Compare And Contrast The Cherokee And Navajo

Like many cultures, the American Indians passed down their own beliefs which describe the creations of Earth and people. Depending on the tribe, location, history, lifestyle and external influences each story contained its own unique variation. The following will compare and contrast the Cherokee and Navajo belief in creation as well as delve into the viewpoints of each tribe and their relationship with the earth, animals and other people.
It is hard for a person to understand why particular cultures act and believe the way they do without understanding their belief and history. The Cherokee Indians told creation stories for the Milky Way , Earth , as well as man and woman . The Cherokee believed that in the beginning everything was cold, …show more content…
The Navajo lived in the dry, northern regions of Arizona and New Mexico, and were also farmers and hunters. Like the Cherokee the Navajo did not live in teepees, but lived in dwellings called hogans. A major difference between the Cherokee and most of the other tribes is the fact they viewed men and women as equal and when married the man moves in with his wife and the lineage follows the maternal side. The Navajo, through stories seem to view the man as the leader, and when married the woman leaves to live with her husband. When the settlers moved onto the Navajos’ land, they would raid the settlers’ homesteads and then trade the captured goods with other tribes which greatly improved their way of life. As tensions increased among the settlers and other tribes, the Cherokee joined the sides of the settlers and fought against other tribes; whereas the Navajo fought against the settlers that were attempting to encroach on their land. Within both tribes, the women were responsible for raising the children, cooking, tending to the home and helping out with farming, predominantly growing corn while the men were responsible for hunting and the hard-laborious