I decided to write my myth on the creation of rain. While it may be simple and a basic concept, those were exactly the types of topics that the Native Americans tried to explain with their myths. As well, my myth incorporates all of the criteria that one must meet. By definition, a creation (or origin) myth is, “the accounts of the ways in which these supernatural agents formed the Earth and peopled it” (Carneiro). While in my myth the Earth already exists, the purpose of it is to explain how precipitation, particularly rain, came to be. In our notes in class, we discussed the idea that a creation myth must awaken us to the mystery of creation, to explain the natural world, to pass moral and ethical codes and to teach and guide people through life. (Judeh) When originally writing my rain myth, I had to keep these standards in mind. Doing so aided me in structuring my myth and ensuring that it was coherent and intelligible. My myth explains how all of the plants, animals and humans were created and explained the reasons for them. As well, it teaches one to listen to their elders and to be humble rather than arrogant and selfish in order to live a prosperous life.
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Since this was an original Iroquois myth, the way it was presented and the incorporation of key ideas made it easier for me to understand how to write my own. It was also important for me to remember that while we were writing these knowing that they were fake, the Native Americans believed in what they were passing down from generation to generation. These myths were the only explanations they had for these events because they did not have the science that we have now. For example, in terms of my own myth, we now understand that rain comes from water vapor in the clouds. However, in the past, the Native Americans did not know this information and had no way of discovering it. Therefore, they created their own explanations and used those to spread messages about morals at the same time. As well, while writing my myth, I envisioned a person telling this tale to a group of people, just as the Natives did using oral tradition. This was a significant aspect of their culture because it was how they passed down their ideas and customs to each subsequent generation. Keeping oral tradition in mind while writing enabled me to stay in the mindset of my myth being a real story that people believed
Since this was an original Iroquois myth, the way it was presented and the incorporation of key ideas made it easier for me to understand how to write my own. It was also important for me to remember that while we were writing these knowing that they were fake, the Native Americans believed in what they were passing down from generation to generation. These myths were the only explanations they had for these events because they did not have the science that we have now. For example, in terms of my own myth, we now understand that rain comes from water vapor in the clouds. However, in the past, the Native Americans did not know this information and had no way of discovering it. Therefore, they created their own explanations and used those to spread messages about morals at the same time. As well, while writing my myth, I envisioned a person telling this tale to a group of people, just as the Natives did using oral tradition. This was a significant aspect of their culture because it was how they passed down their ideas and customs to each subsequent generation. Keeping oral tradition in mind while writing enabled me to stay in the mindset of my myth being a real story that people believed