People called the Osage say that once they lived up in the sky. The moon told them she gave birth to them and that the sun was their father. She said they must go down to the earth to live. When they floated down to earth it was covered with water. They didn't know what to do. They asked an elk for help. He dropped down to the water and began to sink. To save himself he called out to the winds. The winds blew some of the water up into the skies. First only rocks appeared. After a time soft earth was exposed. The elk was so happy he rolled over and over with joy. When he did this, his loose hairs clung to the dirt. The hairs grew into plants. They became beans, corn, potatoes, and wild turnips, and all the grasses and trees.
These are the answers my mother gave me as to where I came from. She did not understand I was playing a guessing game with her. I had just come from my friend's tepee where there is a new baby, and that should have been her answer. But I like my mother's answer better.
To read more Native American Creation Stories on the Internet see:
Native American Creation Stories http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~dee/NAANTH/CREA... Here are a variety of wonderful creation stories from many different Native American tribes.
Stories of Creation and Origin http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/5292... This beautiful site, with sound, has many creation stories including the origin of the Mosquito, the Buffalo Dance, and even the Clam.
Don't Forget to Visit Our SUITE 101 UNIVERSITY: your place for online learning! A new course has been added and is now in progress: THE GREAT AMERICAN WEST, 1861 to 1876, written and instructed by Mary Trotter Kion. http://www.suite101.com/course.cfm/17161...
The printed sources for this article are:
Native Americans, The Nature Company Discoveries Library, Published by Time-Life Books, 1995.
American Indian Myths and Legends, selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz. Published by Pantheon Books, New York, 1984.
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