Essay: Myths of the Cherokee Week 4

Myths of the Cherokee           

 Today I decided to explore the Cherokee culture in a half-unit reading and I found some really interesting stories.  With Cherokee in my bloodline, I wanted to learn more about the tales told by the Cherokee people. 

            The most interesting thing to me is the story of the creation of earth in every religion, culture, or society.  So, the first story in this unit explained how the Cherokee Indians viewed the creation of the world.  This started with only a small piece of land floating and suspended form the sky of rock.  Since they knew the cords wouldn’t last forever, they wanted to find what was below their land.  Suddenly the earth began to grow and grow.  The Buzzard flew over the wetland creating mountains and valleys.  The plants and the animals filled the earth and then man came after.

            The only thing they were missing was the fire to warm their land.  They saw a lightning strike a far away island but none of the animals could reach the island to bring it back.  After many tries, the only one that could succeed was a little spider that brought back a little fire so there could be warmth for the island.

            A while after that, stories about how the people interacted became the center of attention.  One day, the story of the little boys floating up into the heavens was a story that many people told.  I wonder if this has any alignment with Jesus resurrecting or angels floating in the heavens?  One little boy was pulled down and soaked into the earth but after many tears from his mother, a pine tree grew where he sank and grew so tall up to the sky. 

           

            Those are only a few of my favorite stories from the Cherokee tales.  There are so many fascinating things to learn from the stories of different cultures.  I enjoyed this read because it was very interesting to me and I love how in touch with nature and their earth the Cherokee people live.

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