Creation Myths
Download
Report
Transcript Creation Myths
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
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
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 1800s
complex
5 Worlds
#1 theme =
HARMONY
gods
& BALANCE
& humans & creatures
man & wife
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
1st WORLD
23
“like an island floating in a sea of mist” (26)
red
no sun, stars, people
only light = the sky
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
1st 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
1st 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
1st WORLD
26
4 GUARDIANS
the water surrounding the 1st World
Water Monster, east
Blue Heron, south
Frog, west
White Mountain Thunder, north
in
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
1st WORLD
27
“FALL”
adultery
resulted in deceit, jealousy, turmoil
* destroys the HARMONY between husband & wife
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
warned
“strange blue head” in the sky
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
2nd 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
2nd 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
3rd 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
4th 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
4th 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
4th WORLD
33
Holy People 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
Holy
for men, yellow for women
People return in 12 days
LESSON:
• how to clean
• purifying ritual
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th WORLD
35
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
4th WORLD
36
Creation of 1st 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
every
4
who did women’s work w/o stigma?
4th day
more sets of twins (no more Naleeh)
LESSON:
• populate the
land
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th 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
4th 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
4th WORLD
40
marriage:
children of A&E + Pueblos + Mirage People
4 days children
inventions
earthen dam
guardians = Nadleeh
Nadleeh made pottery, baskets while there
“Millennium”
period of peace
8 years (long time, 4x2)
LESSON:
• important cultural ritual
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th WORLD
41
Trouble:
& Sky join COYOTE & BADGER
bad & good omens
Earth
1st argument
LESSON:
• imbalance
• disharmony
• battle of sexes
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th WORLD
42
1st argument:
1st
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
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)
Let’s see how they “get along w/o us after all!”
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th WORLD
44
1st argument:
1st
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
4th WORLD
45
1st argument:
4th 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
4th WORLD
46
LESSONS from 1st argument:
imbalance,
loss
of self-control x2
taboo: waste food
feasts = community
pray to Holy People
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
4th 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
4th 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
5th WORLD
49
glittering
Holy People, Pueblos, A&E, Nadleeh, offspring
return Water Monster’s baby
plant, build houses, scouts, multiply
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
5th WORLD
50
divination
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
5th WORLD
51
1st death & burial
Argument #2:
Nadleah
Holy People instruct – prepare body, place in rocky crevice
over seed corm brought from 4th 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
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
5th WORLD
53
MONSTERS:
result of women’s 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”
a baby, 1st Man takes her home
4 days = full growth, maturity – moves out
birth to TWINS
as
NAVAJO CREATION MYTH
5th WORLD
55
TWINS:
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
5th 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
5th 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
5th 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 1st Man & 1st 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