The Mythology Book

236

N

ative American creation

myths typically entwine

the natural and spiritual

worlds, often endowing godlike

attributes to animals, the sky, and

the Earth. Many involve a Great

Spirit who creates the world and

everything in it. Within these broad

similarities, however, tribal myths

vary greatly. For the Inuit, living on

the edge of the Arctic Ocean, the

goddess Sedna is a key figure

responsible for creating all marine

life. In Iroquois mythology, coming

from the northeastern woodlands,

the Earth comes into being on the

back of a giant sea turtle.

The island

The Cherokee live in the southeast

woodlands. Like the Iroquois tale,

the Cherokee creation myth begins

with a watery world. Some versions

The water beetle Dâyuni’sï

(“Beaver’s Grandchild”), carved by

the sculptor John Julius Wilnoty

(1940–2016), a member of the Eastern

Band of Cherokee Indians.

IN BRIEF

THEME

Creation of the world

SOURCE

Oral tradition, recorded in

Myths of the Cherokee,

James Mooney, 1900.

SETTING

The beginning of time.

KEY FIGURES

Water Beetle Dâyuni’sï

(“Beaver’s Grandchild”); the

first creature to create the land

that became the earth.

Buzzard The animal

responsible for the earth’s

mountains and valleys.

Tsiska’gïlï The red crawfish.

Brother and Sister The first

humans.

THE EARTH IS A GIANT

ISLAND FLOATING IN A

SEA OF WATER

CHEROKEE CREATION

suggest that animals existed

before the earth did, when

everything was water. They lived

high above this, in a spirit realm

called Gälûñ’lätï.

The animals looked down on the

water and wondered what lay

beneath the surface. One of the

creatures, Water Beetle, offered to

explore, but there was no place to

land, so he dove deep under the

water. He found some muddy clay

and swam up with it, placing it on

the water’s surface.

The clay spread, forming a large

island. Long cords at each of the

four cardinal points fastened the

earth to the spirit realm in the sky.

At some point in the future, when

the Earth grows too old, the cords

will break and the Earth will sink

back into the water.

From the sky, the animals

watched as the island grew. The

birds flew down to inspect the new

land. It was still soft and muddy,

so after waiting a while longer,

Buzzard swooped down and flew

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THE AMERICAS 237

See also: Creation 18–23 ■ Creation of the world by Pangu 214–15 ■ San creation myth 284 ■ The dreaming 302–07

3. Touching the
   clay, Buzzard
   creates valleys
   and mountains.
   
   
   1. Four cords
      connect the spirit
      realm, Gälûñ’lätï,
      to the earthly realm.
   
   
   
   


4. Water Beetle
   forms the earth
   from clay.

over the island. Wherever his tired

wings brushed the ground, they

carved out deep valleys; wherever

he flew up again, mountains

sprung up. This explains why the

Cherokee’s traditional homelands

contain so many mountains.

Night and day

When the soil was completely dry,

the animals descended to Earth

and found it was very dark. So they

took the sun and made it move

across the sky from east to west

each day. At first, the sun was too

close to the earth, and so hot that

it burned the crawfish Tsiska’gïlï’,

turning it red. The Cherokee

believe that this spoiled the

crawfish’s meat, and will not eat it.

The animals moved the sun up

until it was seven handbreadths

high, sitting just under the sky

arch. After this, the animals and

plants tried to stay awake for seven

The Creation Story

Water

Island

Spirit realm

North

South

West

East

Anetso

In Cherokee mythology, during

the time before the brother

and sister came to live on

Earth, there was a competition

between birds and the other

animals. The birds turned

some small creatures into bats

and flying squirrels so they

could join the birds in playing

against the other animals.

This myth is reflected in

the ball game of anetso, which

is at the heart of Cherokee

tribal identity. The Cherokee

have played the game, a

precursor of lacrosse, for

hundreds of years. Even today,

elders retell the story of the

mythical first competition to

players before a game.

Anetso is a fiercely physical

game, where rough tackles are

encouraged, but it is also

deeply spiritual. A tribal

member known as a “conjurer”

helps to prepare the athletes

with cleansing rituals before

and after matches, while other

tribal members perform

dances and ceremonies.

days and seven nights to keep

watch. They had been told to do

this by their creator, long before

the Earth was even made. Those

that managed to stay awake were

rewarded. This explains why

animals such as owls and panthers

can see and hunt at night. The

cedar, the pine, and other plants

also stayed awake, and they were

rewarded with the ability to remain

green in every season.

Human beings

Man eventually came to live upon

the island. The first people were a

brother and sister. The brother

struck the sister with a fish and

told her to bear children. Every

seven days after this, the woman

gave birth to a child. However, the

population grew so rapidly that

the world started to become too

crowded. From then on, women

could only give birth once a year. ■

Because you [deciduous

trees] have not endured to

the end, you shall lose your

hair every winter.

Myths of the Cherokee

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