Compare And Contrast Native American Creation Myths

Since the beginning of time, humankind has sought to explain the origin of human existence. Thus, indigenous people from around the world provide varying explanations of how man's presence began on the earth. Naturally, the Native Americans tribes who populated America prior to the Europeans discovery of the new land also possessed their own creation myths. The following compares two different Native American creation myths taken from different points in early American history. Will the different versions demonstrate a Christian influence that accompanied the European settlers in the new world? Because the Ottawa creation story is the oldest written account discovered, it has been included in this comparison of the creation stories. Significantly,

For example, the woman gives birth to two sons, and one of the sons climbs out of her side killing her in the process. In addition, there is a good mind and a bad mind, then the boys dismember their mother other to create the sun, moon, and stars. Notably, the Ottawa version does not provide an explanation for the appearance of the celestial bodies. Next, the good son begins creating the rivers, vegetation, the weather, and species of animals that sustain life on the planet. Then the good son makes two figures of dust in his own image. Similarly, this portion of the story mirrors the account found in Genesis in the old testament of the Bible when God creates Adam and Eve. At the same time, the bad mind is working very hard to undermine the good his brother is creating. Likewise, he is creating all manner of things, such as the high mountains, jagged cliffs, and reptiles that are capable of harming men. (Cusick, 2013). Next, he attempts to create creatures in his own image; however, he lacks the ability to imbue them with souls creating apes instead. (Cusick, 2013). Unfortunately, the bad mind continues to interfere with his brother’s creations; he even hides all the animals. Of course, the good mind is able to free all the animals from their