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.
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(a project)
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.
(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 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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