Cherokee Creation Myth
Long ago, the earth was just a big island, floating in
a bigger ocean. The earth was hanging from four cords coming down from the
sky, which was made of solid rock. It was dark all the time and the animals
couldn't see where they were going, so they got the sun and set it in a
track to go over the island every day, from east to west, as it does now.
Now there were days and there were nights. God told the
animals and plants to all stay awake for seven days and seven nights. But
most of the animals and plants couldn't do it. They fell asleep. God rewarded
the animals who stayed awake and let them see in the dark, so they could
go around all night - these were the owls and the panthers.
And God rewarded the plants that had stayed awake, and
let them keep their leaves all year - these were the pine trees and laurels
and cedars. God told the other trees that they would have to lose their
leaves every winter.
Last came people, after all this. But once there were
a few people, they had too many children and there were too many people.
So it was decided that each woman would have only one child a year.
When the world gets old and worn-out, the people will
all die and the cords that hold the earth up will break and let the earth
sink down into the ocean, and it will all be water again.
(This is only one version of this story, and there are
many others.)
To find out more about the Cherokee creation myth, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Inuit creation myth
Cherokee creation myth
Navajo creation myth
Pueblo creation myth
Chinook creation myth
Main North American creation myth page
North American religion before 1500 AD
Main North America page
Main South America page
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