I was working in areas where Native Indians ( First Nation) were the majority and I had learned a lot from their culture. I love to study old mythology so I was searching for some of the Native Myths regarding to creation, life ,animal and the universe . There are many different stories in the native culture .It all depends on the group of the Native, where they are located how far north they are and what the influence of other cultures on their beliefs and imaginations. As we know the Native people come in contact with Americans, English, Irish and Scottish people, French and Mexicans,Chinese, Western and Eastern Europeans settlers,and later the Asians and other nationalities.
Native Americans are indigenous within the boundaries of the present-day USA (including the Native of Alaska and Hawaii) and are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, bands and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact, sovereign nations.The terms Natives use to refer to themselves vary regionally and generationally, with many older Natives self-identifying as “Indians,” while younger Natives often identify as “Indigenous.” Which terms should be used by non-Natives has at times been controversial.Now days nobody talk about the Native Holocaust at all. We should do that and ask the government to recognize that, make a memorial for that, stamps, coins, and teach it in the public school alongside the Hitler genocide to the jews.
The term “Native American” has been adopted by major newspapers and some academic groups, but does not traditionally include Native Hawaiians or certain Alaskan Natives , such as Aleut, Yup’ik, or Inuit peoples. Native peoples from Canada are known as First Nation.
The Native stories regarding people, universe and creations for some of the Groups are;
1- Iroquois Indians.
They are about 150,000 in Usa and Canada.I used to have a friend belong to the Iroquois Seneca nation in USA ,he was a vascular technologist working in palm desert California.
(Including Mohawk, Onondaga,Cayuga,Seneca,and Tuscarora )
By 1677, the Iroquois formed an alliance with the English through an agreement known as the Covenant chain Together they battled to a standstill the French, who were allied with the Huron Indians In virginia and surrounding areas.the story of creation was told like this;
The first people were the Sky People, they lived beyond the sky because there was no earth beneath. One day the Indian chief’s daughter became very ill and no one was able to provide a cure for her sickness. A wise elder was consulted and he told them to dig up a tree and lay the girl beside the hole that remained.
The Sky People respected the elder and began to dig up the tree. Suddenly the tree fell down through the hole and dragged the chief’s daughter with it.
As the girl fell she saw that below was only an ocean of water. Two swans were alarmed by the girl falling and decided she was too beautiful to drown so they swam to catch her. They landed her on the back of the Great Turtle, and all of the animals of the earth gathered.
The Great Turtle councils that the Sky Woman is a symbol of good fortune. He orders the animals to find where the Sky World tree had landed in the ocean and to bring it back with its earth-covered roots. The swans lead the animals to the place where the tree had fallen into the ocean. First otter, then muskrat, and then beaver dove in search of the tree. Each animal came back to the surface without the tree and died from exhaustion.
Many other animals tried but they also died. An elder woman toad volunteered. She dove and remained below a long time. All of the animals thought she had been lost, when at last she surfaced and before dying managed to spit a mouthful of earth onto the back of the Great Turtle.
This earth was magical and contained the power of growth. The island grew and grew until it was large enough for the Sky Woman to live on. The two swans set the woman upon the island and circled it encouraging it to grow into the world island it is today. Yet the world was dark. Again the Great Turtle called for the animals to gather.
They decided to put a great light in the sky. A little turtle volunteered and climbed up to the sky with the help of the other animals’ magic. Little turtle climbed into a black cloud and crawled around the sky collecting the lightning as she went. She made a big bright ball from the lightening and threw it into the sky. Then she collected more for a smaller ball which she also threw into the sky. The first ball became the sun, the second ball became the moon.
Then the Great Turtle commanded the burrowing animals to make holes in the corners of the sky so that the sun and moon could go down through one and climb up again through the other as they circled. So there was day and night. The Sky woman lived on the island on top of the Great Turtle’s back. She gave birth to twins, one good called Tharonhiawagon, one evil called Tawiskaron. From the breast of Sky Woman grows three sisters corn, beans, and squash.
2- Blackfoot Indians.
The Blackfoot Confederacy orNiitsitapi (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning “original people” is the collective name of three first nations band in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British columbia . It is also in USA Montana. I had a chance to meet with so many Native in those region. There are three tribes in Canada, the Siksika (or Blackfeet proper), the Kainai (or Bloods) and the Northern Piegan, and one tribe in the United States: the Southern Piegans in Montana. they have story of creation goes like this;
Long ago there was a time when water covered the entire world. Napi the creator wanted to know what happened below all of this water. He sent a duck, and otter, then a badger, but all came up with nothing.
Finally, a muskrat dove beneath the water and was down a very long time. He returned with a ball of mud in his paws. Napi took the lump and blew on it until it dried and was transformed into the earth. He molded the hills, valley, and mountains with his hands.
He created groves in the earth for rivers and lakes. The first people were molded from this earth and Napi taught men and women how to hunt and to live. Once Napi felt his work was complete, he climbed up to a mountain peak and disappeared.
3- Iglulik Indians .
I worked in This region for 6 weeks locum back in 1984.
Igloolik (Syllabics: ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ, sometimes spelled Iglulik), is an Inuit hamlet, in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk spiritual religion in Nunavut , I worked with them for 3 months in northern Canada .The name “Igloolik” means “there is a house here”.
It derives from iglu, meaning house or building, and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area, not to snow igloos.inT he residents are called Iglulingmiut .
Information about the area’s earliest inhabitants comes mainly from numerous archeological sites on the island; some dating back more than 5,000 years.and they have great story of creation goes like this;
Long ago a great catastrophe caused the world’s supporting pillars to collapse and destroy the earth. Two men emerged full-grown from hummocks of earth. They married each other, and one became heavy with child. The other man sang a magic song, which caused the pregnant man’s penis to divide, he then became a woman and gave birth to a girl child. The mother and father giants cared for the child who grew large and fiercely loved meat.
One night she bit into her parents limbs while they slept. They awoke in horror as she tried to bite them again. They took her in a umiak far out into the deepest sea, where they pushed her into the water. She clung to the side of the boat, so they cut off her fingers. The fingers became whales, seals, and shoals of fish. The giant parents were afraid of their child and they rowed away into the night. The giant girl became the demon girl Sedna, the Great Mother of sea creatures. She causes storms and governs the migrations of her sea creature children.
4- Huron Indians.
I used to have some friends IN London-Ontario and hamilton region.
The Wyandot people or wendat, also called Huron, about 20,000 people now . They are Native of North America. They traditionally spoke the Wyandot language, an Iroquoian base. By the 15th century, they settled in the area of the north shore of present-day Lake Ontario I met and talked to many of them when I was working in that region back in 1985.
Some of them migrated to Georgian Bay.It was in that later location that they first encountered the French explorer Samuel de champlain in 1615.They have wonderful story of creation and it goes like this;
A group of beings similar to humans lived in longhouses in the sky.
They lived in harmony and in the centre of their village stood a celestial tree blossoming with the light of peace and knowledge. One day a curious woman had her husband uproot the tree. She fell through the hole down to the world below.
A Canada goose saw the woman falling, took pity on her and flew down to rescue her. He placed her on the back of a turtle and the Great Turtle Island (North America) came into existence.
5-Cree Indians.
I worked in Moose Factory ,North Ontario 1983, 1984. Our hospital was inside the CREE Nation reserve , the island with 4000 Cree native.I met so many Cree Natives and lived for one year in that reserve .
The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Canadians/ native Americans , with over 3500,000 members living in Canada. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of lake superior, I worked in that area with them for one year 1983 to 184. They also lives in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Northwest territories. About 50,000 live in Quebec .Quebec Government never counsel the native regarding the anatomy of the land.in USA they live in Montana .
where they share a reservation with the Ojibwa (Chippewa).They have wonderful stories to tell about the creations and they say;
When light first came to the earth, O-ma-ma-ma the earth mother of the Cree people gave birth to the spirits of the world. The first born was Binay-sih, the thunderbird who protects the animals from the sea serpent, Genay-big. Thunderbirds shout out their unhappiness or anger with black clouds, rain and fire flashes in the sky.
(The place i used to live in close to the hospital, The hospital housing in the Cree reserve of moose factory, Ontario).
The second born wasIna-kaki, the lowly frog who heightens the sorcerer’s powers and helps to control the insects in the world.
( The hospital in moose factory, Cree reserve area).
The third born was the trickster Wee-sa-hay-jac, ( shape shifter ) who can change himself into many forms or shapes to protect himself.
The fourth child was Ma-heegun, Wee-sa-hay-jac’s little wolf brother. They travel together with Wee-sa-hay-jac on his back.
The fifth born was Amik the beaver, who is greatly respected because he is an unfortunate human from a different world. Fish, rocks, grasses, and trees all came from the womb of the great earth mother O-ma-ma-ma. The earth was inhabited a long time by only animals and spirits because Wee-sa-hay-jac had not yet made any people.
6- Siouan Indians .
I Never worked with them or met anyone belong to this tribes yet.But I studies their fascinating history.
Waccamaw Siouan Indians are one of eight state-recognized Native American tribal nations in North Carolina, also known as the “People of the Fallen Star”. Formerly Siouan-speaking, they are located predominantly in the southeastern North Carolina counties of Bladen and Columbus, consisting of six members who are elected by the tribal membership with staggered terms of one to three years.
There are about 9000 members now. According to the tribe history books ,an immense meteor appeared in the sky coming from the southwest many thousands of years ago. When the meteor struck it burned itself deep into the earth. People follow that falling star and after few weeks they arrived to the destructive area where the meteor struck creating a lake , The water from the nearby rivers and swamps flowed into the lake.They have a story of creation;
A lone man awoke with his face turned upwards towards the sun.The man was of the earth and he slowly emerged from the soil encouraged by the sun’s rays. A dry heat hardened the man so he was able to leap about, a free and joyous creation. This is an indication that man was created from the earth mud and the creation come about the earth.they have many wonderful stories.
7- Haida Indians .
I met many of them and i have so many friends from North british colombia when i used to work from 1989 to 1991.They are so good in carving art and totem art.Thier story for creation goes like this ;
Long ago no divisions existed between humans, animals and spirits. All things of the earth, sky, and, water were connected and all beings could pass freely between them. The Raven was a trickster full of supernatural power.
He stole the sun from his grandfather Nasshahkeeyalhl and made the moon and stars from it. The Raven created lakes, rivers and filled the lands with trees. He divided night and day, then pulled the tides into a rhythm.
He filled the streams with fresh water, scattered the eggs of salmon and trout, and placed animals in the forests. The first human was hiding in a giant clamshell and Raven released them onto the beaches and gave humans fire.
Raven disappeared and took with him the power of the spirit world to communicate and connect with humans.
8 -Tsimshian Indians.
I met and talked to so many of them and bought art from them when I used to live and work in terrace BC .
The Tsimshian / Ts’mayan are an Native of the northwest coast of the pacific. Tsimshian means Inside the river valley.
Their communities are in North west british columbia and Alaska along the Haida Indians., around Terrace and Prince rupert cities . and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island.There are approximately 25,000 Tsimshian.There story of creation ;
At the beginning of the world it was covered in darkness. A chief, a chieftainess and his son lived at Kungalas. Although the child was greatly loved, he died without cause. The whole tribe mourned each day beside the boy’s lifeless body. One morning instead of her dead son the chieftainess witnessed the rising of a boy out of her son’s body which burned brightly.
She was overjoyed to see her son come back to life. This glowing boy grew large until his father began to call him a giant. Giant boy ate most of the tribe’s food, so his father sent him over the sea to find more to eat. Giant boy flew inland and took with him a stone, a raven blanket and a dried bladder full of berries. He dropped the stone in the ocean and rested upon it. Each time he dropped a stone and rested he created a new rocky island.
Giant Boy scattered the berries across the land and created a forest filled with fruit. He scattered the salmon roe and trout roe into the rivers to create an abundance of fish. From this day Giant Boy never lacked food in the new world.
9- Mi’kmaq Indians.
Mi’kMA’KI MEAN= THE Great champion of men who role others.I managed to meet with some of them In Newfoundland back in 2006. I learned some of their language .
The Mi’kmaq 100,000 people (also known as Micmac, and Mi’kmaw).are a first nation band, indigenous to Canada atlantic provinces and part of Quebec-Canada. They call this region Mi’kma’ki. Some live in Newfoundland and the northeastern region of Maine-USA. They used to write in Hieroglyphic writing.their story of creation goes like this;
Before the earth was new, the sun was all that existed in the great universe. The sun divided the earth into several parts separated by many great lakes. In each part he caused one man and one woman to be born.
Language like and new Hieroglyphic. Like the Egyptians before them.
They bore children and lived for many years. Wickedness pervaded in this family, and slowly they killed one another. The sun wept and wept with grief. The tears became rain that fell from the skies until water covered the entire earth. The family had to set sail in bark canoes to save themselves from the flood. A violent wind overturned their boats. All perished in the sea, but the old man and the old woman, who were best of all people, and it was they who populated the earth.
10- Algonquian Indians.
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread Native almost one million people in USA & CANADA.With so many different tribes .
Today, thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples. Historically, the peoples were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and into the interior along the St Lawrence River, and around the Great lakes. I used to have some friend in college in London Ontario that belong to some of those tribes, Their story of the creation goes like that’ ;
Two brothers lived at the beginning of time. Gluskap represented righteousness. He made the plains, food plants, animals and humans.Malsum represented destruction. He made rocks, thickets and poisonous animals. Malsum tried to find magic to kill his brother, Gluskap. He asked Gluskap “what is your weakness, what would kill you.” Unsuspecting of Malsum’s evil intention, Gluskap replied “an owl feather.” To this Malsum mistakenly admitted that only a fern root would kill him.
( They discover the making of fire by wood friction), and made many tools).
One night Malsum took the feather of an owl’s wing and used it in place of an arrowhead to kill his brother. Gluskap fell to his death, but he summoned his own magic and was reborn again. Believing that it was Malsum who tried to kill him, Gluskap went into the forest stream declaring that only a flowering reed would kill him. A toad heard this and hopped away.
The toad searched for Malsum in the forest. When he found Malsum he asked him for the power to fly in exchange for his secret. Malsum refused, for a toad with wings is foolish. In anger and humiliation, the toad sought revenge and returned to Gluskap to warn him of the danger. Gluskap plucked a large-rooted stem. With it he struck down Malsum and his evil magic into the earth.
Malsum did not have the power to be reborn like Gluskap. Instead he became a vindictive wolf. Left in peace Gluskap was able to finish creating the earth from his mother’s body.
11- Dene Indians- Creation of Seasons.
The first people of the earth had to endure winter for the entire twelve months of the year. Most of the land was covered by massive, moving layers of ice and deep snow. No trees or bushes, or flowers could survive in the harsh gripping cold. The lakes and rivers were frozen, so no water flowed. It was a land of endless cold. One day when the first people were out hunting they came upon a bear who had a sack around his neck.
The hunters were very curious and asked the bear what was in the sack. The bear growled a reply that he had a sack filled with the abundance of summer’s warmth and light. The hunters wanted the sack and offered to trade, but the bear would not part with his sack. The hunters begged the bear, but still he refused to give up his sack. When they saw that it was useless to argue any longer, they decided to return to their people and think of some plan to take away the coveted sack.
The chief heard the entire story and called his people together to arrive at a plan of how to take the sack away from the reluctant bear. They decided to lure the bear to a great feast, fill him with food, and when he slept, steal the sack. A tempting feast of moose and caribou was prepared. The hunters searched for the bear and located him. They asked the bear to attend the feast in his honour and the bear readily accepted. The bear arrived in the evening, but did not have the sack around his neck.
Although disappointed the people served the feast anyway. The bear ate his fill and fell asleep. The chief was frustrated and wanted the sack. He ordered four of the village’s skilled hunters to follow the bear home and steal the sack by any means. The next morning the bear awoke and bid the chief and his people farewell. The four hunters followed closely behind the bear for about an hour when they came upon a large cave. Peering inside, they spotted the sack laying upon the cave floor with two black bears guarding it.
The hunters were very courageous and they sprang into the cave to demand the sack. A fierce fight killed three of the hunters and mortally wounded the fourth, but before he died, he grabbed the sack and unleashed the abundance of warmth and light. Instantly, the air became warm and the sky filled with bright sunlight.
The snow melted into rivers and lakes. The hills and valleys were covered with trees, flowers and bushes. Strange birds flew in great numbers and built nests and streams filled with fish. Every year since that time, Summer has come to the Dene.
Thank y for reading.
Steve Ramsey.PhD. Calgary, Alberta- Canada