American Indian Creation Myths. Teresa Pijoan Phd
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They were named Mukat and Temayawut. There was nothing here, just floating air. The two brothers decided to make a pole. Around the pole they made the earth and kept it in balance on the pole. Then they made water which became oceans, rivers, lakes and streams. In the water, they placed all the water critters to live.
Mukat had only black mud to work with and Temayawut had white mud. They made all kinds of animals from their mud. Then they started to make the body of a man. Mukat worked slowly and carefully to make humans as they are today. Temayawut threw his mud people together quickly without thinking. He made crude bodies with bellies on both sides, faces on both sides, and gave these people dog paws instead of hands.
Temayawut made a lot of these people quickly while Mukat worked for a long time on each one of his people. When Mukat finished his people, he stood back and studied them. Temayawut was in a hurry and told Mukat to give up, his people would never survive against all of the crude people. The two brothers had a fight.
Suddenly, Mukat's people came alive. Sun was born and shown down on Mukat's people. The people were terrified of the bright light and started calling out to one another, but each person spoke a different language. Mukat heard one of his people speaking the Cahuilla language and grabbed him. Mukat hugged this one for he knew he was very special. He placed him to be the father of all the Cahuilla and he now lives in the houses of Sun, Moon, and Evening Star.
At first, things were made much bigger than they are today. A fly was as large as a house and the First People had a difficult time surviving. The First Spirit People were large, too. They were called the Nukatem and had great powers.
Menily was the Moon Woman. She was large and a fine young woman. She brought respect for men to the women and the same for women to men. Life was good and the people were pleased with their knowledge.
There were many Nukatem once, but now they are up in the sky for they turned into stars, rainbows, clouds, and mirages. They still watch over the people.
After a long time, Mukat became ill for he was very old. He left the people with the wisdom of the Cahuilla. The Cahuilla were a proud and kind people. Now, there aren't too many left to carry on the traditions of the old ones. Every now and then you might run into some of Temayawut's crude people, but even they are dying off.
“It would be wise for the people to remember that the pole holds us here. The more stuff we make, the heavier the earth becomes, and it is harder for the pole to hold us and all our stuff here. We may just fall back into the sky and that would be the end of us. This is the story I was taught and this is the story I'll teach my kids.”
HURON
Huron, Hy'oor'en, was a confederation consisting of four tribes of Native American Indians that once inhabited the region east of Lake Huron and the St. Lawrence Valley.
This account was given hesitantly by an informer who wished her name to be withheld. The story is similar to Bruce G. Trigger's which was published in The Farmers of the North.
Aataentsik lived in the sky. There were many spirits who lived in the sky and still do, we just can't see them. Their life is the same as ours down here, only they are up there. One day, up in the sky, Aataentsik was chasing a bear and grew tired. She leaned against a tree. The bear came at her. She pulled up the tree to throw at the bear. Aataentsik was very strong as Sky People are, and as she pulled up the tree, she lost her balance and fell through the hole. It was a lucky thing the bear didn't follow her.
Aataentsik fell, not knowing where she would land. She looked below her and saw moving blue waters. This frightened her and she called out to those swimming below. Great Turtle heard her cries and called the birds to catch her. They couldn't, Aataentsik was falling too quickly. Great Turtle, being kind, swam to the place where he thought she would hit the water. He stretched and stretched to be sure she would land on something other than water, even if it was his hard shell.
Aataentsik had to fall a great distance to reach Great Turtle. Great Turtle told those around him to hurry up and find some mud. The Water People dove quickly, hurrying to the bottom and brought up all the mud they could, placing it on Great Turtle's back. They made Earth this way. When Aataentsik finally landed on the land, which was on Great Turtle's back, she was huge with child. It was good they made lots of soft earth for her to land gently.
Aataentsik birthed a daughter who didn't do much, but she became pregnant with twins. Aataentsik had a bad feeling about this pregnancy and told her daughter as much. There wasn't anything anyone could do, though, once a woman gets pregnant that's it, she's pregnant.
The daughter gave birth to twin boys, Iouskeha and Atawiskaron. Iouskeha was an easy birth. There were no problems there. Atawiskaron was impatient. Atawiskaron ripped his mother to death.
Aataentsik had to raise these two difficult grandsons. Iouskeha made beautiful plants, animals, and birds. Finally, he created human beings with wonderfully kind spirits. Atawiskaron created poison ivy and plants which would kill rather than heal. Atawiskaron made some animals with bad dispositions. He also gave birds the ability to prey on those less strong and put evil thoughts and weapons into the minds of people.
The two of them fought continuously regardless of what their grandmother told them. She became weary of their constant battles. Finally, the twins ended up in a death fight. Atawiskaron fought using thorns of the wild rosebush and Iouskeha fought using the horns of a stag. Iouskeha seriously wounded his brother and his blood fell upon the ground. Atawiskaron's blood became flint which was used to make weapons by the people to kill animals and other people.
No one is sure of what happened to the brothers after this. Some say they fought each other to death and Iouskeha's blood turned into healing plants. Others say they went into the spirits of the people and that is why they do good and evil.
Aataentsik tried to guide the twins with her good qualities and aggressive qualities, perhaps this is what made one good and one bad. We, as people, must decide which we want to be.
EASTERN CREEK
Eastern Creek, known as Redsticks, lived in southeast Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The Redsticks refused to adopt to the white man's ways or rules. In 1813, the Redsticks massacred 107 soldiers, 160 civilians, and 100 slaves at Fort Mims on the lower Alabama River. General Andrew Jackson waged a counterattack by destroying every town in the upper part of Creek Territory. His soldiers killed every man, woman, and child they found, burning, looting, destroying all crops and possessions.
On March 27, 1814, Andrew Jackson defeated the Redsticks at Horseshoe Bend, Alabama. In one attack, his men of five thousand killed eight hundred Redsticks with few casualties of their own. Andrew Jackson then had the chiefs sign a treaty giving up 23 million acres of land to Georgia and Alabama. This was two thirds of the Creek nation and included their ancestral homeland.
In 1824, the United States forced the principle tribes of the Alibamu, Apalachi, Chicasaw, Chocktaw, Creek (or Maskoki), Koasati, Seminole, Yamacraw, and Yamasi to sign treaties giving the United States full control of three-fourths of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
The round grandmother bustled over to us with a soft smile. “We don't have fry bread ‘light’, only the Navaho have fry bread ‘light’ and it hasn't done them much good.”