CREATION

MYTHS

CULTURE
2

Acc. to Andrew Wiget, Culture is a

system of beliefs and values through
which a group of people structure
their experience of the world.

the impact of ideology upon literature

pluralize our notion of the world
& understand that other peoples can
organize their experience in different ways
and dramatize their experience of the world
through different symbolic forms

CULTURE
3

If culture is a system of beliefs and

values by which people organize their
experience of the world,
then it follows that forms of
expressive culture (literature)
should embody the basic beliefs
and values of the people who
create them.

CULTURE
4

These beliefs and values can be

roughly organized in three areas:

(1) beliefs @ the nature of the physical

world
(2) beliefs @ social order &
appropriate behavior
(3) beliefs @ human nature & the
problem of good and evil

CREATION MYTHS
5

Stories about the Creation of the World

tell people who they are by telling
where they came from (21)
influence how they think about the world
& treat it
their worldview
symbolic story about how the world was
created & how humans came to be

CREATION MYTHS
6

common traits:

advance a general cultural outlook

perspectives on life
ways to understand life
also
birth theme: start of life cycle
higher power: a creator, catalyst
innocence, sinlessness
animals & humans together

CREATION MYTHS
7

Natives:

spoken, narrated, sung, chanted (oral

tradition)
mid- to late-1800s that Euro-Americans
gained the linguistic skills & cultural
understanding to translate them decently
& Natives collaborated in the recording of
their myths & legends
Frank

Hamilton Cushing, Zuni, 1879

Washington Matthews (army doc), Navajo, 1880s
JW Fewkes, & JW Lloyd, Pima, 20th C.
David Cusick, a Tuscarora member of the Iroquois
6 Nations), 1825 1st Native

IROQUOIS
8

5 Nations:

Mohawks
Seneca
Oneida
Onondaga
Cayuga

6th nation =

Tuscarora of North Carolina, early 1700s

IROQUOIS
9

People of the Longhouse

Haudenosaunee
referred to self
longhouse
20

ft. wide
40-200 ft. wide
several families in 1
shared cooking fires

IROQUOIS
10

Iroquois:

French
English & Dutch: Mohawk, Seneca,
Maqua

area:

northeast North America

Erie & Ontario lakes
St. Lawrence & Ottawa rivers
Hudson River

11

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH
25 versions (oral tradition)
1623: Gabriel Sagard, French
1828, David Cusick Sketches of the
Ancient History of the Six Nations

12

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

2 worlds

Lower World
of

darkness
the possession of the Great Monster

Upper World
of

sky
inhabited by mankind

13

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

SKY WOMAN:

conceives TWINS
sinks, pushed, falls from Upper World to
Lower World

Lower World creatures see her falling,

prepare her landing

get a patch of earth

turtle volunteers to catch her in the
water

14

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

TURTLE

grows to the size of an island

w/bushes & trees

15

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

TWINS

fight in the womb

evil one wants to burst out his mothers
side
good one prevents it

birth

she dies shortly after

16

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

ENIGORIO

good son
creator
sun

from mothers head

moon from mothers body
stars
creeks & rivers
animals
Adam & Eve = The Real People (Ea-GweHowe)
rain, vegetation, game animals

17

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

ENIGONHAHETGEA

evil son
creates only bad things, tries to corrupt
brothers creations
mountains,

valleys
(rivers in only 1 direction)
reptiles poisonous to humans
tries to create humans but APES
tries again, brother stops, gives them life &
souls

the most knowledge of Good & Evil (25)

18

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

Evil Son tries to contain all animals, to keep

from humans Good Son frees them
Final Battle

Evil Son challenges brother

for governance of entire universe
confess their weaknesses

Goods = beaten w/corn stalks, rushes, reeds (a lie?)

Bads = beaten w/deer antlers

2-day battle
Bad = beaten w/antlers, crushed into the earth
Bads last words

hell become Evil Spirit (Devil/Hades)

hold equal power over human souls after death

19

IROQUOIS CREATION
MYTH

COMPARISON to BIBLE:

virgin birth
good vs. evil struggles
Creation
Adam & Eve
ultimate battle, Good vs. Evil,
Armageddon
Devil, Hades

NAVAJO
20

Athabascan language

shared by Canadian & Alaskan tribes

shared by Apaches

Navajo Nation

Din-e
The People
Navajo = Spanish, Apaches who
cultivate fields (Apachu de Nabajo)

NAVAJO
21

migrated south west

skills

farming & weaving - from Pueblos

silver-working from Mexicans

livestock from Spanish

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

22

Washington Matthews, late 1800s

complex
5 Worlds
#1 theme =

HARMONY & BALANCE

gods

& humans & creatures

man & wife

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

23

1st
WORLD

like an island floating in a sea of

mist (26)
red
no sun, stars, people
only light = the sky

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

1st
WORLD
wind creatures (Nilchi Dinee)

the Holy People (Hashcheeh Dinee)

24

predecessors

of Humans (we got their beauty

& form)

4 colors of the day

white

= eastern sky, dawn (rise & shine)

blue = southern sky, day (work)
yellow = western sky, evening (retire)
black = northern sky, night (sleep)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

25

1st
WORLD
north = death

Great Fountain

center of the world (axis

confluence of 3 rivers

12 TRIBES

#4
4 or 2 pairs
important pattern # to
mundi)
Navajo
signifies completion,
wholeness
Judeo-Christian #7

4 in 3 directions
ants, dragonflies, beetles, bats, locusts
not insects/animals
but spiritual beings

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

1st
WORLD

26

4 GUARDIANS

in the water surrounding the 1st World

Water Monster, east
Blue Heron, south
Frog, west
White Mountain Thunder, north

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

27

FALL

adultery

resulted in deceit, jealousy, turmoil

1st
WORLD

* destroys the HARMONY between husband & wife

warned 3x, 4th = banishment

but they were lost in their wickedness & did not
heed
4 Guardians sent Great Flood
escape east, through small opening into a blue
world

strange blue head in the sky

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

28

2nd
WORLD

blue
barren & flat
scouts (like Noah & raven & dove)
Swallow People (blue beings)
(supernaturals

todays birds)

who were precursors of

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

29

2nd
WORLD
dont learn their lesson:
take

liberties with head Swallows wife

(adultery #2)

kicked out #2
White Head appears, go south crooked
opening

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

30

3rd
WORLD

white

Grasshopper People

(supernaturals who were precursors of

todays insects)

adultery #3 kicked out #3

Red Head, go west winding entrance

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

4th
WORLD

31

black & white

the Pueblos (the Kiisannii)

lived in pit houses, houses in the ground

Pueblos teach them @ agriculture

(corn, squash, pumpkin, beans)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

32

4th
WORLD

*Nilchi Dinee behave

(no adultery, no kick out)

LESSON:
behave b/c learned a
trade
industry
idle hands

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

33

4th
Holy People WORLD
appear

3x just a voice 4th x = appear

White Body (Talking God)
Blue Body (Water Sprinkler)
Yellow Body (Calling God)
Black Body (Fire God)

4 days, 4x a day tried to speak w/gestures &

signs not understood
want to make more people, but in better forms
ND = formed like Holy People: teeth, 4 legs,
claws like insects

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

4th
WORLD

34

smell bad purify

wash
dry with sacred cornmeal
white

for men, yellow for women

Holy People return in 12 days

LESSON:
how to clean
purifying ritual

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

35

4th
WORLD
Creation of 1st HUMANS

2 buckskins
2 ears of corn (white, yellow)
buckskin, ears, buckskin
Sacred Wind came between buckskins
Mirage people appeared & walked around the
buckskins
4th turn of the MP man & woman replaced
the ears

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

36

4th
WORLD
Creation of 1
st HUMANS

ADAM & EVE

First Man, First Woman

Altse Hastiin, Altse Asdzaan

make a shelter husband & wife

rock crystal

to man
symbol of clear thought
to burn for fire

turquoise

to woman
symbol of power of speech
to burn

LESSON:
1st humans

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

4th
WORLD

37

4 days TWINS

Nadleeh
have both male & female spirit --???
hermaphrodites?
men

who did womens work w/o stigma?

every 4th day

4

more sets of twins (no more Naleeh)

LESSON:
populate the
land

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

38

4th
WORLD
Instructions:

A&E taken to east mountains for 4 days

children taken later, for 4 days
how to live a good life
how to conduct themselves (in a manner
befitting their divine origins)
Knowledge of Good & Evil
b/c

Holy People were capable of G&E

taught them witchcraft, too
LESSON:
Good & Evil in the world

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

39

4th
WORLD
religious rituals:
A&E

wore masks
prayed long life, ample rain, abundant
harvests
ceremonies: prayers, songs, ritualshave
NOT changed
LESSON:
rituals ***

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

40

marriage:

4th
WORLD

children of A&E + Pueblos + Mirage People

4 days children

inventions

earthen dam

LESSON:
important cultural ritual

guardians = Nadleeh

Nadleeh made pottery, baskets while there

Millennium
period of peace
8 years (long time, 4x2)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

41

Trouble:

4th
WORLD

Earth & Sky join COYOTE & BADGER

bad & good omens

1st argument
LESSON:
imbalance
disharmony
battle of sexes

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

42

4th
WORLD
1st argument:

1st Womans ungrateful remark regarding

his hunting & providing
other versions make it seem a bawdy joke
the

vagina (the joosh) = responsible for the

successful hunting & food provision

1st Man moves away, separation

loss of self-control
(overreaction, pride)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

4th
WORLD

43

1st argument:

1st Man gathers all men

take all their weapons & tools
& move across river (with Nadleeh)
Lets see how they get along w/o us after
all!

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

44

4th
WORLD
1st argument:

1st winter:
women

= OK b/c they harvest mens

crops
women taunt men too late in season
for men to plant, ate mush

spring: men w/ bigger harvest

(than before, than women)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

45

4th
WORLD
men had so much they left most to rot in field

1st argument:

4th year:

waste

= taboo
women = starving
women miss men
dildos of cacti & stones
creation of monsters
loss of self-control

reunion
for

sake of species (no more children)

feast
to

commemorate, celebrate
= community

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

4th
WORLD
st

46

LESSONS from 1 argument:

imbalance,
loss of self-control x2
taboo: waste food
feasts = community
pray to Holy People

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

47

4th
WORLD
3 women = missing

mother, 2 daughters
captured by Water Monster as they were rowing
across the river
pray to Holy People
Coyote helps in search of water 4 chambers of
WMs dwelling
found, retrieved, BUT Coyote steals WMs child
FLOOD
feast

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

48

4th
WORLD
Flood b/c of Coyotes
trick

planted trees to climb to safety

juniper, pinon, pine, spruce
Old Man, Young Man w/sacred soil Great
Reed
from

7 sacred mts.
32 reeds fused into 1 giant reed
hole in east side of reed, climb in for safety, sealed
escape through Sky
Turkey = last out, white tail feathers = reminder of
escape

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

49

5th
WORLD

glittering
Holy People, Pueblos, A&E, Nadleeh,
offspring
return Water Monsters baby
plant, build houses, scouts, multiply

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

50

divination

5th
WORLD

HP do test to determine their future

magic shell tossed into water: float =
immortality, sunk = mortality
Coyote tosses 2nd stone in water when 1st floated
sinks If we do not die, we shall soon
overrun the world. There will be no room
for us all.
people see wisdom, reluctantly agree
Coyote = responsible for human mortality = across
Native Am. stories
LESSON:
why we die - mortality
how to bury

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

51

1st

Nadleah
Holy People instruct prepare body, place in rocky
crevice

Argument #2:

5th
WORLD
death & burial

over seed corm brought from 4th World

vs. the Kiisaannii

separation #2

borders, marked by 4 mountains, w/3 interior mts.,

by A&E
Naming Ceremony (by A&E)
east, south, west, north

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

5th
WORLD

52

4 color changes of the sky (as before

see 1st World)
need more light Sun & Moon =
created

Old Man w/sacred soil, reward = Sun God,

immortality, bears sun across sky
Young Man = Moon God, immortality,
bears moon across the sky

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

53

MONSTERS:

5th
WORLD

result of womens unnatural acts in 4th World

(stones, cacti)
horned monster, kicked people off cliffs, killed
w/eyes, flying monster
only 4 people remain
1st Man still prays each morning faith in
hardship (JOB)
4th morning White Body told 1st man to go to
mountain

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

5th
WORLD

54

CHANGING WOMAN:
the most beloved of all the
deities

as a baby, 1st Man takes her home

4 days = full growth, maturity moves out
birth to TWINS

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

55

TWINS:

5th
WORLD

sons of Sun & Waterfall

Born-for-Water, Monster Slayer
twins

defeat the monsters (helped by Spider

Woman, others)
MS slew, B4W stayed home protection spells
Sun gives special weapons to kill Giant, one of his
sons/monsters b/c killing humans
weapons made of lighting, magic to walk on
rainbow
Clash of the
Titans

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

56

TWINS:

5th
WORLD

last 4 monsters = PANDORAS BOX Old

Age, Poverty, Hunger, Cold

spared by the Twins so Humans would not get
complacent
Twins go dwell w/Holy People

become protectors of Humans (still)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

5th
WORLD

57

Sun & Changing Woman get married

after he agreed that she wouldnt be long

away from her people
made more people (replenish earth after
the Monsters)
4

Original Clans

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH

58

5th
Happy Ending: WORLD

Changing Woman makes more people

Twins become protectors of Humans (live w/Holy
People)
Holy People leave but in touch through PRAYER &
SONGS
Sacred Rainbow =

placed around Navajo homeland (Dinebikeyah)

protection blessing
reminder of sacredness of that land
so long as Dine remain w/in this boundary, they have
protection of Holy People

connection to the land

Political aspect of story:
(Jerusalem as Holy Land)
Andrew Jackson = becomes

president
promise to remove Indians from

LESSONS
59

#4
industry
cleansing/purification ritual
how 1st Man & 1st Woman came to be
prayer
ceremonies & rituals
why theres good & evil
marriage
be fruitful & multiply
harmony & balance
loss of self-control & results
waste = taboo (esp. waste of food)

LESSONS
60

feasts to commemorate good times: symbol of community,

celebration

flood

why turkeys have white tail feathers

why we die mortality

how to bury

naming ceremony

faith in woe, still pray

sun & moon

twins

why theres Old Age, Poverty, Hunger, Cold

prayer & song

holy connection to the land

COMPARISON to BIBLE
61

axis mundi (Garden of Eden)

12 Tribes of Israel
Sodom & Gomorrah
Fall & banishment
Great Flood
scouts = dove & raven from Noahs ark
Adam & Eve

COMPARISON to BIBLE
62

marriage
industry, work
be fruitful & multiply
millennium
fall, Serpent-trickster
Job & monsters (faith in woe/crisis)
Holy Land