Compare the creations myths of North America with those of Africa or China/Japan (choose only one group).  In what ways are they similar?  How are they different?  What about the culture and context of North America might explain these differences?

     In reading the various creation myths of North America, I found myself recalling Africa and its many isolated societies, and I think there are a number of parallels to be drawn. On both continents, primitive cultures were specialized, based on their climates and the vast expanses of land involved. In Africa, for example, some groups lived in deserts, others near the ocean, yet others in rainforests. North America offered a similarly broad range of climates.

       Therefore both areas might, almost paradoxically, be said to be the most alike worldwide- because each were so rich in diversity, and trade among tribes was relatively rare. (Just for the sake of comparison, Europe and the Near East were more compact- many societies there shared the Mediterranean and there was significantly more intermingling).

     In North America, the Joshua tribe lived in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean. In their story “Xowalaci and His Companion” (Sproul 232-6) the beginning of the world has no land, only sky and water. Xowalaci (the “Giver”) has a lone companion (the “Watcher”), and they make numerous futile attempts to create land (and later men) before being successful. There is also some mysterious human tracks they observe in the sand and try repeatedly to wash away, to no avail. This worries them, and is interpreted as a bad omen. Xowalaci states “This is going to make trouble in the future!” (233).

     For a comparison (and contrast), the Barotse of Africa lived in Zambia (a landlocked area). It follows that the ocean wouldn't be central to their creation myth, and indeed it is not. In “God Retreats to the Sky” (35-6) the god Nyambi is also troubled however by a human named Kamonu; a man he created but that is flawed (killing other created beings such as antelope and buffaloes). And importantly Nyambi “lived on earth with his wife” (35), and not in an environment that was only water and sky. Both the differences and the similarities are striking- in the North American and African stories the creators make mistakes and become afraid of man. Nyambi eventually “retreats to the sky” as the title implies. The gods of these continents are neither omnipotent nor omniscient. They are just slightly “larger than life” versions of humans. Reminiscent of some of the Greek heroes, and similarly flawed. What is different in these two examples, and many others, is mostly the setting. Habitat is the major influence in the most basic ancient myths.

     The overlaps between the two continents seem more significant than the disparities to me. In each case the societies were nomadic or primitive agriculturally. There was no marked division of labor or class-systems such as developed in Europe or the Near East. Living off the land and its flora and fauna, and very much in direct contact with nature on a daily basis, the peoples of North America and Africa devised creation stories that directly reflected the animals and plants they  encountered. Turtles, snakes, eagles, ravens, chameleons, spiders, antelope, and so forth... whether making soup or inventing myths, primitive people used what was at hand.

Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World. Comp. Barbara C. Sproul. New

            York: Harper One. Harper Collins. 1991. Print.