The Earth On Turtle's Back Myth

Before humans were advanced enough to use paper and pencil, we most usually depicted stories in spoken word. The American tribes Onondaga, Modoc, and Navajo foretold tales using this oral tradition. Three famous ones from each are entitled, “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” by the Onondaga, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” by the Modoc, and “The Navajo Origin Legend” by the Navajo. They all are are called origin myths, and describe the creation of something typically using nature and deities. Betwixt the myths passed down from the Native American tribes, there are differentiated thoughts on how the gods and nature truly act in relation to each other. The Navajo and Onondaga tribes show that both nature and deities can work together, while the Modoc

tribe shows that they can be a little more cruel.

The world has created itself overtime by every organism evolving to how every other organism evolves.

In other words, animals and other parts of nature take part in the creation of each other, and this portrays them to be adaptive and smart. A quote from the “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” myth shows true bravery. A tiny muskrat said to the other animals, “I will bring up Earth or die trying.” She illustrates that no matter how small, the bravery can be large. And for it to be proven by a woman, holds a greater aspect to how highly the Onondaga people see the women of their tribe. Teamwork was a form of responsibility to the creation of Earth and to the first woman who was to live there. Along with the Onondaga, the Navajo believed that nature creates us. “The Navajo Origin Myth” told of using buckskin, corn ears, and eagle feathers to create the first man and woman. During the formation, the wind blew and became our breath. The myth tells the reader, “It was the wind that gave them life. It is the wind that comes out of our mouths now that gives us life. When this ceases to blow we die.” This shows that the Navajo exhibits their strong dependency and respect for the wind. The Modoc tribe spoke of a myth called, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright,” which conveyed wind as a crueler spirit. As the daughter of the sky spirit looked through the hole in the sky, the wind tugged on her hair and threw her down the mountain. This origin myth expresses nature in a more hard edge

description compared to the other two tribes.

In the sense of religion and tradition, some cultures described in an origin myth that the construction of land and nature was left to the deities and their mythical hands.

In the Onondaga tribe’s, “The Earth on Turtle’s Back,” the Skyland Chief had men attempt to tear out the Great Tree due to his wife’s powerful dream where, “... She dreamed she saw the Great Tree uprooted.” As the men showed no resolution to the tree’s extraction, the Skyland Chief took matters into his own hands and ripped it out himself. The clear attitude the Onondaga had towards deities is that they are more strong and powerful than any other man or woman. “The Navajo Origin Legend” was written with words describing gods as the mighty creators of life. These gods brought supplies they had gathered from nature and ritualized them to create a pair of humans. The myth describes them as, “The pair thus created were First Man and First Woman.” The origin myth itself shows an esteemed greatness, or awe, for the deities in their tribe because they have the power to mold the human race. “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” by the Modoc tribe, portrays the Sky Spirit as selfish and controlling. For example, when his daughter creates children of a new species with bears, he reacts by being angry with her because it was not his own creation and by punishing the new species. The Modoc tribe’s bias upon nature and the gods puts a view on the contrasts between the three origin

myths.

The Navajo and Onondaga tribes show that both nature and deities can work together, while the Modoc tribe shows that they can be a little more cruel. To have human creation, nature and the gods were compelled to work beside each other to diversify from one another. Although, in the three myths, they each have their own perspective to this new life made. As the Modocs see the gods as pessimistic, the Navajo and the Onondaga see them as being strong-willed, and thoughtful. As in daily life now, throughout some people’s lives, life treats them in different ways. Some are treated with ease, while others struggle. The struggle is ordinarily blamed to the gods other than on ourselves, and from then on these people curse the god’s names to the wind.