American Indian creationism

Cherokee

In at least three Cherokee creation stories, the world begins as a large, unexplored body of water. The only existing beings are the animals and they all live in the sky. In two of these stories, the earth is a great island floating above the water. In another story, the actual land isn't formed until the Water Beetle volunteers to go and explore what is at the bottom of the large body of water and comes back with mud, which then becomes the land.

The Cherokee tribal myth is given to us in the website “Native American Myths of Creation”: It explains why some animals have to hibernate and why some plants die in the winter and re-bloom in the spring, and why others stay awake/green all year long. The Great Spirit told the animals and plants to stay awake for seven days straight. Those that stayed away for all seven days, like the pine tree and cedar tree, they stayed green all year. But the other plants who did not last seven days and fell asleep they loose their leaves at winter. The animals that stayed awake all seven days gained the ability to see at dark and those who did not stay awake can not see in the dark.

Apache

Myth 1: According to the Apache, nothing and no one existed in the beginning except two creators, Tepeu and Gucumatz. One time, the two creators sat with each other and created the world. Whatever they thought came into existence, so they thought up the entire earth (birds, trees, land, water, etc.). The two creators wanted beings that could praise them, so they created beings of clay that didn't last very long, as they fell apart when wet. Their next set of beings were made of wood, but caused much trouble and didn't satisfy Tepeu and Gucumatz, so the two creators sent a flood to get rid of their creation and start anew.

Myth 2: The website “Native American Myths of Creation” supplies the Apache tribes’ myth: There was nothing- no Earth, sun, or people. But then a thin, yellow and white disc appear in the sky with a small man with a white beard sitting on the disk. He is called Creator, the One Who Lives Above. He created light. He then created a girl by putting the sweat from his head onto his hands, rubbed them together and thrust them forward. The little girl appeared on a cloud. The girl is called Girl-Without-Parents. Creator sang “I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next,” which he sang 4 times which is his magic number. He wiped his face and rubbed his hands together and flung them forward and that created Sun-God and Small-Boy. With now there being 4 gods there is not enough room on the small cloud so Creator made the galaxy: big dipper, wind, lightning, clouds, and lightning. Creator then sang “Let us make Earth. I am thinking of the Earth, Earth, Earth: I am thinking of the Earth,” which he sang four times. All four gods shook hands which combined their sweat which created a ball. Each god kicked the ball which enlarged it- this created the Earth.

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Wikipedia