Month 8, Day 14: Native American Creation Myth

All religions have stories that they tell their believers to explain how and why human beings and the rest of our world came to be. 

Growing up as a Christian, I remember thinking that some of the Native American creation myths I heard were just so silly and naïve. But now that I’m really taking a good look at religion in general and Native American creation myth specifically, I’m definitely thinking that my childhood attitude was wrong. Dead wrong. In fact, it may be Christianity that's silly. Let me explain.

Although different native groups have their own stories about how the world was created, most share a few common elements. Most depict a “time before time,” when everything existed in spirit only, in the mind of God or the Great Spirit.

Here’s one story, just as an example. The Omaha creation myth tells us that human beings initially existed in a vaguely defined "space between the Earth and the stars," where they lived as spirits, united with God. Over time, though, they started to wish they could have physical bodies, so they started looking for a new home where they could take on bodily form.

Just as an aside, is it me, or is there something weird about this? I mean, a lot of religions suggest that if we’re good people, when we die we’ll get the reward of becoming one with God, existing only in spirit. But if Native American myth has any validity to it at all, we’re clearly not very happy that way. According to a lot of creation myths, the first humans were so desperate to break away from their spiritual union with God that they chose to come to Earth. Strange, don't you think?

Anyway, back to the Omaha story. In their search for a new home, the humans first tried going up to the sun, but it wasn’t right for them (obviously). Then they tried the moon, but it wasn’t right, either (surprise, surprise).

Then they tried the Earth, but everywhere they looked, the planet was covered with water and they couldn’t find a dry spot where they might be able to live. Just when they were about to give up, a huge rock burst out from the water, shooting flames (presumably, this was a volcano).

As it spewed its flames, the rock created vast amounts of dry land, and then trees and grass appeared on the land. The new place looked perfect, so the spirits of the humans jumped on down to Earth and were transformed into the physical beings we are today.

I’ve got to say that I kind of like this creation tale. As odd as it may sound, I think it actually sounds slightly more realistic than the versions you find in a lot of other religions. Sure, there are a few supernatural elements, but at the heart of it, the idea is almost scientific—a natural process (volcanic eruption) created the land where humans now live. When you compare that to, say, Adam and Eve and their magical tree in the Garden of Eden, the Native American version seems downright plausible.