The earth is filled with diverse people with varying beliefs of how humans came to be on earth. I am Catholic, so I believe that one God created humans on the seventh day of creation. I looked at the beliefs of a tribe called the Hopi and their beliefs are vastly different than mine. The Hopi believed in many gods and they came from the underworld. Learning about the Hopi’s origin story I have found many differences, but also a few similarities to the origin story of Catholics. The Hopi believe that all humans began in the underworld and the people were identified by three classes. “The people were classed as common, middle, and first class” (Neguatewa 1936, p. 7). The first class, Mong-cinum, was made up of priest, High Priest, and the Leaders
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The difference between the underworld of the Hopi and the Garden of Eden is, in the Garden everything is perfect until Adam and Eve deify God and God banishes them from the garden. From my understanding the Hopi believed that the underworld was a corrupt place and that they needed to flee from it, Neguatewa demonstrates, “Among both men and women there was not a soul who could be happy in such sinful days, for there was murder, suicide, and every other wicked thing…” (1936, p.8) Another place that I have noticed the stories diverge is that Adam and Eve are sent from a blissful life to one of hardship, but for the Hopi it seems to be the other way around. The way Neguatewa explains the top is as wondrous when he exclaims, “They found that there was sunshine and birds and rather a prosperous looking world----sun, grass, flowers, trees and everything else up above” (1936 p.24). In both stories, they have God or the gods as all powerful beings. The chipmunk from the Hopi origin story admits, “he thought himself powerless and knew that only his gods had unlimited power…”, it shows that the gods of the Hopi were beings to be respected. One thing that I found interesting was that the chief and his loyal men prayed to the animals like Catholics pray to angels or saints when they need help or
The difference between the underworld of the Hopi and the Garden of Eden is, in the Garden everything is perfect until Adam and Eve deify God and God banishes them from the garden. From my understanding the Hopi believed that the underworld was a corrupt place and that they needed to flee from it, Neguatewa demonstrates, “Among both men and women there was not a soul who could be happy in such sinful days, for there was murder, suicide, and every other wicked thing…” (1936, p.8) Another place that I have noticed the stories diverge is that Adam and Eve are sent from a blissful life to one of hardship, but for the Hopi it seems to be the other way around. The way Neguatewa explains the top is as wondrous when he exclaims, “They found that there was sunshine and birds and rather a prosperous looking world----sun, grass, flowers, trees and everything else up above” (1936 p.24). In both stories, they have God or the gods as all powerful beings. The chipmunk from the Hopi origin story admits, “he thought himself powerless and knew that only his gods had unlimited power…”, it shows that the gods of the Hopi were beings to be respected. One thing that I found interesting was that the chief and his loyal men prayed to the animals like Catholics pray to angels or saints when they need help or