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                                                                       Creation and the World

Earth and stones fell down from the sky to form the land. 

 

Babies were born out of this earth and grew up among the young willow.  A man and a woman

appeared; the woman made clothes for the children and the man brought

food to them.  The man stamped upon the earth and dogs sprang forth. 

In the beginning, there was neither death nor sunlight.  An old woman said, "Let us

be without light, if so we can be without death." but another said, "No!  Let us

have both light and death."  And as she spoke, it was so.

 

ARCTIC CREATION STORY

 

 

 

In the heavens long ago, a stately ever blossoming and bearing fruit tree scented

the air with its flowers.  The Great Ruler and his people gathered in council

beneath this tall tree.  One day, a vast sea cloud called for light, and the Great

Ruler ordered that the tree be uprooted.  Summoning the pregnant Ate-en-sic,

or Sky Mother, he wrapped her in light and sent her down to the sea cloud.

Alarmed by the approaching brilliance, the birds and the other animals took

council.

"Where can it rest?"  the Duck asked..

"Only the oeh-da (earth) that lies beneath the waters can hold it," replied

Beaver, who tried to gather the oeh-da but did not return.

Duck, too, tried but his body floated dead upon the surface of the waters. 

Others tried but failed, until muskrat returned with a small portion in his paw.

"It is heavy and it will grow fast," muskrat explained, "but who will bear it?"

Turtle volunteered, and the oeh-da was placed upon its shell.

 

-IROQUOIS CREATION STORY

 

 

The boy cried and cried.  The blood came out, and finally he died. 

With his tears, our lakes became.  With his blood, the red clay became.  With his body,our mountains became and that was how the Earth became.

                                                                   

-TAOS PUEBLO CREATION STORY

 

 

     

 

At first, there was nothing but sea and sky.

Then a woman floated down from the sky.  As she touched down, a point of land rose out of the water and became a little island.  Here the woman became First Mother and gave birth

to three beings: Bear, Wolf and Deer. 

 

              

The First Mother then returned to the sky.  The little island spread and stretched itself into a mainland, and Bear,

Wolf and Deer became the ancestors of all life.

-MOHEGAN BELIEF

 

 

                                                                   

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At night, the created world was often cold.  The moon shed no warmth and the creatures of the world appealed to heaven for the warming agent of fire, which was sent to them in the form of lightning. 

But no living creature could collect  this gift, though many, like the raven and the black snake, tried and were scorched and marked by it.  Finally, the spider wove a special basket in which the ember could be held and carried.

                       

                                                           -CHEROKEE TRADITION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

                                                                                                                              

"Treat the earth well:  it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.  We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."  Indian Proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                             

 

 

 THE MAKING OF RELATIVES

 

This rite establishes the relationship among earth, men and Wakan-Tanka.  We should love one another, including those of other

nations.  This rite is the will of the Great Spirit which is one of the 7 rites promised by the White Buffalo woman.

 Matohoshila (bear boy) from the Sioux nation had a vision of the sacred plant, the corn.  In his travels, he found a patch of corn and took it home with him, not knowing that it belonged to the Arikaras, enemy of the Sioux.

 The corn was very sacred to the Arikaras. They brought many gifts to the Lakota camp to get the corn back.

 Matohoshila realized that it is time to create peace through the Hunkapi rite.  He asked the visiting Arikaras to set up a sacred tipi

and represent their nation.  Then, he offered his sacred peace pipe, which he purified with the smoke of 4 live coals and sweet grass. 

He also smoked the many gifts of the Arikaras.

 Afterwards, the sacred peace pipe was placed on a drying rack made of 3 sticks.  Matohoshila put a piece of dried buffalo bladder in

front of him and held up a piece of tobacco to the West.  Then, he placed the tobacco inside the sacred bladder.  He offered the

tobacco to the North, East and South and placed them in the sacred Wakan bag.  He offered a pinch of tobacco to the heavens and

placed it into the sacred Wakan bag.  Then, holding a piece of tobacco to the ground, he prayed.

 

On the first day of the rite, the sacred Wakan bag was given to the Arikaras.

 

On the second day, at the rising of the sun, Matohoshila went to the sacred tipi set up by the Arikaras and offered his sacred peace

pipe in 6 directions.  Puffing a few smokes from it, he offered it to everyone to smoke.

 

Then Matohoshila proceeded to go back to his tipi.  The Sioux people rejoiced when they saw the Arikaras following Matohoshila. 

Four of the Sioux people went out to welcome them.  Matohoshila sat at the West, blessed the sacred offering of the Arikaras with

smoke from hot coal and sweet grass.

 

Matohoshila undid the sacred Wakan bundle and offered it to 6 directions, embrace and kissed it.  Then, the sacred bladder was sent

out of the lodge and passed around to the people to kiss and embrace.

 

The Arikaras returned to their tipi.

 

On the third day, 4 Arikaras went to Matohoshila.  Matohoshila was still seated at the West of his tipi.  Matohoshila produced the corn

 he took from the Arikaras and purified it over the smoke from hot coal and sweet grass.  He also purified his sacred pipe and other

equipments.  Matohoshila prepared a sacred altar to represent the center of the earth and Wakan-Tanka.  He pushed a stick at one

end of an ear of corn and at the other end, he tied and eagle plume and laid it by the altar.

 

Matohoshila took another ear of corn and gave it to the Arikaras.

 

The Arikaras and the Sioux pretended they’re at was and chanted war songs.  They gave each other gifts of food clothing and horses.

A procession was formed led by the Arikaras pretending to be victors of war swinging corn stalks in the air.  The procession stopped

4 times while everyone howled like coyotes and burst into ecstatic tremolos.  They all went in the sacred peace londge and painted

the faces of the Sioux people specially the women and children.  The Arikaras swung their cornstalks and sang sacred songs

honoring the 6 directions.

 

THESE ARE OUR RELATIVES;

WE ARE ALL RELATED;

WE ARE ALL ONE.

 

Source:  THE GIFT OF THE SACRED PIPE by Drysdale and Brown

             Based on Black Elk’s account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux as originally recorded and edited by      

             Joseph Epes Brown

 

 

           05/21/2006 11:05:34 PM