Onondaga Tribe Research Paper

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Origin of the Pleiades The Onondaga is a Native American tribe who were located in Northeast America. They created the legend for the origin of the Pleiades. The Pleiades are a cluster of seven stars that are normally known to be the seven daughters of Atlas, a greek god (Merriem-webster.com) However, the Onondaga tribe has their own version of the creation of these stars, that also doubles as a lesson to children and others. The story begins with a group of Indians traveling to a good hunting ground in which they are led by their leader named chief Hah-ya-no. Once the chief believes that they have reached a sufficient place to reside, all the Indians thank the “Great Spirit” who they believed kept them safe on their journey. After the main chores, such as building lodges and hunting, has been completed, the children went off to a quiet spot by the lake to do, what they called, their jolly dance as a form of entertainment. The children did this everyday, and soon an old man wearing feathers, whom they have never seen before, told them to stop or evil would come to them. Not only did the children think his appearance was strange, they thought what he spoke was too. The children disregarded the man’s warnings, and everyday he told them the same thing. One of the children decided that they should have a feast the next time they met …show more content…

In other words, the Onondaga had a creation myth for the Pleiads. A creation myth, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a myth describing the creation of the world (en.oxforddictionaries). Although the legend is not talking about the start of the world, the Pleiads are a part of the world. In addition to this legend being a creation myth, it serves as a lesson to children. The lesson would be listen closely to elders because our elders are usually known to be more wise than we are. When the children did not listen to the elder, something evil did come to

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