The Iroquois, Maori and Islamic Creation Myths

July 1, 2022 by Essay Writer

Introduction

Through centuries and decades, different people lived. Therefore, they had many beliefs and thoughts on the creation of the world. Various beliefs had many similarities and differences, which revealed to us the way people thought about this subject. In this essay, we will compare and contrast the beliefs of the three creation stories, that are, The Iroquois Myth, The Maori’s creation story, and lastly, my creation belief of the universe, that comes from the Islamic culture. The topics that this essay will cover are captivating topics, that you will truly feel eager to read. The topics are consisting of the creation of the world, the creator of it, and how mankind originated.

Creation of the Universe

Through these three beliefs, there are many thoughts on the way this universe was created. In the Iroquois Creation Myth, the world was created when the sky woman fell into the massive hole, of where the tree of light was torn. Then, she was carried by two birds that put her on the turtle’s back. There, she created the world. (Iroquois Creation Myth.” cs.williams.edu . N.p, n.d. Web. September 29th, 2019). While in the Maori’s creation myth, it talks about the Earth Mother (Papa) and Father Sky (Rangi) that loved each other and united. Then, they gave birth to nine Gods which most of them decided to separate their parents. So, by separating them the world was created. (” Holloway, April. “Creation Myth of the Maori – New Zealand.” ancient-origins.net . Ancient Origins, April 4th, 2013. Web. September 29th, 2019). As well as, in the Islamic beliefs, God is the one that created the world in six days, to be exact. He created the whole universe by himself, as per the Qur’an states ‘ Your Lord is God; He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. The night overtakes the day, as it pursues it persistently; and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are subservient by His command. His is the creation, and His is the command. Blessed is God, Lord of all beings.’ ( The Qur’an 7:54 ). From here, we can see that there are similarities of who created the world in the Maori’s Myth and the Iroquois Myth, where Gods are not the creators, but they existed while the world was created. In addition, there’s a difference between these two myths and the Islamic culture belief, where in the Islamic belief, God is the creator of the universe.

The Gods

God is an important element for the people. Wherever they go in life, they will always feel that there’s a special power that they will resort and refuge to. In the Iroquois creation myth, there were two Gods, the right handed twin (good) and the left handed twin (evil), they created animals and people, and they maintained balance in the world.( “Iroquois Creation Myth.” cs.williams.edu . N.p, n.d. Web. September 30th, 2019 ). While in the Maori’s creation myth, Maori people believed that there are more than one God, they had nine of them. Each God had an authority and power over one aspect of nature, such as (Tanematua), that is the God of forests and birds, (Tāwhirimātea) God of weather, (Tangaroa) God of the sea, (Tūmatauenga) God of war, (Rongo) God for peace, (Rūaumoko) God of natural disasters, (Rongo mā Tāne) God of all cultivated foods and kumara, (Haumia-tiketike) God that spiritually guards wild foods, and (Whiro) that is the God of darkness. ( “Māori Gods*.” kupu.maori.nz . N.p, n.d. Web. September 30th, 2019 ). In the doctrine of the Islamic culture belief, it is said that there is a one and only God, ‘ He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.’ ( The Qur’an 112:3, 112:4). So, from here, we can see that there is a difference in the number of Gods in each creation story.

Creation of Mankind

For every belief, there’s a story about how mankind was born or created, and all the stories are different from each other, but there are certain areas that are similar and different between these myths and beliefs. In the iroquois myth story, the twins created mankind from clay as said in the book ‘Man was created of clay, like pottery, and baked in the fire…. ‘ (Holt McDougal, 2012, p.9). . But in the Maori’s creation story, mankind was created by the blood of Papa that then became red ochre. Tane took this red ochre and created a sculpture of a woman, then he breathed life into her. ( ” Holloway, April. “Creation Myth of the Maori – New Zealand.” ancient-origins.net . Ancient Origins, April 4th, 2013. Web. September 30th, 2019 ). Also, in the Islamic culture belief, God created the first human being that’s Adam from clay, and breathed life into him. Like it says in the Holy Qur’an, ‘ He created man from clay like [that of] pottery.”, ( The Qur’an 55:14). There are some similarities between the Islamic belief and the Iroquois belief, because in both stories, mankind was created by clay. Also, there are some similarities between the Islamic beliefs and the Maori’s belief story, and that’s because in both of these creation stories, mankind were given life by the creator breathing life into them.

Conclusion

In this essay, I discussed the similarities and differences between the three creation stories. I compared and contrasted how the world was created, the creator of the world, and how mankind originated in each of the three creation stories. We discover that everybody had different convictions on these topics that we discussed, and there were many similarities and differences between them, but the main similarity in the three stories is the existence of a God(s).

Bibliography

  1. (The Qur’an. Translated by Sahih International, The Noble Qur’an, The Beneficent, 55:14).
  2. (The Qur’an. Translated by Sahih International, The Noble Qur’an, The Sincerity, 112:3, 112:4)
  3. (The Qur’an. Translated by Talal Itani, Clear Quran, The Elevations, 7:54).
  4. ‘Creation Myth Of The Maori – New Zealand’. Ancient-Origins.Net, 2019, https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/creation-myth-maori-new-zealand-00305. Accessed 29 Sept 2019.
  5. ‘Creation Myths — Iroquois Creation Myth’. Cs.Williams.Edu, 2019, https://www.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_12.html. Accessed 30 Sept 2019.
  6. ‘Māori Gods*’. Kupu.Maori.Nz, 2019, https://kupu.maori.nz/set/Māori-Gods. Accessed 30 Sept 2019.
  7. ‘Iroquois Creation Myth, 1816’. Historymatters.Gmu.Edu, 2019, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6375/. Accessed 30 Sept 2019.
  8. HOLT MCDOUGAL. (2012). HOLT MCDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 11. [Place of publication not identified]: HOLT MCDOUGAL, p.9
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