Comparing and Contrasting The Iroquois and Genesis Creation Stories

Different cultures globally all have various creation narratives that they live by. With that in mind, the world was only made one time so many of these creation stories are very similar. From a Christianity perspective, they believe in the two Genesis creation stories. Genesis is all about the story we all know about Adam and Eve. Along with Christianity perspectives, the Iroquois have their own view on the story of creation. The Iroquois creation story is a little bit more abstract because it is also known as “The World on the Turtle’s Back”. Both of these stories are different in ways but have similarities as well that makes the reader question if the myths are actually realities.

Fundamental Differences and General Similarities

One difference between the two is how the world was created. The Genesis stories believe that there is only one God, who created everyone and everything. The two accounts of Genesis differ slightly. The first story of Genesis takes place over six days with one day of rest, where plants and animals were created first and man was created last on the sixth day. This rest day is Sunday, which is widely known as “The Lord’s Day”. The other Genesis story takes only a day, where man was created first, then came plants and animals, and then finally woman was created. In both of these Genesis stories, it has God creating the world we live in today. Now, the Iroquois creation story believes that there are many God’s that came with everything already created. The story begins with a woman falling from the sky and landing on a turtle’s shell which had the world created. At first, the world was just water, but as the turtle came about and such, his shell grew into the world we know today. The two Genesis stories and the Iroquois creation stories give the people something to live for.

The similarities in this story are very general but tell the readers more about the story than comparing the differences do. One similarity is that both accounts have a set of twins that represent good and evil. In the Iroquois creation story, “Enigorio” represents good and “Enigonhahetgea” represents evil (33). Like the Iroquois story, the two Genesis stories has good versus evil represented through Cain and Abel. According to Genesis, at the beginning there was no such thing as evil meaning murder, robbery, rape etc. In the Iroquois creation story, there is clearly evil as shown in the pregnant woman. The way the Iroquois see it, there has to be an equal amount of evil to balance out the good which creates harmony. Genesis followers see it differently, they believe that the world is already balanced because there’s no room for evil anywhere. In both accounts, good versus evil plays a key role in the development of the world. As this relationship develops, this is first time people believe that humans saw sin enter the earth. The way the creation stories see it, without this happening there would be no purpose to life in a sense that it would essentially be boring. It’s intriguing how the Native Americans had no idea about God, but their creation stories implement the same God-like elements similar to the bible.

A difference between the two stories is how animals are depicted. In the Genesis stories, animals are implemented into the world by God so that humans can eat them. In the Iroquois creation story, animals are in the story because they have spiritual roles. These roles include things such as protecting mankind and helping them as well. For example, in the Iroquois story, when the woman is dropping down from the sky all of the creatures gather around to watch the “Sky Woman” come down. This shows that these creatures were here all along and that spiritually they are on the same levels as humans.

In conclusion, both stories may seem different, but through critical analysis they have similar key points. These key points help the people involved in the culture have something to look up to. It is significant for cultures to have these stories because it is crucial to know exactly where you came from.

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