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 .

Native American Stories

The post is by Tyson Wine

I'm finding it increasingly interesting to learn about Native American stories. I find it especially fascinating to learn their ideas about various animals. Animals are often treated as if they have attributes similar to humans - for better or worse. We see this in stories such as Turtle Island and the story of the Fat Beaver told by Delbert Miller. Anyway, my interest in these personifications shows that the culture/nature dichotomy is not present in native cultures in the US. American Indians are part of nature, in touch with nature, and willing to learn from nature.

The stories I'm going to share are from a new book I've been reading called "Native American Stories of the Sacred" retold and annotated by Evan T. Pritchard. The stories I specifically tell are "How Deer Got His Horns" and "Why Deer's Teeth are Blunt" partially because they are really two parts of one story (showing that everything should be in balance, it appears) and greatly because I am trying to learn as much about Cherokee history as possible, as I am a descendant of a Cherokee. I will likely refer to other parts of the book indirectly, so if you are interested, I highly encourage you to read it!

"How Deer Got His Horns"

Before deer had his horns, it was wondered wether deer or rabbit were faster, since both were fast but in different ways. Deer could run fast, but rabbit was a great jumper and moved pretty rapidly through the woods. What's more, rabbit was clever. To find out who was faster, a race was divised with a grand prize of a nice pair of antlers. The day of the race, Rabbit asked to take a look around the thatchet where the race was to take place - claiming not to know this neck of the woods. As the other animals waited, it occured that the tricky rabbit might be up to something, and so a messenger was sent to figure out where rabbit was. He did so, and discovered rabbit attempting to dig a short-cut through the thicket. It was in this way that deer won the race - not through speed but by innocence - and to this day Deer wheres his antlers that he won. Rabbit did not lose the race for lack of speed but for trickery and disqualification.

Analysis:

I forgot to mention that this story actually contains analysis of these stories, but not in the context of environmental anthropology. Nevertheless, it's a pretty great book.

First of all, the book says that the Cherokee say, "To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, Nation, and the world, is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created ... True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others." The point is that servitude and kindness and an objective position are the purpose of life, not personal gain. While I don't want to turn this particular blog into a political one, the implications of capitalism as destructive self-interest are evidenced by this story. This story takes the personalities of animals and applies them to ethics. In this way, the Cherokee were able to show that ethics were more important than personal gain and pride. More importantly, this story shows that the rewards ultimately go to those who are fair and honest.

This is a different approach to TEK than we've seen. Instead of merely showing that the Cherokee understand TEK, we see that the Cherokee used their understanding of nature to express ethics. This is important because there was no legal punishment for criminal behavior in American Indian communities. What you had was a populous of people who say through stories what was right and wrong. These stories were the connection between TEK and ethics. Another point, by the author, is that excellence attracts jealousy. "Jealousy is best dealt with by cautious, gradual power-sharing in the Native tradition, not with naivete or hostility.

Alright, so I admit that I included this particular photo because these bunnies are obviously up to no good ...

This story flows into the next, showing that no story should be considered separate from any other. What's more, no story should be considered merely for its portrayal of the winner. (There are losers, and when they are as cute as the up-to-something bunnies above, we definitely want to consider them to ...)

Why Deer's Teeth Are Blunt

I'll make this story short because I'm getting kind of long-winded here. The rabbit, being entirely jealous and a little hurt, tricked deer into believing that he could cut through some tough vine and that deer could not because his teeth were too blunt. Rabbit then convinced deer that he needed his teeth to be sharpened, and promptly filed down deers teeth so that he too could cut through the vine. Unfortunately, he didn't sharpen but filed dull, and deer was left able to eat nothing other than grass and leaves. Rabbit claims "now you've paid for your horns," implying that some loss has to come with deer's gain of his horns.

The obvious side of deer that we see here is the naivety that simplicity can lead to.
What's more, there is a balance in the universe that is very well portrayed here. More importantly, the moral seems to be that you shall never trust the clever as their cleverness is often used for the wrong pursuits, such as greed or jealousy. Nevertheless, deer's naivety shows us that if we are not careful we can pay for our achievements. The Cherokee believe this to be a great truth - that excellence attracts jealousy - and thus encourage "gradual power-sharing" which sounds to me like a truer version of democracy than our own. I certainly did not feel as if the last eight years were ones comprised of "power-sharing" but none-the-less, the Cherokee form of governing and even encouragement of perseverence of that power-sharing is impresive.

To quote Pritchard; "As I have been told, "The Mi'kmaq didn't have jails or mental institutions, they had ahdooga'an" (teaching tales). When people are raised right on strong stories, they grow up strong, ready to deal with small problems before they get big. That way, tyranny never gets a foothold."

Last, I would like to ask a question (for reply or just thought): Did the Cherokee learn from the mistakes of the animals, or did they merely create "stories" out of their interpretations of personalities represented by animals? It appears that the Cherokee understood animals to have personalities just like humans, with the necessity of learning from their mistakes.

Images To Go With the Hopi Creation Story From Caitlin Margitan

I attached links to images that support the Hopi story and and my analysis because blogger would not let my upload the actual images. It makes my post less exciting, but still gives you a chance to see these beautiful things.



Map of Hopi Territory http://www.nau.edu/~hcpo-p/images/HOPIMAP.GIF?

Image of spider woman a main individual in the story http://www.crystalinks.com/spiderwoman.jpg

artistic interpretation of the story http://www.greatdreams.com/hopimy.gif

View of the land http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/hopibuttes/HopiButtesLow.jpg

Hopi Corn http://www.jungleseeds.com/images/SweetCornHopi.JPG

Hopi Creation Story and Analysis By Caitlin Margitan

The Four Creations

      The world at first was endless space in which existed only the Creator, Taiowa. This world had no time, no shape, and no life, except in the mind of the Creator. Eventually the infinite creator created the finite in Sotuknang, whom he called his nephew and whom he created as his agent to establish nine universes. Sotuknang gathered together matter from the endless space to make the nine solid worlds. Then the Creator instructed him to gather together the waters from the endless space and place them on these worlds to make land and sea. When Sotuknang had done that, the Creator instructed him to gather together air to make winds and breezes on these worlds.

      The fourth act of creation with which the Creator charged Sotuknang was the creation of life. Sotuknang went to the world that was to first host life and there he created Spider Woman, and he gave her the power to create life. First Spider Woman took some earth and mixed it with saliva to make two beings. Over them she sang the Creation Song, and they came to life. She instructed one of them, Poqanghoya, to go across the earth and solidify it. She instructed the other, Palongawhoya, to send out sound to resonate through the earth, so that the earth vibrated with the energy of the Creator. Poqanghoya and Palongawhoya were despatched to the poles of the earth to keep it rotating.

      Then Spider Woman made all the plants, the flowers, the bushes, and the trees. Likewise she made the birds and animals, again using earth and singing the Creation Song. When all this was done, she made human beings, using yellow, red, white, and black earth mixed with her saliva. Singing the Creation Song, she made four men, and then in her own form she made four women. At first they had a soft spot in their foreheads, and although it solidified, it left a space through which they could hear the voice of Sotuknang and their Creator. Because these people could not speak, Spider Woman called on Sotuknang, who gave them four languages. His only instructions were for them to respect their Creator and to live in harmony with him.

      These people spread across the earth and multiplied. Despite their four languages, in those days they could understand each other's thoughts anyway, and for many years they and the animals lived together as one. Eventually, however, they began to divide, both the people from the animals and the people from each other, as they focused on their differences rather than their similarities. As division and suspicion became more widespread, only a few people from each of the four groups still remembered their Creator. Sotuknang appeared before these few and told them that he and the Creator would have to destroy this world, and that these few who remembered the Creator must travel across the land, following a cloud and a star, to find refuge. These people began their treks from the places where they lived, and when they finally converged Sotuknang appeared again. He opened a huge ant mound and told these people to go down in it to live with the ants while he destroyed the world with fire, and he told them to learn from the ants while they were there. The people went down and lived with the ants, who had storerooms of food that they had gathered in the summer, as well as chambers in which the people could live. This went on for quite a while, because after Sotuknang cleansed the world with fire it took a long time for the world to cool off. As the ants' food ran low, the people refused the food, but the ants kept feeding them and only tightened their own belts, which is why ants have such tiny waists today.

      Finally Sotuknang was done making the second world, which was not quite as beautiful as the first. Again he admonished the people to remember their Creator as they and the ants that had hosted them spread across the earth. The people multiplied rapidly and soon covered the entire earth. They did not live with the animals, however, because the animals in this second world were wild and unfriendly. Instead the people lived in villages and built roads between these, so that trade sprang up. They stored goods and traded those for goods from elsewhere, and soon they were trading for things they did not need. As their desire to have more and more grew, they began to forget their Creator, and soon wars over resources and trade were breaking out between villages. Finally Sotuknang appeared before the few people who still remembered the Creator, and again he sent them to live with the ants while he destroyed this corrupt world. This time he ordered Poqanghoya and Palongawhoya to abandon their posts at the poles, and soon the world spun out of control and rolled over. Mountains slid and fell, and lakes and rivers splashed across the land as the earth tumbled, and finally the earth froze over into nothing but ice.

      This went on for years, and again the people lived with the ants. Finally Sotuknang sent Poqanghoya and Palongawhoya back to the poles to resume the normal rotation of the earth, and soon the ice melted and life returned. Sotuknang called the people up from their refuge, and he introduced them to the third world that he had made. Again he admonished the people to remember their Creator as they spread across the land. As they did so, they multiplied quickly, even more quickly than before, and soon they were living in large cities and developing into separate nations. With so many people and so many nations, soon there was war, and some of the nations made huge shields on which they could fly, and from these flying shields they attacked other cities. When Sotuknang saw all this war and destruction, he resolved to destroy this world quickly before it corrupted the few people who still remembered the Creator. He called on Spider Woman to gather those few and, along the shore, she placed each person with a little food in the hollow stem of a reed. When she had done this, Sotuknang let loose a flood that destroyed the warring cities and the world on which they lived.

      Once the rocking of the waves ceased, Spider Woman unsealed the reeds so the people could see. They floated on the water for many days, looking for land, until finally they drifted to an island. On the island they built little reed boats and set sail again to the east. After drifting many days, they came to a larger island, and after many more days to an even larger island. They hoped that this would be the fourth world that Sótuknang had made for them, but Spider Woman assured them that they still had a long and hard journey ahead. They walked across this island and built rafts on the far side, and set sail to the east again. They came to a fourth and still larger island, but again they had to cross it on foot and then build more rafts to continue east. From this island, Spider Woman sent them on alone, and after many days they encountered a vast land. Its shores were so high that they could not find a place to land, and only by opening the doors in their heads did they know where to go to land.

      When they finally got ashore, Sotuknang was there waiting for them. As they watched to the west, he made the islands that they had used like stepping-stones disappear into the sea. He welcomed them to the fourth world, but he warned them that it was not as beautiful as the previous ones, and that life here would be harder, with heat and cold, and tall mountains and deep valleys. He sent them on their way to migrate across the wild new land in search of the homes for their respective clans. The clans were to migrate across the land to learn its ways, although some grew weak and stopped in the warm climates or rich lands along the way. The Hopi trekked and far and wide, and went through the cold and icy country to the north before finally settling in the arid lands between the Colorado River and Rio Grande River. They chose that place so that the hardship of their life would always remind them of their dependence on, and link to, their Creator.

Source:

Fredericks, Oswald White Bear. "The Four Creations." Creation Stories from around the World. July 2000. University of Georgia. 30 Nov 2008 .

 

 Analysis

Over the course of the story the reader gets an understanding of the great respect and connection that the Hopi have to the earth caused by the repeated discipline for deviation by the creator.  They have learned if they do not control their population or only use what is allotted to them there are strict consequences from not only their creator, but also their co-inhabitants.

Due to these factors the Hopi have developed a means of subsistence were in they can live without harming the earth or disrespecting the other plants and animals they share the planet with.  Examples of the methods they use to do this are “Flood-water farming crops …[which] are planted in fields and in the major washes and [are] watered as snow melts and through summer cloudbursts, Akchin farming crops… planted in areas where floodwater spreads out at the mouth of an arroyo (gully), and irrigated gardening crops [which] are grown in stepped, rock-walled terraces on the sides of the mesas and irrigated by gravity fed ditches.” (Vasquez)

From the story it is seen that all have a duty to take care of the land and live to serve their fellow man and wilderness, not just themselves.  This is shown by the punishment of those that fight over resources such as in the water wars, and the constant protection of those that try and live within the bounds they are given (an example of which is when spider woman sealed the good humans in reeds and let the rest be wiped out by the creator).  Looking at physical Hopi practices this can be seen in the equal division of labor between men and women in the community.  Men are responsible for “clearing the fields, [the] planting and maintenance of the corn, and harvesting the corn” meaning their burden is heavy, but not unique to their gender.  Women are “responsible for [the] caring of the seeds, distribution of harvest products, Planting and gathering of vegetables and fruit from terraces, and assisting men in the fields” (Vasquez)   Those that share these duties are the ones from the story that “trekked far and wide, and went through the cold and icy country to the north before finally settling in the arid lands between the Colorado River and Rio Grande River.” (Fredericks)  They settled here so “the hardship of their life would always remind them of their dependence on, and link to, their Creator.” (Fredericks)  An example of the Hopi’s determination to stay true to the earth and their spiritual livelihood is found in this reference to another creation story “as the Hopi moved from the third to the fourth way of life (referencing the transition referred to as new worlds in the story above), they were offered corn by Ma'saw. The other peoples took the largest ears of corn and Hopis were left with the short blue ear. The Hopis knew that their fourth way of life would be difficult and that they must submit to the corn as a way of life.” (Vasquez)  As a people the Hopi have something that anthropologists can translate for the rest of society to not only gain respect for our fellow humans of different cultures, but also to help us understand the environmental need to use less and live not just for oneself. The methods that the Hopi use to live create much less of a mark on the planet because they find value in the world that surrounds them spiritually.  As world citizens it is our responsibility to find value in that and to look to place based societies for instruction.

This story is of anthropologic value because it shows how “these agricultural activities also reinforce traditions and customs in each new generation, for as one Hopi gardener said, ‘This is not about growing vegetables; it is about growing kids.’ ” (Vasquez)  This story has environmental anthropologic value because it gives deeper insight into the impact of this society on the rest of the environment compared to the rest of society, and they can continue to discover which groups are most adapted to the earth for continued co-inhabitation.  An example of the lessons that are passed down to preserve culture and have environmental benefit comes from the part of the story in which Sotuknang “opened a huge ant mound and told these people to go down in it to live with the ants while he destroyed the world with fire (possibly a reference to the asteroids that once impaled the earth as balls of fire), and he told them to learn from the ants while they were there. The people went down and lived with the ants, who had storerooms of food that they had gathered in the summer... This went on for quite a while… as the ants' food ran low, the people refused the food, but the ants kept feeding them and only tightened their own belts, which is why ants have such tiny waists today.” (Fredericks)  In this little section of the story we see native entomology in the description of the ants figure, the importance of storing food to both subsistence and culture,  and the spiritual belief connected to the importance of preserving food.  If they did not preserve food they would starve in the winter when there is less to find, but if the youth were told just that they would value it less then if they had a moral reason as well.  Thus this story has value for all people, but those that can use and value it to the deepest degree are those that belong to the culture it comes from.  Anthropologists can use these stories to, but understand people’s relation to earth, but they must realize that without an emic perspective they will not understand fully.

            There is a lot more that can be discussed about in this story such as the reference to their being more then one planet and historical natural processes such as the ice age (when the creator froze the planet) and the fact that the earth rotates, but these are just side bars that show the depth of Hopi knowledge of the global and universal environment.  The focus of all three of my posts will be the use of the creation story to create a foundation for a society of sustainable subsistence, and therefore I will not stray to far into these other topics.  The reason for my focus on this aspect is that this seems to be a constant message within the creation stories of different groups, and also is an aspect that I think if looked at enough will cause the general field of anthropology to value creation stories more, and use them more in the research of the societies they belong to.  

Other source cited in analysis besides the creation story itself:

Vasquez, Dr. Miguel . "Hopi Agriculture." the Official Hopi Cultural Preservation Office home Page. 2007. The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. 30 Nov 2008 .