R. Murray Thomas Manitou and God, North American Indian Religions and Christian Culture (2007

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.Pawnee [Great Plains] legend has identified Tirawa as the supreme deitywho existed forever and who, at the world s beginning, appointed Evening Star(Mother of All Things) to issue his commands to the other gods.He orderedMorning Star to wed Evening Star, who produced the first girl, and he thendirected Sun to mate with Moon and produce the first boy.When the boy andgirl married, they became the ancestors of much of the human race.But,according to Pawnee lore, other deities also created humans (Lowie 1954, 165).Certain Indian religions attribute the creation of death to particular spirits.The Blackfeet [Northern Great Plains] tell of Old Man (Napi) arguing withOld Woman in primordial times about whether people should die or shouldlive forever.To settle the question, Old Woman cast a rock into a pool andprophesied that if the rock floated, the dead would come back to life withinfour days.But if the rock sank, people would remain dead forever.Becausethe rock sank, everlasting death became a fact of human destiny.In a differentversion of death s origin, Apache [Southwest] lore blames the creation of deathon a pair of mean-spirited rascals, Coyote and Raven (Howard 1996, 155).66 The Religions' ComponentsAs another instance of delegated creation tasks, a Lummi [Northwest] storytells of Raven being assigned by the Great Spirit to distribute certain of theearth s contents streams, trees, birds so they would not all be crowded intothe same region (Lake-Thom 1997, 54).In contrast to creation beliefs that cast animals as earlier arrivals on earththan humans is the Chemehuevi [Southwest] tradition, which envisions theearth s contents mountains, rivers, plants, animals, and humans as appear-ing simultaneously at the very beginning, then interacting in a great dramathat put the world into motion (Greaves 2002, 8).The Universe in Final FormIndian traditions have depicted the nature of the world in a variety of ways.In general, they have conceived the earth to be in the same form as did earlyChristians a flat, rather bumpy surface that is circular, drops off vertically atthe edges, and is surmounted by a blue, domed canopy overhead that is embel-lished with a sun, moon, and stars (Clements 1986, 213 214; Heizer 1978, 651).But different tribes have had their particular renditions of this general pattern.Among the early Yuroks [Northern California], the world consisted of asmall bounded region with the Klamath River flowing through it to the edgeof the Pacific Ocean (Heizer 1978, 651).Chumash [California] legend has depicted three worlds, one above theother, each in the shape of an island suspended in a dark void.The lowestisland (C oyimashup) is the dwelling place of gloomy, misshapen beings Nunashish that may sneak up into the middle island to cause evil mischief.Humans live on the middle island that is surrounded by a great sea and is heldup from below by two giant serpents who occasionally move, thereby causingearthquakes.Long before humans appeared, the First People ( supernaturalbeings with the human attributes of will, reason, and emotion ) lived on themiddle island until a great flood engulfed the universe, killing Nunashish inthe lower world and driving many of the First People onto the top island.Butsome of the First People remained in the middle world in the form of animaland plant spirits or such natural forces as thunder, wind, and water.The top-most world ( Alap ay) is supported by the Great Eagle whose powerful wingschange phases of the moon and move the heavenly bodies along their assignedpaths.The Sky People of the upper world include the most powerful beings inthe universe such deities as the Sun (male), Moon (female), Morning Star(Venus), Sky Coyote, Great Eagle, and Lizard.Following the great flood, theupper world deities held a council during which they agreed to create humans.With that act, life and death originated, leading to the Chumash belief that allearthy things are in flux in a natural cycle of reincarnation (Miller 1988, 120).The Sioux [Great Plains] have also believed in reincarnation, with peoplewho were virtuous during their lives being returned in death to the presenceof the Great Spirit.However, wicked people were sent back to the world asone of the lower animals.Then, if obedient as animals, they could be returnedto their original condition as humans (Clements 1986, 215).Creating the Universe 67The Navajos [Southwest] defined the boundaries of their world by four setsof mountains that mark the extremes of the cardinal directions east, south,west, and north.Mount Blanca (Tsisnaasjini Dawn or White Shell Moun-tain) is the eastern boundary in Colorado s San Luis Valley near the city of Ala-mosa.Mount Taylor (Tsoodzi Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain) north ofLaguna, New Mexico, forms the southern boundary.San Francisco Peak(Doko oosliid Abalone Shell Mountain) near Flagstaff, Arizona, marks thewestern border.Mount Hesperus (Dib� Nitsaa Big Mountain Sheep orObsidian Mountain) in Colorado s La Plata range is the Navajo universe snorthern outpost.In Navajo lore, each day carries individuals lives through a cycle ofquadrants that begins when the sun dawns in the east, requiring people toplan for the day.As the sun advances past the south and into the west, theplan is carried out.When the sun sets in the west, the north comes intoplay as the time for appraising how the day worked out. This is where weget our satisfaction and evaluate the outcome of what we first started in theeast.Here is where we determine to change things to make life better or tosee if we are on the right path as we continue the cycle (Introduction to theNavajo 1997).Navajo cosmology portrays the universe as at least five worlds, each one atopanother.Both people and animals started in the lowest world, then graduallycrawled up to the second world.In one Navajo version, the world began as ablack island floating in the mist [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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