Native American Creation Beliefs

it is a little known fact that there were more than a thousand different Native American Nations when Europeans first began exploring the North American continent. In addition to this population the South American Continent and all the islands of the Caribbean were peopled. It is also not well known that every Nation was indeed its own unique culture. Just as there are similarities between the nations of the world today, there were similarities between the nations of the Native Americans.

There were also many differences. They were a very spiritual people, and there was a common thread to their spiritual nature amongst the majority of the nations. There were also unique or specific aspects for each: One aspect that was in common for almost all the nations was their creation - yet even that had its own specific interpretations from one nation to the next, which helped to illustrate their differences.

The point of commonality surrounds the underlying belief that they were one with the land. The land and all the things in it were their spirits and their gods. As a culture and a people they were more spiritually bound to their land than any other culture or peoples since. The various interpretations of their religion from one nation to the next could even be traced to the land, elements, and animals that dominated that particular region. For example, the nations of the Plains had a strong focus on the buffalo in their spiritual teachings, where nations such as the Navajo had their emphasis on corn and the sun. They held all in a great reverence and believed all was endowed with a spirit.

As a general rule, the Native Americans did not see things in general as Europeans saw them when it came to their genesis. Yet, there are still some commonalities that surface. For example the Apache speak of nothing existing before the beginning, no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon -- only darkness everywhere. In the Apache creation story, from the darkness emerged a thin disc, yellow on one side and white on the other. Inside this disc was a small bearded man who created light and color and clouds. Next a young girl arrives, and then he begins to create the earth.

The Cherokee, on the other hand, speak of a time long ago before there were any people and the earth was just an island floating in a sea of water. This was suspended by four cords hanging down from a sky vault made of solid rock. There was no light and the animals could not see, so they (the animals) got the sun and set it in a path to go across this earth island, every day from the east to the west. The Creator then tells the animals and plants to stay awake for seven nights. Those animals and plants who are able to do so are rewarded with the power to go about in the dark. The plants who succeed become the evergreens and provide the best medicines.

The Mayans speak of a contest or game and seven gods, which are finally successful in creating two brothers who become the sun and the moon, while the Zuni speak of the Maker who became the sun, which brightened the dark empty spaces. As he brightened these spaces, great mist-clouds were thickened together, which fell and became water. As the water warmed, the earth was formed.

It is interesting to see the commonality of one supreme creator in many of these stories and then notice how his shape or form or purpose changes based upon the region of the peoples. It is also interesting to note how many other creation stories across the religions have similar common threads. We can travel all the way back to the Vedic Hymns where we learn that all life was first created out of chaos and darkness.

There is one very significant aspect to all Native Americans' spiritual beliefs however and that is the literal belief that their land and its elements is what gave them life, and what they in turn were responsible for giving life to. Their connection to the earth, the sun, the moon, the animals, and the plants was so deep and so ingrained in them that many who left their native regions died -- mostly because their spiritual life force had been severed through their relocation to unknown lands that held no spiritual meaning or connections for them.