Citation: "The Creation" -Maidu pg.23-35
Summary: The Creation is a fiction piece that shows how the main character, Earthmaker, goes about creating a world for future humans. He starts by pondering how to start, but his partner, Coyote seems to force the matter by saying that if he waits too long he may starve. After his complaint, with no budge from Earthmaker, he begins to sing, annoying him until they find a “nest.” From this nest, Earthmaker created his first being, the Meadowlark. After having Coyote help him stretch the land, he began to create pairs of creatures. He directs them to different areas of the world he has created and then tells these creatures they will eventually become humans, grow old, have children, and tell stories of the land and names that everything was given. He warned the creature to share the land and told them that descendants will soon fill up the world and pass down the information. After reminiscing about his first creation, Meadowlark, he builds a house on the end of Earth and lives humbly.
Summary: The Creation is a fiction piece that shows how the main character, Earthmaker, goes about creating a world for future humans. He starts by pondering how to start, but his partner, Coyote seems to force the matter by saying that if he waits too long he may starve. After his complaint, with no budge from Earthmaker, he begins to sing, annoying him until they find a “nest.” From this nest, Earthmaker created his first being, the Meadowlark. After having Coyote help him stretch the land, he began to create pairs of creatures. He directs them to different areas of the world he has created and then tells these creatures they will eventually become humans, grow old, have children, and tell stories of the land and names that everything was given. He warned the creature to share the land and told them that descendants will soon fill up the world and pass down the information. After reminiscing about his first creation, Meadowlark, he builds a house on the end of Earth and lives humbly.
Main Characters:
·
Earthmaker: the protagonist. He is often used in
Maidu literature as a god-like character
·
Coyote: Also often used in Maidu literature, the
Coyote is a trickster, or Anti-hero
Background Information:
·
Maidu stands for “man”
·
Maidus are Native American tribes in the Sierra
Nevada region. There are a number of Maidu Tribes
·
They believe in Animism- “the worldview that
non-human entities—such as animals, plants, and inanimate objects—possess a
spiritual essence”
What I noticed:
·
Given the background information, I can assume
that the text is a representation of Maidu history.
o
Earthmaker tells them they will eventually
become human and based on the Animistic religion, it doesn’t sound surprising
that natives were named after or spiritually connected to “creatures”
o
He also says that the places will have names and
that the names will be told to the generations. This also plays a role in Maidu
culture. Every place, every object, and every person is given a spiritual essence
and name, and these stories are passed down the lineage.
o
Earthmaker warns them to not kick people out of
the land- This may link to Americans inhabiting and forcing Natives out of
their lands.
o
Geological references: -The creatures were sent
to different areas by Earthmaker, as were the tribes. There were numerous Maidu
tribes in the Sierra Nevada and they were spread out in different regions as well.
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