A Potawatomi Story The Potawatomi is an Indian tribe from ...

A Potawatomi Story
The Potawatomi is an Indian tribe from Mississippi River region

Earthmaker made the world with trees and fields, with rivers, lakes, and springs, and with hills and
valleys. It was beautiful and he was happy. However, there weren't any animals or humans. So Earth maker
filled the earth with air animals, land animals, and water animals. Still, there were no humans to populate the
land, so one day he decided to make some.

He scooped out a hole in a stream bank and lined the hole with stones to make a hearth, and he built a
fire there. Then he took some clay and made a small figure that he put in the hearth. While it baked, he took
some twigs and made tongs. When he pulled the figure out of the fire and had let it cool, he moved its limbs
and breathed life into it, and it walked away. Earthmaker nonetheless realized that it was only half-baked.
That figure became the white people.

Earthmaker decided to try again, and so he made another figure and put it on the hearth. This time he
took a nap under a tree while the figure baked, and he slept longer than he intended. When he pulled the
second figure out of the fire and had let it cool, he moved its limbs and breathed life into it, and it walked
away. Earthmaker realized that this figure was overbaked, and it became the black people.

Earthmaker decided to try one more time. He cleaned the ashes out of the hearth and built a new fire.
Then he scooped up some clay and cleaned it of any twigs or leaves, so that it was pure. He made a little
figure and put it on the hearth, and this time he sat by the hearth and watched carefully as the figure baked.
When this figure was done, he pulled it out of the fire and let it cool. Then he moved its limbs and breathed
life into it, and it walked away. This figure was baked just right, and it became the red people. The red
people became many tribes, and they spread across the land. Among these tribes were the Ojibwe, the
Ottawa, and the Potawatomi.

Yuchis Creation Myth
The Yuchis are an Indian tribe from the Tennessee River Valley

In the beginning, water covered everything. Wind asked, "Who will make the land? Who will make
the land appear?" Lock-chew, the Crawfish, said, "I will make the land appear." So he went down to the
bottom of the water and began to stir up the mud with his tail and his claws. He brought up some mud to a
certain place and piled it up until it made a mound. Lock-chew continued to pile up mud, until it came out on
top of the surface of the great water. This is how land first appeared.

The land was so soft that Wind said, "Who will spread the land to make it dry and hard?" Hawk and
Buzzard appeared. Because Buzzard's wings were larger, he tried first. He flew, fanning the soft earth and
spreading it all about. When he flapped his wings, hills and valleys were formed.

"Who will make the light?" Wind asked. It was very dark. Yo-hah, the Star, said, "I will make light."
It was agreed. The Star shone forth, but its light only remained close to the Star. "Who will make more
light?" Wind asked. Shar-pah, the Moon, said, "I will make enough light for all my children and I will shine
forever."

But the world was still too dark. T-cho, the Sun, said, "Leave it to me to make enough light for
everyone everywhere." Sun went to the East and suddenly enough light was everywhere. As Sun travelled
from the east to the west over the earth, a drop of blood fell from the sky to the ground. From this spot
sprang the first people, the children of the Sun they were called, the Yuchis.

In the beginning, all of the animals could talk with one another. All animals and people were at
peace. The deer lived in a cave watched over by a Yuchi keeper. When the Yuchis became hungry, the
keeper selected a deer and killed it for their food. Finally, all of the deer were set free with the other animals,
and a name was given to every animal upon the earth.

This is how it was in the beginning with the first people, the Yuchis Indian tribe.

Navajo Creation Story
The Navajo is an Indian tribe from the four corners area of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado

The original world lay deep within the present earth. Lit by neither sun nor moon, it contained dimly
colored clouds that moved around the horizon to mark the hours. At first life was peaceful; then the evils of
lust and envy took hold, and violence broke out. So the ancestral Navajo fled into exile, grappling upward
through a hole in the sky to another world directly above. Here, where the light was blue, harmony at first
prevailed. Then again the same story: bitter quarreling, followed by escape and a climb to yet another world,
and then another.

Finally, First Man and First Woman, the direct ancestors of humankind, emerged on the present earth.
Water covered the earth's surface, but sacred winds gusted in to blow it away. With the aid of a sacred
medicine bundle, and guided by beings known as diyin dine, the holy people, First Man then filled the world
with all its natural bounty and wonder. He laid out each object in the bundle and by chanting transformed it
into an animal, a plant, a mountain peak, an hour of the day.

Everything in the new universe resided in perfect balance, controlled by a kind of spiritual symmetry;
four directions, four winds, four seasons, and the four basic colors of black, blue, amber and white. Most of
all, an essential harmony prevailed, called hozho, which blended the concepts of beauty, peace, happiness
and righteousness.

Cherokee Creation Story
The Cherokee are an Indian tribe from the southeastern U.S., Georgia and the Carolinas.

Long ago, before there were any people, the world was young and water covered everything. The
earth was a great island floating above the seas, suspended by four rawhide ropes representing the four
sacred directions. It hung down from the crystal sky. There were no people, but the animals lived in a home
above the rainbow. Needing space, they sent Water Beetle to search for room under the seas. Water Beetle
dove deep and brought up mud that spread quickly, turning into land that was flat and too soft and wet for
the animals to live on.

Grandfather Buzzard was sent to see if the land had hardened. When he flew over the earth, he found
the mud had become solid; he flapped in for a closer look. The wind from his wings created valleys and
mountains, and that is why the Cherokee territory has so many mountains today.

As the earth stiffened, the animals came down from the rainbow. It was still dark. They needed light, so
they pulled the sun out from behind the rainbow, but it was too bright and hot. A solution was urgently
needed. The shamans were told to place the sun higher in the sky. A path was made for it to travel--from east
to west--so that all inhabitants could share in the light.

The plants were placed upon the earth. The Creator told the plants and animals to stay awake for seven
days and seven nights. Only a few animals managed to do so, including the owls and mountain lions, and
they were rewarded with the power to see in the dark. Among the plants, only the cedars, spruces, and pines
remained awake. The Creator told these plants that they would keep their hair during the winter, while the
other plants would lose theirs.

People were created last. The women were able to have babies every seven days. They reproduced so
quickly that the Creator feared the world would soon become too crowded. So after that the women could
have only one child per year, and it has been that way ever since.

Hopi
The Hopi is an Indian tribe from North Eastern Arizona

All the tribes and races of mankind emerged from a single hole in the earth. A mockingbird sitting on
the surface gave them their names and languages. To one person he would say, "You shall be a Hopi, and
that language you shall speak." To another, "You shall be a Navajo, and you shall speak that language." And
so it went for everyone, including the White Man.

A darkness still covered the face of the land, back in those early ages. Then one day the people came
together and decided to change things. They fashioned the silver ball of the moon and the fiery globe of the
sun and threw both into the sky. The world was transformed. with the sun's warmth and light, food became
more plentiful, and work easier. Nor was it necessary for everyone to huddle together for mutual protection
and support. So the chiefs of all the races met together and decided to break up.

"We will go eastward to find out where the sun rises," they declared, "but let us travel by different
routes and see who gets there first." When the first party arrived at the place where the sun rises, the chiefs
agreed, a shower of stars would fall from the sky. At that moment everyone would stop where they were and
settle down.

The journey began. Everyone set out on foot, carrying their children and all their belongings on their
backs. The Hopi took a northern route, the various Pueblo peoples of New Mexico traveled a more southerly
one, and the White People trekked along still farther to the south. But the Whites, always impatient, quickly
grew tired and footsore. So one of the white women rubbed flakes of skin from her body and molded them
into horses.

Mounted on these marvelous new creatures, the Whites could go faster, and they reached the place
where the sun rises before anyone else. Immediately a fountain of stars cascaded from the sky. "Look," cried
the others, "someone has arrived." So everyone stopped and settle down. And that is why the sun shines, why
the world has horses, and why people live where they do.

Chumash Creation Story
The Chumash are an Indian tribe from Northern to Central California.

The first people were created from the seeds planted on Limuw (Santa Cruz Island) by Hutash (Hoo-
tash), the Earth Goddess. Hutash was married to the Sky Snake (The Milky Way), who made lightning with
his tongue and gave the people their first fire. The people kept the fire burning to stay warm and cook their
food. Since the people were getting more comfortable, their population grew until the Island became too
crowded.

They also made so much noise that Hutash could not get any sleep, so she decided it was time to
allow some of the people to cross over to the mainland. Hutash made Wishtoyo (Wish-toy-oh), a Rainbow
Bridge which extended from the tallest peak of the Island to the tallest inland mountain (near what is today
called Carpentaria). She told the people to cross carefully, and to never look down, but some did, and fell off
the Rainbow Bridge and into the ocean, where they were turned into dolphins by Hutash to prevent them
from drowning. This is why the Chumash Indians consider the dolphins to be their brothers. The Chumash
(Chew-mash) honor Hutash every September with a great Harvest Festival named after her.

Creation Myth Analysis Chart

Tribe Creation of Earth Creation of Life/ Other Lessons 4 Qualities of Native
Animals/People
American Lit
Name of the Indian Explain How, why, and who created Explain how, why, or/or who created Explain any other lessons learned
Tribe earth? people animals, and other living things (ie. Why women give birth) Explain which of the 4 elements of
native American Lit were present in the
story and provide a quotation for each

as support