Cherokee:
The Cherokee creation belief describes the earth as a great floating island surrounded by seawater. It hangs from the sky by cords attached at the four cardinal points. The story tells that the first earth came to be when Dâyuni'sï (Beaver's Grandchild), the little Water beetle came from Gälûñ'lätï, the sky realm, to see what was below the water. He scurried over the surface of the water, but found no solid place to rest. He dived to the bottom of the water and brought up some soft mud. This mud expanded in every direction and became the earth, according to the account recorded in 1900 by the Bureau of American Ethnology.
The other animals in Gälûñ'lätï were eager to come down to the new earth, and first birds were sent to see if the mud was dry. Buzzard was sent ahead to make preparations for the others, but the earth was still soft. When he grew tired, his wings dipped very low and brushed the soft mud, gouging mountains and valleys in the smooth surface, and the animals were forced to wait again. When it was finally dry they all came down. It was dark, so they took the sun and set it in a track to run east to west, at first setting it too low and the red crawfish was scorched. They elevated the sun several times in order to reduce its heat.
The story also tells how plants and animals acquired certain characteristics, and is related to one of their medicine rituals. They all were told to stay awake for seven nights, but only a few animals, such as owl and panther, succeeded and they were given the power to see and prey upon the others at night. Only a few trees succeeded as well, namely cedar, pine, spruce and laurel, so the rest were forced to shed their leaves in the winter.
The first people were a brother and sister. Once, the brother hit his sister with a fish and told her to multiply. Following this, she gave birth to a child every seven days and soon there were too many people, so women were forced to have just one child every year.[2]
Kubo People (Central Africa)
The story of Mbombo's creation tells that in the beginning, Mbombo was alone, darkness and primordial water covered all the earth. It would happen that Mbombo came to feel an intense pain in his stomach, and then Mbombo vomited the sun, the moon, and stars. The heat and light from the sun evaporated the water covering the earth, creating clouds, and after time, the dry hills emerged from the water. Then Mbombo vomited once more, bringing forth nine animals: the leopard, called Koy Bumba; the eagle, Ponga Bumba; the crocodile, Ganda Bumba; the fish, Yo Bumba; the tortoise, Kono Bumba; a black leopard-like animal, Tsetse Bumba; a white heron, Nyanyi Bumba; a scarab; and a goat named Budi. Mbombo also vomited many men, one of them was called Loko Yima and was white like Bumba.[1][2]
These nine animals went on to create all the world's creatures. The heron created all flying birds but one, the kite, and the crocodile created snakes and the iguana. The goat, Budi, brought forth all the horned animals, the scarab all insects, and Yo Bumba, all fish.[2]
Three of Mbombo's sons then said they would finish creating the world. The first to try, Nyonye Ngana, vomited white ants, but died after.[1]To honor him, the ants went deep in the earth for dark soil to bury him and transformed the barren sands at the earth's surface. The second, Chonganda, created the first plant, which in turn gave rise to all trees, grasses and flowers. And Chedi Bumba, the third son, made the last bird, the kite.[2]
Tsetse Bumba caused trouble on the earth so Mbombo chased her into the sky where she became the thunderbolt. This left people without fire, so Mbombo showed them how to make it from trees. Once the creation was complete and peaceful, Mbombo delivered it to mankind and retreated into the heavens, leaving Loko Yima to serve as "god upon the earth".[1][2] The woman of the waters, Nchienge, lived in the East, and her son, Woto, became the first king of the Kuba.[3
Mayan Creation Story
The Popol Vuh is a creation narrative written by the K'iche' people before the Spanish conquest of Guatemala,[2] originally preserved through oral tradition[3] until approximately 1550 when it was written down.[4]
In the creation myth of the Popol Vuh , there were two creator gods, Gucumatz and Tepeu. After creating the earth out of the primordial sea, they decided to populate it with animals. They realized later that the animals were unable to speak, and so could not worship, invoke, or glorify them. Thus the gods failed with their first effort.
In order to be worshipped, the gods decided to create human beings, whilst the animals became food for humans. The gods first attempted to create human beings with mud. It was, however, a mistake, as “It merely fell apart and dissolved.”
Next, the gods experimented with wood. The people carved out of wood could speak, and began to populate the earth. They did not possess, however, hearts and minds, and were destroyed by a flood. Those who survived were said to have been transformed into monkeys.
The Popol Vuh then goes on to narrate the ascent of Seven Macaw, a proud individual who meets his end at the hands of the Hero Twins, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué. The tale then shifts to Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub- Hunahpú, the father and uncle of the Hero Twins. Prior to the birth if the Hero Twins, Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub- Hunahpú were invited by the Lords of the Death to a ball game in Xibalba, where they were murdered. After numerous adventures in the Underworld, the Hero Twins destroy the Lords of Death, and subsequently become the Sun and the Moon.
After the story of the Hero Twins, the Popol Vuh returns to the creation of human beings. This time, the gods succeed, and human beings were created out of maize. Until today, maize is still seen as a sacred and divine food, and honoured as such: “This time the beings shaped by the gods are everything they hoped for and more: not only do the first four men pray to their makers, but they have perfect vision and therefore perfect knowledge.”
This perfection alarmed the gods. It is obvious from the writings in Popol Vuh that the gods did not want these creations to have the ability to become like gods themselves, but simply wanted to limit the capacity of humans to mere worship. According to Popol Vuh, that is what they achieved in that fourth and last experiment of creation.
The Popol Vuh concludes with an extensive genealogy of the Quiché-Maya dynasty up until the 16 th century, connecting the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by divine right.
Korea
The myth starts with the creation of the world, when the sky and the earth were one As there were no sky nor earth, as a result, there was only an empty void. However, one day, a gap formed in the void. All that was lighter than the gap headed upwards and formed the sky. All that was heavier than the gap fell down to become the earth. From the sky fell a clear blue drop of dew, and from the earth rose a dark black drop of dew. As these two drops mixed, all that existed, except the sun, moon, and the stars, came to be. From these two drops came humans and even the gods.[1][2][3]
The leader of the gods, Cheonjiwang, awoke to the cry of the three roosters; the Rooster Emperor of the Sky (Korean: 천황닭), the Rooster Emperor of the Earth (Korean: 지황닭), and the Rooster Emperor of Humans (Korean: 인황닭). According to some scholars, the cry of the roosters signify time.[4])
Cheonjiwang knew that the three roosters were crowing because there was no sun. To appease the roosters, Cheonjiwang crafted two suns and two moons, and made the two suns rise and fall every day and the two moons rise and fall every night.
The Cherokee creation belief describes the earth as a great floating island surrounded by seawater. It hangs from the sky by cords attached at the four cardinal points. The story tells that the first earth came to be when Dâyuni'sï (Beaver's Grandchild), the little Water beetle came from Gälûñ'lätï, the sky realm, to see what was below the water. He scurried over the surface of the water, but found no solid place to rest. He dived to the bottom of the water and brought up some soft mud. This mud expanded in every direction and became the earth, according to the account recorded in 1900 by the Bureau of American Ethnology.
The other animals in Gälûñ'lätï were eager to come down to the new earth, and first birds were sent to see if the mud was dry. Buzzard was sent ahead to make preparations for the others, but the earth was still soft. When he grew tired, his wings dipped very low and brushed the soft mud, gouging mountains and valleys in the smooth surface, and the animals were forced to wait again. When it was finally dry they all came down. It was dark, so they took the sun and set it in a track to run east to west, at first setting it too low and the red crawfish was scorched. They elevated the sun several times in order to reduce its heat.
The story also tells how plants and animals acquired certain characteristics, and is related to one of their medicine rituals. They all were told to stay awake for seven nights, but only a few animals, such as owl and panther, succeeded and they were given the power to see and prey upon the others at night. Only a few trees succeeded as well, namely cedar, pine, spruce and laurel, so the rest were forced to shed their leaves in the winter.
The first people were a brother and sister. Once, the brother hit his sister with a fish and told her to multiply. Following this, she gave birth to a child every seven days and soon there were too many people, so women were forced to have just one child every year.[2]
Kubo People (Central Africa)
The story of Mbombo's creation tells that in the beginning, Mbombo was alone, darkness and primordial water covered all the earth. It would happen that Mbombo came to feel an intense pain in his stomach, and then Mbombo vomited the sun, the moon, and stars. The heat and light from the sun evaporated the water covering the earth, creating clouds, and after time, the dry hills emerged from the water. Then Mbombo vomited once more, bringing forth nine animals: the leopard, called Koy Bumba; the eagle, Ponga Bumba; the crocodile, Ganda Bumba; the fish, Yo Bumba; the tortoise, Kono Bumba; a black leopard-like animal, Tsetse Bumba; a white heron, Nyanyi Bumba; a scarab; and a goat named Budi. Mbombo also vomited many men, one of them was called Loko Yima and was white like Bumba.[1][2]
These nine animals went on to create all the world's creatures. The heron created all flying birds but one, the kite, and the crocodile created snakes and the iguana. The goat, Budi, brought forth all the horned animals, the scarab all insects, and Yo Bumba, all fish.[2]
Three of Mbombo's sons then said they would finish creating the world. The first to try, Nyonye Ngana, vomited white ants, but died after.[1]To honor him, the ants went deep in the earth for dark soil to bury him and transformed the barren sands at the earth's surface. The second, Chonganda, created the first plant, which in turn gave rise to all trees, grasses and flowers. And Chedi Bumba, the third son, made the last bird, the kite.[2]
Tsetse Bumba caused trouble on the earth so Mbombo chased her into the sky where she became the thunderbolt. This left people without fire, so Mbombo showed them how to make it from trees. Once the creation was complete and peaceful, Mbombo delivered it to mankind and retreated into the heavens, leaving Loko Yima to serve as "god upon the earth".[1][2] The woman of the waters, Nchienge, lived in the East, and her son, Woto, became the first king of the Kuba.[3
Mayan Creation Story
The Popol Vuh is a creation narrative written by the K'iche' people before the Spanish conquest of Guatemala,[2] originally preserved through oral tradition[3] until approximately 1550 when it was written down.[4]
In the creation myth of the Popol Vuh , there were two creator gods, Gucumatz and Tepeu. After creating the earth out of the primordial sea, they decided to populate it with animals. They realized later that the animals were unable to speak, and so could not worship, invoke, or glorify them. Thus the gods failed with their first effort.
In order to be worshipped, the gods decided to create human beings, whilst the animals became food for humans. The gods first attempted to create human beings with mud. It was, however, a mistake, as “It merely fell apart and dissolved.”
Next, the gods experimented with wood. The people carved out of wood could speak, and began to populate the earth. They did not possess, however, hearts and minds, and were destroyed by a flood. Those who survived were said to have been transformed into monkeys.
The Popol Vuh then goes on to narrate the ascent of Seven Macaw, a proud individual who meets his end at the hands of the Hero Twins, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué. The tale then shifts to Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub- Hunahpú, the father and uncle of the Hero Twins. Prior to the birth if the Hero Twins, Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub- Hunahpú were invited by the Lords of the Death to a ball game in Xibalba, where they were murdered. After numerous adventures in the Underworld, the Hero Twins destroy the Lords of Death, and subsequently become the Sun and the Moon.
After the story of the Hero Twins, the Popol Vuh returns to the creation of human beings. This time, the gods succeed, and human beings were created out of maize. Until today, maize is still seen as a sacred and divine food, and honoured as such: “This time the beings shaped by the gods are everything they hoped for and more: not only do the first four men pray to their makers, but they have perfect vision and therefore perfect knowledge.”
This perfection alarmed the gods. It is obvious from the writings in Popol Vuh that the gods did not want these creations to have the ability to become like gods themselves, but simply wanted to limit the capacity of humans to mere worship. According to Popol Vuh, that is what they achieved in that fourth and last experiment of creation.
The Popol Vuh concludes with an extensive genealogy of the Quiché-Maya dynasty up until the 16 th century, connecting the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by divine right.
Korea
The myth starts with the creation of the world, when the sky and the earth were one As there were no sky nor earth, as a result, there was only an empty void. However, one day, a gap formed in the void. All that was lighter than the gap headed upwards and formed the sky. All that was heavier than the gap fell down to become the earth. From the sky fell a clear blue drop of dew, and from the earth rose a dark black drop of dew. As these two drops mixed, all that existed, except the sun, moon, and the stars, came to be. From these two drops came humans and even the gods.[1][2][3]
The leader of the gods, Cheonjiwang, awoke to the cry of the three roosters; the Rooster Emperor of the Sky (Korean: 천황닭), the Rooster Emperor of the Earth (Korean: 지황닭), and the Rooster Emperor of Humans (Korean: 인황닭). According to some scholars, the cry of the roosters signify time.[4])
Cheonjiwang knew that the three roosters were crowing because there was no sun. To appease the roosters, Cheonjiwang crafted two suns and two moons, and made the two suns rise and fall every day and the two moons rise and fall every night.