CREATION MYTHS CULTURE 2 Acc to Andrew

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-1800 s 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, 1880 s JW Fewkes, & JW Lloyd, Pima, 20 th C. David Cusick, a Tuscarora member of the Iroquois 6 Nations), 1825 – 1 st Native

IROQUOIS 8 5 Nations: Mohawks Seneca Oneida Onondaga Cayuga 6 th nation = Tuscarora of North Carolina, early 1700 s

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

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 11 25 versions (oral tradition) 1623: Gabriel Sagard, French 1828, David Cusick – Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 12 2 worlds – Lower World of darkness the possession of the Great Monster Upper of World sky inhabited by “mankind”

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 13 SKY WOMAN: conceives TWINS sinks, pushed, falls from Upper World to Lower World creatures see her falling, prepare her landing get a patch of earth turtle volunteers to catch her in the water

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 14 TURTLE grows to the size of an island w/bushes & trees

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 15 TWINS fight in the womb evil one wants to burst out his mother’s side good one prevents it birth she dies shortly after

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 16 ENIGORIO – good son creator sun from mother’s head moon from mother’s body stars creeks & rivers animals “Adam & Eve” = “The Real People” (Ea-Gwe-Howe) rain, vegetation, game animals

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 17 ENIGONHAHETGEA – evil son creates only bad things, tries to corrupt brother’s 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)

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 18 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 Good’s = beaten w/corn stalks, rushes, reeds (a lie? ) Bad’s = beaten w/deer antlers 2 -day battle Bad = beaten w/antlers, crushed into the earth Bad’s last words – he’ll become Evil Spirit (“Devil/Hades”) hold equal power over human souls after death

IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH 19 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 1800 s complex 5 Worlds #1 theme = HARMONY gods & BALANCE & humans & creatures man & wife

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 1 st WORLD 23 “like an island floating in a sea of mist” (26) red no sun, stars, people only light = the sky

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 1 st WORLD 24 wind creatures (Nilchi Dine’e) the Holy People (Hashch’eeh Dine’e) predecessors 4 of Humans (we got their beauty & form) 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 1 st WORLD 25 north = death Great Fountain center of the world (axis mundi) confluence of 3 rivers #4 • • • 4 or 2 pairs important pattern # to Navajo signifies completion, wholeness • Judeo-Christian #7 12 TRIBES 4 in 3 directions ants, dragonflies, beetles, bats, locusts not insects/animals but spiritual beings

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 1 st WORLD 26 4 GUARDIANS the water surrounding the 1 st World Water Monster, east Blue Heron, south Frog, west White Mountain Thunder, north in

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 1 st WORLD 27 “FALL” adultery resulted in deceit, jealousy, turmoil * destroys the HARMONY between husband & wife 3 x, 4 th = 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 warned “strange blue head” in the sky

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 2 nd WORLD 28 blue barren & flat scouts (like Noah & raven & dove) Swallow People (blue beings) (supernaturals who were precursors of today’s birds)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 2 nd WORLD 29 don’t learn their lesson: take liberties with head Swallow’s wife (adultery #2) kicked out #2 White Head appears, go south – crooked opening

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 3 rd WORLD 30 white Grasshopper People (supernaturals who were precursors of today’s insects) adultery #3 kicked out #3 Red Head, go west – winding entrance

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 31 black & white the Pueblos (the Kiis’annii) – lived in pit houses, houses in the ground Pueblos teach them @ agriculture (corn, squash, pumpkin, beans)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 32 *Nilch’i Dine’e behave (no adultery, no kick out) LESSON: • behave b/c learned a trade • industry • idle hands…

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 33 Holy People appear 3 x just a voice – 4 th x = appear White Body (Talking God) Blue Body (Water Sprinkler) Yellow Body (Calling God) Black Body (Fire God) 4 days, 4 x 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 4 th WORLD 34 “smell bad” purify wash dry with sacred cornmeal – white Holy for men, yellow for women People return in 12 days LESSON: • how to clean • purifying ritual

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 35 Creation of 1 st HUMANS 2 buckskins 2 ears of corn (white, yellow) buckskin, ears, buckskin Sacred Wind came between buckskins Mirage people appeared & walked around the buckskins 4 th turn of the MP man & woman replaced the ears

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 36 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: • 1 st humans

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 37 4 days TWINS Nadleeh have both male & female spirit --? ? ? hermaphrodites? men every 4 who did women’s work w/o stigma? 4 th day more sets of twins (no more Naleeh) LESSON: • populate the land

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 38 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 4 th WORLD 39 religious rituals: A&E wore masks prayed – long life, ample rain, abundant harvests ceremonies: prayers, songs, rituals…have NOT changed LESSON: • rituals ***

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 40 marriage: children of A&E + Pueblos + Mirage People 4 days children inventions earthen dam guardians = Nadleeh made pottery, baskets while there “Millennium” period of peace 8 years (long time, 4 x 2) LESSON: • important cultural ritual

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 41 Trouble: & Sky join COYOTE & BADGER bad & good omens Earth 1 st argument LESSON: • imbalance • disharmony • battle of sexes

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 42 1 st argument: 1 st Woman’s “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 1 st Man moves away, separation = loss of self-control (overreaction, pride)

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 43 1 st argument: 1 st Man gathers all men take all their weapons & tools & move across river (with Nadleeh) Let’s see how they “get along w/o us after all!”

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 44 1 st argument: 1 st winter: women = OK b/c they harvest men’s 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 4 th WORLD 45 1 st argument: 4 th year: men had so much they left most to rot in field 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 4 th WORLD 46 LESSONS from 1 st argument: imbalance, loss of self-control x 2 taboo: waste food feasts = community pray to Holy People

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 47 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 WM’s dwelling found, retrieved, BUT Coyote steals WM’s child FLOOD feast

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 4 th WORLD 48 Flood b/c of Coyote’s 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 5 th WORLD 49 glittering Holy People, Pueblos, A&E, Nadleeh, offspring return Water Monster’s baby plant, build houses, scouts, multiply

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 5 th WORLD 50 divination HP do test to determine their future “magic shell” tossed into water: float = immortality, sunk = mortality Coyote tosses 2 nd stone in water when 1 st 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 5 th WORLD 51 1 st death & burial Nadleah Holy People instruct – prepare body, place in rocky crevice Argument #2: over seed corm brought from 4 th World vs. the Kiis’aannii 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 5 th WORLD 52 4 color changes of the sky (as before – see 1 st 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 5 th WORLD 53 MONSTERS: result of women’s unnatural acts in 4 th World (stones, cacti) horned monster, kicked people off cliffs, killed w/eyes, flying monster only 4 people remain 1 st Man still prays each morning faith in hardship (JOB) 4 th morning – White Body told 1 st man to go to mountain

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 5 th WORLD 54 CHANGING WOMAN: “the most beloved of all the deities” a baby, 1 st Man takes her home 4 days = full growth, maturity – moves out birth to TWINS as

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 5 th WORLD 55 TWINS: sons of Sun & Waterfall Born-for-Water, Monster Slayer twins defeat the monsters (helped by Spider Woman, others) MS slew, B 4 W 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 5 th WORLD 56 TWINS: last 4 monsters = PANDORA’S 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 5 th WORLD 57 Sun & Changing Woman get married after he agreed that she wouldn’t be long away from her people made more people (replenish earth after the Monsters) 4 Original Clans

NAVAJO CREATION MYTH 5 th WORLD 58 Happy Ending: 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 (Dine’bikeyah) 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 (Jerusalem as “Holy Land”) Political aspect of story: • Andrew Jackson = becomes president • promise to remove Indians from land • foresees “Trail of Tears”

LESSONS 59 #4 industry cleansing/purification ritual how 1 st Man & 1 st Woman came to be prayer ceremonies & rituals why there’s 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 there’s 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 Noah’s 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