by Carolyn Tytler

Created on: June 06, 2009

The Cherokee were a tribe of American Indians who inhabited the Southeast area of the United States when the first Europeans arrived. The white men were mainly intent on killing or capturing the natives to serve as slaves. They made no effort to investigate or appreciate their lifestyle and culture.

The legends the Indians had composed to explain the origin of the earth and the natural environment were colorful and imaginative, and their lifestyle well suited to area in which they lived.

They even had a developed sense of spirituality. They realized that there was a Supreme Being, but they lacked any idea of who or what this Being might be.

The Cherokee Creation Legend

In the beginning, the earth was covered with water. Plants and animals existed, but they lived up on the ceiling of the sky, which was made of hard rock crystal. The creatures were very crowded and wished to come down and live on the earth.

A little water-beetle offered to go down to see if it could find a dry place to rest. It dove to the bottom of the waters and came up with some soft mud. The mud began to grow magically on all sides until it became the large island we call the earth. The earth was fastened to the sky by four rawhide cords, at the four cardinal points, but no one remembers who did this.

At first the earth was flat, soft and wet. The animals were anxious to go down, and they kept sending different birds ahead to see if a dry place could be found. At last the Great Buzzard flew down. He looked all over, trying to find a place dry and hard enough to live on.

When he arrived at Cherokee country, his great wings were tired. They began to flap more slowly and hit the ground. Wherever they struck, the land became a valley. When they rose up again, a mountain was formed. When the animals saw this, they called him back, fearing the whole world would become mountains. To this day, Cherokee land is covered with mountains.

When the land was dry and hard enough, the animals moved down, but they had no light. Someone said, " Let us get the sun from beyond the rainbow and bring him down with us". So they did, but at first the sun was too close to the earth and it was very hot.

The crayfish had his back sticking up out of the stream, and the sun burned it red. Besides that, his meat was spoiled forever. To this day, no Cherokee will eat a crayfish.

The animals asked the shamans to raise the sun higher so the earth would be cooler, and it was done. The sun was placed on a track seven handbreadths

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