We'll start the second half of the semester by studying the Cherokee people. Several of you said on your midterms you have Cherokee Indians among your ancestors and/or you're just interested in learning more about them.
The Cherokee are important for several reasons. More than most Indian nations, they adapted to the white man's culture as early as the 1830s. After they were removed from their ancesteral home in North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia to Oklahoma, they continued to assimilate their culture to white norms. Did you know, for example, the first college for women west of the Mississippi River was founded by Cherokee Indians? It is now Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tallequah.
In the beginning ...
Most standard histories will tell you the Cherokee are a branch of the Iroquoian family of nations, that they probably migrated south from the same general area occupied in historic times by the Iroquois Confederation, perhaps farther west, and that their culture at the time of contact with white explorers (Hernando de Soto in the 1540s) was Mississippean. That means it was similar to that of the Cahokia mounds in Illinois.
This is all true, but it's not the way the Cherokee tell their history.
Let's start with the best source(s). The federally recognized Cherokee Indian tribal governments both have collections of stories, myths and legends on their websites. Read a creation myth told by traditional Cherokee people in Oklahoma. Does anything in it remind you of other stories of how the world was created? Compare it to the creation myth told by Cherokee people in North Carolina, whose ancestors hid in the mountains and weren't removed on the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Nation has an extensive collection of traditional stories. In addition, the Eastern Band Cherokee have collected several as well.
Some more sources (good to remember since you have term papers coming up). If you want to know more about Cherokee beliefs, a valuable resource is the summary of Cherokee religion in the Overview of World Religions maintained by St. Martin's College in England. It's kind of dry, but very, very factual. By the way, St. Martin's also has links to similar overviews of Inuit (Eskimo), Choctaw, Navajo, Hopi, Blackfeet, Cheyenne and Sioux religion, as well as the Native American Church.
If you're interested in stories of how the world was made, there's a very complete set of links on the Indigenouspeople.net website. Check out how many of them involve a great flood. How many bells do these stories ring?
19 comments:
Questions to ask yourself -- and post on:
1. What in these Cherokee stories reminds you of the stories of the creation, Adam and Eve, the flood, Noah's ark, etc., in the Bible?
2. What similarities can you point out? What differences?
The cherokee indians have many similar beliefs to that of the Bible. The Bible speaks of the begininning of the world, just like is taught in the cherokee religion eventhough it may be a little different. in the cherokee religion, a water beetle carries some mud to the surface, and earth grows out of the mud. They believe earth to be a floating ball held down in the four corners of the globe by chords which are attached to a surrounding large rock. Much the same as out Adam and Eve story the cherokee believe in a place much the same as the garden of Eden. It even has a tree of Life in it just like in the Garden we hear about in the Bible. Some of the stories of the myths of how the world began sound very similar to the ones that we are taught from the Bible.
1. The creation myth from the traditional Cherokee people in Oklahoma seems to be similar to the Genesis story of creation. However, instead of calling the creator God, the Cherokee just refer to him as The Creator. It says that the creator made a woman first and then a man. However, in Genesis God creates a man(Adam) first, and then creates a woman(Eve) next.
2. The main difference I found was that First Woman was the one who created land, plants, and animals, not the creator. A big similarity was in the story of how First Woman was told not to go into the hole in the bottom of the tree but did anyway. This is similar to the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the apple tree in the Garden of Eden.
The Creation Stories of the Cherokee have a lot of similarities. They both have a “sky-world” and a “lower-world,” and they have similar ideas about the part animals played in the creation of the world. These stories both hold similar ideas to the Christian beliefs. The “sky-world” had a Creator that made every plant and animal. This is parallel to the Christian ideas. Also in the Oklahoma Cherokee story there was a tree that First Woman and First Man were forbidden to tamper with, and First Woman didn’t listen. This is the same as the Forbidden Fruit in Eden. When the creation stories say that the world was covered by water it show similarities to the flood in the Christian faith.
The differences between the stories are that the animals play a larger roll in the Cherokee stories than the Christian ideas. Also there were different lead-ups to the part in the Cherokee stories about how the land was formed.
These stories show that the Cherokee valued sharing ideas when problem solving. This is shown when the animals are discussing what they shall do to find land. Also it shows a strong sense of commitment to their spouse as seen in the Oklahoma Cherokee story.
1. Unlike the creation stories, where we refer to and identify the creator as God, the Cherokee people just simply know him as "the Creator." No specific name is given to him. Also different from the stories of Adam and Eve, Adam was created first, and then Eve second. In Cherokee stories they recognize the first person as being a women, followed after by the man.
2. The most clear difference of the two stories is that the Creator did not create everything else to come in the world, he just simply created the woman and the man. They created the rest.
1. The cherokee creation myth reminds me of the genesis story in the bible. It talks of the world being made by the creator. However, it says that he made a woman first and then a man. The genesis story says that a man was made first and then a woman. The man and woman were of course adam and eve.
2. The differences are that the woman created the lands, plants, and animals, not the creator or god as he is refered to in the genesis story.
Really the only thing that reminds me of how the world was created is the first man and first women. They to me would be somewhat like Adam and Eve in the garden of life. Though the Cherokee myth tells a story just like what I learned as a small child in the Catholic Church. There is an upper world for all who have done good or done their best. This was the land of all good times. Also, there is a dark world which those who lived a life of shame and no good. This would be the land of hard times. The Cherokee’s story does have many similar parts to the “Bible”.
1. the creation myth seems to be very similiar to the creation story that is found in the beginning of the Bible, however their are very noticeable differences.
2. the biggest noticeable difference is the fact the in the myth it talks about how the creator created man and woman, but the myth says that man and woman created most of everything else..Unlike in the Bible in which God created everything
I picked the Oklahoma creation story to compare it with the creation story of Adam and Eve.
The similarities in both the stories are that for one their is an almighty being, or creator, created and tended the earth and all it's living things. In both their is a perfect or heavnly realm and then earthly realm. Then both versions the creator made the first man and first woman. It goes on in both that the woman chooses to disobey the wise being and goes against his wishes being banned from the perfect world in both.
The things that are mainly different would be that in the Adam and Eve story is: God makes all things and lives always in the heavenly realm while in the Cherokee version the creator lives under a tree in the heavenly realm with the first man and woman, and the only thing he creates is man and woman because he is lonely. Another big differnce would be that in the Adam and Eve story it is; do not eat the fruit off of the tree of knowledge and in the other it is do not play around the Great Tree of Life. Both woman in the stories disobeyed and in the bible they are banned from their perfect lives, and in the Cherokee version the woman falls into the evil realm and the creator takes care of her from the heavenly realm, while in the Adam and Eve story the man and woman are already in the earthly realm and must now have a much harder life.
The cherokee stories are similar in many ways to the bible. Some ways are that there is a first women and first man and also a creator.. Although the creator is not called a god, the person still creates and watches over his creation. I think the hole in the tree symbolizes the apple in the apple in the garden of Eden.Some differences that i see are that the woman plays a larger role than the man does. Every thing is created because of her after she fell in the hole.
The Cherokee indians are very simliar in their beliefs compared to the Bible with the Creation of the world. The Indians believe God or as they called him "The Creator" created a man (Adam) first, and then a women (Eve. It was the tree of life story that was similiar to the temptation in the graden with Adam and Eve when they were told not to eat the fruit.
1. The creation stories talk about god being called just the creator. His daughter comes first and then the son in which the creato knew she would like for someone to run and play with her.
2. The creator created the the man and woman and the man and woman created everything else.
In The Beginning/The Legend of the Strawberries, the Creator’s daughter, First Woman, falls out of Ga-lun-la-ti, is caught by birds, and laid on a turtle’s back. A muskrat brings her up some mud and when she touches it, it grows in all directions becoming Earth. The Creator also sent down some plants and animals. Eventually, the Creator also sent down First Man, who was now married to First Woman. The two started arguing and the Woman left. The Man prayed to the Great Spirit who brought them back together. They started a family who then became the Kituwah, the Cherokee. This tells us that they are very religious people. They used the Great Spirit to bring them back together and live happily, raising a family, and starting a culture.
This story has its similarities to the Book of Genesis in that they believe in a place like the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life. The tree of life provides light as well as life. However, the First Woman was the one who created Earth, not God or the Creator
The story of the Cherokee Indians is that they have alot of similarites, they both had ideas about the part animals played in the creation of the world. The similiar ideas about hte bible is that there is a first women, man and creaation. The diffrences is that the animals play a major role than the Christian ideas.
1. In the Cherokee stories, what reminds me of the stories of creation, they both talk about creation but there is no difference between the "creator" and "God".
2. Similiarities are ones like in question 1. Differences are creator just made man and woman, and not everything else
The beliefs of the Cherokee are very comparable to those that are told in the Bible. Both stories of creation involve a heaven and hell. As we refer to God as the creator of our Earth and everything on it, the Cherokee just referred to that as The Creator. The Creator of the Cherokee says that a woman was made first, and then a man, while the story of Adam and Eve is told that Adam was first and then Eve. Also the Cherokee believe women made the land and animals, whereas we believe that God made these things.
1. The creation stories talk about god being called just the creator. Unlike the bible story of the creation of the world, his daughter comes first and then the son. So she could have someone to accompany her throughout her life.
2. The creator created the man and woman and the man and woman created everything but nature.
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1. Unlike the creation stories, where we refer to and identify the creator as God, the Cherokee people just simply know him as "the Creator." No specific name is given to him. Also different from the stories of Adam and Eve, Adam was created first, and then Eve second. In Cherokee stories they recognize the first person as being a women, followed after by the man.
2. The most clear difference of the two stories is that the Creator did not create everything else to come in the world, he just simply created the woman and the man. They created the rest.
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