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The World On The Turtle's Back: Creation Myth

The World On The Turtle's Back: Creation Myth

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“The World on the Turtle’s Back” by the Iroquois Tribe is a creation myth. Joseph Campbell classified the four functions of a myth: metaphysical, to instill awe; sociological, to support customs; cosmological, to explain the world and the unexplained; and pedagogical, to guide people. This story fulfills each of these functions when the woman falls through a hole in the sky world and the earth is created by dirt from the bottom of the ocean. Her descendants each have a part of creating the customs and the earth as it is now. One of the most important functions that this story has is sociological, which explains the customs that they have.
There are several examples from the text that fulfill the sociological function of this creation myth.

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