as Saman. Pandaguan was a younger son and he had a son called Arion.

Pandaguan was very clever and invented a trap to catch fish. The very first thing he caught was a huge shark. When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around and began to sing and pray to the shark. Suddenly the sky and sea opened, and the gods came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none but them.

All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that the shark was as big as the gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it he would also be able to conquer the gods. Then Captan, hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for he did not wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan decided to punish these people by scattering them over the earth, so they carried some to one land and some to another. Many children were afterwards born, and thus the earth became inhabited in all parts.

Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day have been black.

His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born before his father's punishment he did not lose his color, and all his people therefore are white.

Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all their descendants to be of a brown color.

A son of Saman and a daughter of Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children's children have always been yellow in color.

And so the world came to be made and peopled. The sun and moon shine in the sky, and the beautiful stars light up the night. All over the land, on the body of the envious Licalibutan, the children of' Sicalac and Sicabay have grown great in numbers. May they live forever in peace and brotherly love!

Source:

John Maurice Miller, Philippine Folklore Stories (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1904), pp. 57-64.

Analysis

I was really interested by this story since it was a little different than the others I posted. In this story, the main characters who create the world aren't gods or people in the sky from another world, they are natural beings such as the wind and the ocean. A difference between this and the other creation storied is that the humans on the earth are not created from these beings, they come from the earth. Also included in this story is a description of why people have different color skin. I have not heard of this being in a creation story before so I was a little shocked when I read it the first time. I also liked how not only an explanation of how the earth was created in this story, but how the sun, moon, and stars came to be is also incorporated. Although this story is very specific in what is created, I found it interesting that animals were not included. It seems that the fish and sharks were already in the ocean before the humans came but there is no other reference to the creation of animals. If I inaccurately interpreted anything or if you find another interesting part of the story, let me know and I will edit my post.

Australia's Stolen Generation

Post by Arreana A.

I will admit that this doesn't have anything to do with Creation stories, if much at all, I saw this video and thought back to the beginning of the quarter and Karina Walter's piece on Indigenous Historic Trauma.

The video I've linked you too I found while perusing YouTube at my own leisure. As a fellow sufferer of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), I too felt the impact of the Australian Government's apology to the Indigenous societies. The personal interviews alone confirm Karina Walter's theory of the importance of vindication, an idea I personally feel and promote. Though the Australian Government has very far to go before they have made up their horrible and numerous sins against the Australian Aboriginal peoples, this apology, given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is a step in the right direction.

The apology is given after more then a hundred years of Indigenous repression. In particular this apology was aimed at what's been termed as “Australia's Stolen Generation”. From 1869 to 1969 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were made wards of the state, removed from their families by government programs and missionary programs and placed into orphanages, internment camps and other institutions. As you'll see in the video, the government went as far to erase the child's heritage and change the child's name in order to hide the child from the parents. At the worst of times children faced abuse at the hand of their new “caretakers” and since 1969 have had to live with these traumatic experiences. The apology by Kevin Rudd arrived late: February 13^th, 2008, but – as the saying goes – better late then never.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9mJpL67QUw

I hope that Australia continues this trend of repentance. I would love to see Aboriginal land returned to the people, and for a greater knowledge of their cultural beliefs and TEK to gain acceptance and voice throughout the country.

Again, sorry this isn't anything about a creation story, I just wanted to share.

The picture above is of Kevin Rudd receiving the relieved Indigenious peoples on the day of his apology. Kevin Rudd, it should be said, did this as one of his first acts after being appointed Prime Minister. Well done, I say.

The Golden Chain

by Rebecca Mortensen

This creation story comes from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Togo and Benin. In the religion of the Yoruba, the supreme being is Olorun, and assisting Olorun are a number of heavenly entities called orishas. This story was written down by David A. Anderson/ Sankofa, who learned it from his father, who learned it from his mother, and so on back through the Yoruba people and through time.

The Golden Chain

      Long ago, well before there were any people, all life existed in the sky. Olorun lived in the sky, and with Olorun were many orishas. There were both male and female orishas, but Olorun transcended male and female and was the all-powerful supreme being. Olorun and the orishas lived around a young baobab tree. Around the baobab tree the orishas found everything they needed for their lives, and in fact they wore beautiful clothes and gold jewelry. Olorun told them that all the vast sky was theirs to explore. All the orishas save one, however, were content to stay near the baobab tree.

      Obatala was the curious orisha who wasn't content to live blissfully by the baobab tree. Like all orishas, he had certain powers, and he wanted to put them to use. As he pondered what to do, he looked far down through the mists below the sky. As he looked and looked, he began to realize that there was a vast empty ocean below the mist. Obatala went to Olorun and asked Olorun to let him make something solid in the waters below. That way there could be beings that Obatala and the orishas could help with their powers.

      Touched by Obatala's desire to do something constructive, Olorun agreed to send Obatala to the watery world below. Obatala then asked Orunmila, the orisha who knows the future, what he should do to prepare for his mission. Orunmila brought out a sacred tray and sprinkled the powder of baobab roots on it. He tossed sixteen palm kernels onto the tray and studied the marks and tracks they made on the powder. He did this eight times, each time carefully observing the patterns. Finally he told Obatala to prepare a chain of gold, and to gather sand, palm nuts, and maize. He also told Obatala to get the sacred egg carrying the personalities of all the orishas.

      Obatala went to his fellow orishas to ask for their gold, and they all gave him all the gold they had. He took this to the goldsmith, who melted all the jewelry to make the links of the golden chain. When Obatala realized that the goldsmith had made all the gold into links, he had the goldsmith melt a few of them back down to make a hook for the end of the chain.

      Meanwhile, as Orunmila had told him, Obatala gathered all the sand in the sky and put it in an empty snail shell, and in with it he added a little baobab powder. He put that in his pack, along with palm nuts, maize, and other seeds that he found around the baobab tree. He wrapped the egg in his shirt, close to his chest so that it would be warm during his journey.

      Obatala hooked the chain into the sky, and he began to climb down the chain. For seven days he went down and down, until finally he reached the end of the chain. He hung at its end, not sure what to do, and he looked and listened for any clue. Finally he heard Orunmila, the seer, calling to him to use the sand. He took the shell from his pack and poured out the sand into the water below. The sand hit the water, and to his surprise it spread and solidified to make a vast land. Still unsure what to do, Obatala hung from the end of the chain until his heart pounded so much that the egg cracked. From it flew Sankofa, the bird bearing the sprits of all the orishas. Like a storm, they blew the sand to make dunes and hills and lowlands, giving it character just as the orishas themselves have character.

      Finally Obatala let go of the chain and dropped to this new land, which he called "Ife", the place that divides the waters. Soon he began to explore this land, and as he did so he scattered the seeds from his pack, and as he walked the seeds began to grow behind him, so that the land turned green in his wake.

      After walking a long time, Obatala grew thirsty and stopped at a small pond. As he bent over the water, he saw his reflection and was pleased. He took some clay from the edge of the pond and began to mold it into the shape he had seen in the reflection. He finished that one and began another, and before long he had made many of these bodies from the dark earth at the pond's side. By then he was even thirstier than before, and he took juice from the newly-grown palm trees and it fermented into palm wine. He drank this, and drank some more, and soon he was intoxicated. He returned to his work of making more forms from the edge of the pond, but now he wasn't careful and made some without eyes or some with misshapen limbs. He thought they all were beautiful, although later he realized that he had erred in drinking the wine and vowed to not do so again.

      Before long, Olorun dispatched Chameleon down the golden chain to check on Obatala's progress. Chameleon reported Obatala's disappointment at making figures that had form but no life. Gathering gasses from the space beyond the sky, Olorun sparked the gasses into an explosion that he shaped into a fireball. He sent that fireball to Ife, where it dried the lands that were still wet and began to bake the clay figures that Obatala had made. The fireball even set the earth to spinning, as it still does today. Olorun then blew his breath across Ife, and Obatala's figures slowly came to life as the first people of Ife.

Source:

David A. Anderson/Sankofa, 1991, The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth: Mt. Airy, Maryland, Sights Productions, 31 p. (Folio PZ8.1.A543 Or 1991)

Analysis

This story shows many similarities to the others we have heard so far. This story also mentions a tree that the people lived around before going to earth like in Tom Porter's "Turtle Island". As in the story of Nu Wa I told earlier, the person who came to the earth brought seeds to plant on the new earth. The person who came to the earth also made little statues of people out of clay which were then turned into people later on. I did, however, think it was interesting that in this story, it is specifically noted that the people made were not all alike, some missing limbs or eyes. I thought that showed a lot of the character of the Yoruba people in that they still see those people as being beautiful. I also was surprised to see the inclusion of the gases from the universe. I usually don't see a creation story including something I see as being scientific into the story. These are just a few things I noticed in this story but if there is something I misread or another interesting idea, let me know and I will include it.

Pictures to go with "The Story of Corn and Medicine" posted By Caitlin Margitan

Once again I can't figure out how to post my pictures so here is a link to see painting interpretations of Selu (at 

http://www.meredith.edu/nativeam/selu.jpg

) 

and her husband the Lucky Hunter (at www.meredith.edu/ nativeam/selu2.jpg)

 

"The Story of Corn and Medicine" and its Analysis by Caitlin Margitan

     “ This is a synthesis of several stories from the Cherokee, who were the native people of northern Georgia and Alabama, western North Carolina, central and eastern Tennessee, and Kentucky.”

The Story of Corn and Medicine

            The earth began as nothing but water and darkness, and all the animals were in Galúnlati, above the stone vault that makes up the sky. Eventually Galúnlati became so crowded that the animals needed more room, and they wanted to move down to earth. Not knowing what was below the water, they sent down the Water beetle to explore. Water beetle dove below the water and eventually came back with some mud from below. That mud grew and grew, and finally it became the island that we call earth. This island of earth is suspended at its four corners from ropes that hang down from the sky, and legend has it that some day the ropes will break and the earth will sink back into the water.

      Because it grew from mud, the new earth was very soft. Many of the birds flew down to explore the new land, but it was too wet for them to stay. Finally Buzzard flew down, hoping it was dry, but the earth was still wet. Buzzard searched and searched, especially in the Cherokee country, and finally he became so tired that his wings flapped against the ground. His wings dug valleys where they hit the ground and turned up mountains where they pulled away, leaving the rugged country of the Cherokee.

      Eventually the earth was dry and the animals moved down. There still was no light, however, and so the animals set the sun passing from east to west just over their heads. With the sun so close, many of the animals were burned, giving the red crawfish its crimson color. The animals raised the sun again and again, until it was high enough that all could survive.

      When the plants and animals first came to earth, they were told to stay awake for seven nights, as in the Cherokee medicine ceremony. The animals all stayed awake the first night, and many stayed awake the next few nights, but only the owl and the panther and a couple of others stayed awake all seven nights. They were given the ability to see at night and so to hunt at night when the others are asleep. The same thing happened among the trees, and only the cedar, pine, spruce, holly and laurel stayed awake all seven nights, which is why they can stay green all year when the others lose their leaves.

      Humans came after the animals. At first they multiplied rapidly, and the first woman give birth every seven days. Eventually there were so many of them that it seemed they might not all survive, and since then to this day each woman has been able to have just one child each year. Among these early people were a man and a woman name Kanáti and Selu, whose names meant "The Lucky Hunter" and "Corn", respectively. Kanáti would go hunting and invariably return with game, which Selu would prepare by the stream near their home. She also would always return home with baskets of corn, which she would pound to make meal for bread.

      Kanáti and Selu had a little boy, and he would play by the stream. Eventually they realized that he was playing with another little boy who had arisen from the blood of the game washed by the stream. With their son's help they caught the other boy, and eventually he lived with them like he was their own son, although he was called "the Wild Boy".

      Kanáti brought home game whenever he went hunting, and one day the two boys decided to follow him. They followed him into the mountains until he came to a large rock, which he pulled aside to reveal a cave from which a buck emerged. Kanáti shot the buck and, after covering the cave, he headed home. The boys got home before him and didn't reveal what they had learned, but a few days later they returned to the rock. With a struggle they pulled it aside and had great fun watching the deer come out of the cave. They lost track of what they were doing, however, and soon all sorts of game animals - rabbit and turkeys and partridges and buffalo and all - escaped from the cave. Kanáti saw all these animals coming down the mountain and knew what the boys must have done, and he went up the mountain after them. He opened four jars in the cave, and from them came fleas and lice and gnats and bedbugs that attacked the boys. He sent them home, hoping he could find some of the dispersed game for the supper. Thus it is that people must now hunt for game.

      The boys went home, and Selu told them there would be no meat for dinner. However, she went to the storehouse for food, and told the boys to wait while she did so. They followed her instead to the storehouse and watched her go inside. She put down her basket and then rubbed her stomach, and the basket was partly full with corn. Then she rubbed her sides, and it was full to the top with beans. Watching through a crack in the storehouse wall, the boys saw all this. Selu knew that they had seen her, but she went ahead and fixed them a last meal. Then she and Kanáti explained that, because their secrets were revealed, they would die, and with them would end the easy life they had known. However, Selu told them to drag her body seven times around a circle in front of their house, and then to drag her seven times over the soil inside the circle, and if they stayed up all night to watch, in the morning they would have a crop of corn. The boys, however, only cleared a few spots and they only dragged her body over it twice, which is why corn only grows in certain places on the earth. They did sit up all night, though, and in the morning the corn was grown, and still it is grown today, although now it takes half a year.

      In these early days, the plants, the animals, and the people all lived together as friends. As the people multiplied, however, the animals had less room to roam, and they were either slaughtered for food or trampled under the humans' feet. Finally the animals held a council to discuss what to do. The bears experimented with using bows and arrows to fight back, but they concluded that they would have to cut off their claws to use the bows. The deer held a council and decided to send rheumatism to any hunter who killed a deer without asking its pardon for having done so. When a deer is shot by a hunter, the fleet and silent Little Deer, leader of the deer, runs to the blood-stained spot to ask the spirit of the killed deer if the hunter prayed for pardon for his affront. If the answer is no, Little Deer follows the trail of blood and inflicts the hunter with rheumatism so that he is crippled.

      The fish and reptiles likewise met, and resolved that the people would suffer from dreams in which snakes twined about them. The birds and smaller animals and insects all met too, and talked long into the night about how they had suffered from the humans. Eventually they created all sorts of new diseases to afflict humans, which have since become a scourge to the animals' oppressors.

      After this the plants met, and they resolved that something must be done to counteract what the animals had done. That is why so many trees and shrubs and herbs, and even the mosses, provide remedies for diseases. It was thus that medicine first came into the world, to counteract the revenge of the animals.

Source:

Mooney, James; Ayunini. " The Story of Corn and Medicine." Creation Stories from around the World. July 2000. University of Georgia. 30 Nov 2008. <http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSCorn&Medicine.html>

 

Analysis:

In the compilation of stories above one gets an understanding of  the Cherokee approach to  Agriculture and hunting due to spiritual repercussions if members stray from their traditional practices.  In this creation story the anthropologists can extract great examples of  TEK in the form it takes in order to be transferred from one generation to the next.  There are huge references to how one should hunt and subsist from the land in terms of agriculture.  In addition the creation story above also gives historical/spiritual accounts of the past and  its effects on the present.

In terms of  hunting Kanáti or "The Lucky Hunter" is the most influential figure in the lives of the Cherokee.  He had all of the game kept in a secure area just until it was needed for consumption.  Kanati seems to be not magic in the sense of sorcery, but in the sense that he had unnatural self-control.  When the two little boys broke that, repercussions for the greed of humans needed to be made thus he “opened four jars in the cave, and from them came fleas and lice … that attacked the boys.”(Mooney) This means that men had to hunt, but not only that had to deal with the pests that followed the beasts. The most important lesson from this situation is that people must share the planet with animals.  The story also gives the incentives to treat animals with respect reasoning that it is when we fail to do that, that we get illnesses from them.  The story passes on the TEK that balance must remain to keep the peace among the organisms on the planet.  This is why the Cherokee have the good sense to use plants as antidote for their illnesses, they understand how to balance or adapt in the chaos of their specified bioregion.

Since the Cherokee understand that one’s diet cannot revolve solely around meat it makes sense that they have a magical being in their creation story that reasons the use of agriculture as well, Selu. With her “Cherokee history [has always included] the raising of corn interwoven with their spiritual beliefs.” (www. blueridgeheritage. com/agriculturalheritage/CherokeeAgriculture/index.html) From her came corn and beans, which she originally produced.  When the boys learned her secret the story explained the average individual without the magical couples self constraint would have to get their food by working within the larger system rather then have things appear automatically. This story gives spiritually intensive reasons for not feeling resentment towards cultivating their crops with moderation and hunting for beasts in the wild.  This sense for need for balance and the creation of room for the rest of the beings in the world’s chaos explains the Cherokee’s types of agricultural practices.   Before European intervention the people’s “villages were surrounded by vast cornfields while gardens were planted beside rivers and streams.” (http://www. blueridgeheritage. com/agriculturalheritage/CherokeeAgriculture/index.html)  This is also why they had crop verity producing “…corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, pumpkins and other crops.”  (http://www. blueridgeheritage. com/agriculturalheritage/ CherokeeAgriculture/index.html)  To be able to produce at that level like the Hopi, mentioned in my previous post, the Cherokee balanced work across the genders.  In fact the creation story explains that the woman were best suited to take care of the crops and the men were best suited to take care of the hunting shown in the relationship between Selu and Kanati.  This TEK of repaying the other organisms that surround the individual is so ingrained not only through the example of this story, but also with spiritual interaction with fell humans and other species.  For example they only take what they need of a plant and then “… leave behind a gift of gratitude, such as a small bead.” (http://www. blueridgeheritage. com/agriculturalheritage/CherokeeAgriculture /index.html)

Spiritual ritual used to regulate an agricultural system within a society is not unique to the Cherokee as we have seen in class with the Subak.  Thus this creation story would be necessary to understand in order to fully understand the religious practices that regulate agriculture in this society.  This therefore is another example of why the environmental anthropologist must not discount the importance of creation stories in their research to create accurate analysis.

The other element of Cherokee society that this story reveals is the scientific understanding of species and their interaction with others that this group possesses that coincides with the intellectually recognized (within western society community’s) calculations.  For example one can see this when the story discusses that specific animals “were given the ability to see at night and … hunt at night when the others are asleep.” (Mooney)  This native population understands that some species have night vision, and the correct reason for why they have it.  There are several other examples of this type of knowledge in this article such as the need for distance from the sun, that some trees are adjusted as not to loss their leaves, and woman can only have one child within the cycle of a specific time frame of a year.  To conclude this post I would like to point out how important TEK is to understanding the human connection to the environment.  The Cherokee have knowledge of the earth’s natural processes, as well as knowledge of how to subsist from it while co-existing with other species in the environment in a way that leaves no unwanted mark.

Second source used:

"Cherokee Agriculture." Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. 2007. Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Board. 1 Dec 2008 .