Mrs. Loy's English Class

Comments

• David Serpe

  I think that native american myth is pretty cool with all the thing they have like the muskrat. i think that christian myth is kinda the same liek native americans they belive in something like a heaven so that is a similiarties a differnce would be liek the sky father and earth mother we only have 1 god they have a few

  9/11/2009 5:46:23 PM
• Tim LeTouurneau

  Some similarities between Christian teachings and Native American myth is they both have the first people for example Adam and Eve. The Native American myths had gods that created the world similar to the Christian teaching of God. The Native myths were different in they believed in many gods where Christian teaching believes in just the one God. They both have reasons for good and evil but they aren't the same.

  9/13/2009 3:49:37 PM
• MrsLoy

  In a way, though, many Native American religions do believe in one "Great Spirit" - which would be very similar to our one true God. They believe that the Great Spirit is within all things natural (humans, animals, trees, earth, etc.) and should be honored for their "part." We, too, believe in the Holy Spirit - which makes it understandable why Christian conversion was easier to comprehend to a Native American. Still, though, we shall see that, when times were troubled - Native Americans - even the Christian converts - resorted to worshipping their old ways. Can't wait to read "Man to Send Rain Clouds" - it directly relates to this struggle between the two faiths. Hope you all like it!
  

  9/13/2009 3:57:27 PM
• Hannah Frazier

  There are many differences and similarities between Native American myths and Christian creation stories. Native Americans believe in many different spirits and gods. The Native Americans are very spiritual people and have many different beliefs and myths. Their myths/stories often change and are told in different ways depending on the person who is telling the myth or story. Catholics believe in one God and our creation story is told in the Bible. We can't change what the Bible says and everyone knows that our creation story started with Adam and Eve. God would be very disappointed in us if we changed the stories in the Bible. Native Americans and Catholics both go through hard times. When this happens, we as Catholics look to God and pray so that he will help us. Native Americans probably look to their spirits or gods to help them through their hard times as well.

  9/13/2009 4:30:09 PM
• Shannon Grady

  The similarities are that we both have at least one god whom we worship. We both have sacrifices and stories about how our religions came to be.

  9/14/2009 6:30:14 PM
• Dorianna Piechota

  Christian teachings are based on the story of creation related in the first book, Genesis, of the Old Testament of the Bible. It is based on the belief of a single, supreme God, who creates heaven, earth, and the first human couple, called Adam and Eve. God then allows Adam and Eve to live in a beautiful paradise, which is referred to as the Garden of Eden, until they disobey God and are driven out into the harsher environment of the Earth in the vicinity of the Middle East.
  The Book of Genesis was written by Hebrew scholars. The Hebrews were unique in ancient times (about 3000BC) in their belief in one, supreme God. Most other civilizations, such as the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, who also lived in Mesopotamia, worshipped a pantheon of gods that were based on the forces of nature. Mesopotamia was the ancient name for the Middle Eastern area between the Tigris and Euphrates River in present-day Iraq.
  The religious beliefs of the Native Americans were much closer to those of the ancient Mesopotamians than they were to the Hebrews. Most Native Americans worshipped multiple gods whose powers were based on the forces of nature. It is true that Native Americans developed the concept of a "Great Spirit," but they never truly gave up the worship of their nature gods.
  The balance of political power often changed in ancient Mesopotamia, and this caused the adoption and blending of religious beliefs between the various civilizations. For example, when the Babylonians conquered the Hebrew kingdom of Judea and took the Jews back to Babylonia as captives, they absorbed many of the stories from the Hebrew Bible. The Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elish, relates how one of their gods, Marduk, becomes the chief god and creates heaven, earth, and human kind. Another Babylonian epic, Gilgamesh, relates how humankind survived a Great Flood.
  When Christian missionaries brought their religion to the New World, many Native American tribes were coerced into adopting Christianity. However, I believe that they merely layered these new Christian concepts on top of their ancient beliefs, rather than giving up their old beliefs altogether. This is how the concept of the "Great Spirit" may have developed.
  We can, of course, read similarities into the Native American creation myths and the Christian creation teachings. However, I believe that the true similarity lies in humankind's search for an explanation for why we exist and what our role in the universe ultimately is. No matter what our race, culture, of religious beliefs may be, we are all searching for the true meaning of life.

  9/15/2009 12:03:09 AM
• MrsLoy

  Bravo! Yes - throughout history, many religions have employed several adaptation strategies to help conversions. Native Americans layered Christian elements over their own religious foundation. However, many Christians believed that Native Americans were one of the lost tribes of Israel - since some of the origin stories are quite similar (World on a Turtle's Back) We could easily create an entire curriculum around Native American mythology and literature! My hope is that what we have discussed, and the several deeper levels of interpretation, will peak your interest and you'll continue to explore on your own! This academic field needs more scholars!

  9/22/2009 8:47:38 AM