<p style="text-align: justify">It is a frightfully common event that a piece of human history is lost to the rush that mankind undertakes toward the future and the promises that it holds. A prime example of this even throughout the twentieth century has been the lack of interest in the Native American civilizations which had already been all but stomped out by the speedy advance of Western civilization, living on mostly in the remaining descendants of their family lines and the studies of the harried archaeologists trying to archive and understand the ways of the people of the New World and share those ways with the rest of us, lest they disappear altogether. In its march forward toward broader horizons, mankind sometimes fails to further explore ideas that did not make the cut, often not because of a lack of those ideas’ potential, but due to the aggressive ambition of others and a number of other environmental and social mitigating factors, as is commonly thought to have been the case with the Native Americans. To prevent the loss of these important ways of thinking, it is of paramount importance that mankind make an effort to take on the responsibility of maintaining and exploring those schools of thought and cultural ideas that have fallen to the wayside – this can be done, in the case of Native Americans, by maintaining their oral traditions and learning the context of their civilization. The creation story of the Potawatomi peoples should be preserved because it is one such oral tradition.<!--more--></p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Little is known regarding the actual date of the original version of this tale. The original date of publication of the bulletin from which the version that this paper will be referring to was January 22<sup>nd</sup>, 1927 (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 3); however, the story was obviously conceived in some form at a much earlier time. As with many Native American stories, the Potawatomi creation myth is one that was passed down orally through generations, making it difficult to trace the origins of the story – however, the people themselves are well-enough documented that some things can be said of the context in which the story was originally spoken.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;padding-left: 30px">As for the story itself, it first tells of a world with nothing but water – on that water sat a man in a canoe, crying. A muskrat floated up and asked him what was wrong, and he said that he could not find any land. The muskrat told him that there was land below the water, and he asked it to bring the land to him. When it did, he asked if it would bring its kin and help him build the land above the water. It did so, and he began to knead and shape the world into an island as it pleased him.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;padding-left: 30px">Over time, he eventually built himself a home and planted brush, and made places for the animals, and made another island to the south. One day he discovered people on his island, and they were the Potawatomis. He introduced himself to them as Wi’saka, and they realized that he was the Great Spirit. He gave them utensils and taught them to construct houses and live off of the land, and further populated the world with animals. (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 3, 332 – 333)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">What is known of the Potawatomi peoples is that in the early 1600’s A.D., they were living as or related to the Dumaw Creek people of west-central Michigan, A semi-settled prairie civilization that lived in square barken wigwams, called <i>onikakumuk</i> or <i>ptastiaka</i>, in the summer, growing corn and pumpkins as well as fishing and hunting. They would set up smaller temporary camps of circular bark-and-mat wigwams, called <i>pukukan</i>, in the winter and search for food in the surrounding areas (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 2, 268 – 269). They are also known to have engaged in trade with other tribes from across the continent of North America. They spoke the Algonquian language shared by the Chippewa and Ottawa peoples who are said to share ancestry with them. They kept an alliance with these people that was symbolized by a council fire, and were thus called the Keepers of the Fire, or the Fire Nation. That is a brief picture of the Potawatomis before firearms introduced by Dutch traders to the east via the Iroquois unbalanced tribal conflicts and caused the Potawatomis to be uprooted from their original places of living. (Edmunds, 3 – 5)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The tale itself is typical of ancient religious stories in that the religious doctrine states that the universe began blank and was formed by a powerful entity/entities that lived there and, in this case, ancient animals that served said entity. The story does also reference a higher plane, from which the Potawatomis on the island are said to have descended to join Wi’saka. (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 3, 333) The folklore contains one such Elysian-type plane, as well as an underworld, and these worlds have rulers and inhabitants, not unlike many early and modern polytheistic religions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">In particular, typical of Native American traditions, the earth (<i>Pamuk-Kumiges</i>: Laid-out-for-us), the sun or Great Spirit (<i>Wa’puka</i>: Power-of-the-Power), fire (<i>Skutao’</i>: Fire; or <i>Meshonsenon</i>: Grandfather), water (<i>N’bish</i>: Water; or <i>Ketci-kumi</i>: The Ocean), are all worshiped as deities. There are Thunderbirds in the sky (<i>Wamigohuk</i> or <i>Nem’kihuk</i>) who destroy evil Water-Panthers in the sea (<i>Nampe’shiu</i>, or <i>Nampe’shik</i>), and finally, mentioned in the story above, there is Wi’saka, the Culture Hero – the deified man who taught humans to live on the earth and have culture. (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 1, 46 – 48) Additionally, there is an afterlife and a punishment for wickedness, in that wicked people cannot escape the grave for several years, and murderers may not ever leave their grave. (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 1, 52) All of these things are typical of most religious stories or, if not, at least of most Native American stories.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">When put into comparison with the Greek creation myth, which is potentially far more ancient but theologically comparable all the same, a few similarities and contrasts appear. Firstly, the Greek story according to Hesiod contains the same basic building blocks – a pre-existing plane with an earth and a few ancient and established forces with a motive to build the world; Chaos, Gaia, and Eros, respectively; as well as a high plane, which was Chaos itself, and a low plane of Tartaros.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The fundamental differences between the stories consist of the fact that in the Greek story, the desire to procreate was the impetus which created the world, whereas in the Potawatomi story it was a desire to have a homeland. In addition to this, in the Greek story it was an unthinking interaction of forces in the universe which brought about the life of the gods which inhabited it, whereas in the Potawatomi tale it was the desires of a single powerful being and his cohorts. (Hard, 21 - 24)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The story itself is unique in that it specifically contains a genesis for the land and its animals and plants, but there is no reference to a creator of the oceans or the creatures within it, or the sky or the people – all of these things pre-existed indefinitely. Additionally, Wi’saka is presented as a man who is capable of becoming sad; indeed, the story begins with him crying in his canoe. In essence, the lands were created because the primeval god wanted a place to live with his companions. It presents the muskrats as essentially being people who communicated with this primeval god and did him favors, as if they were his friends. (Skinner, The Mascoutens, Part 3, 332 – 333)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">This creation story was once a central part of the religion of a thriving society, but today there are few, if any, who continue to follow the religious traditions of the Potawatomi peoples. This is partially due to the efforts of French Jesuits who made a concerted attempt to convert the peoples of Green Bay, where the Potawatomis had become prominent in the late 1600’s, and met with some degree of success. (Edmunds, 7 – 9) Much later, there was the influence of Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa, who converted many young Potawatomis, including Main Poc, who was a legendary Potawatomi general. (Edmunds, 165 – 166) Undoubtedly, though, the overarching encroachment of whites upon lands owned by natives, as well as the selling of lands owned by natives, be it fair or fraudulent, in the 1800’s (Edmunds, 241 – 275) was a main contributor to the later dwindling of the influence of the tribal culture on its people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The story and related works of folklore and religion are significant in that they are representative of a way of thinking that is all but lost in modern society. The legend is one that bears reminder of those old times and values from which Native Americans and, in varying degrees of separation, all of humankind used to hold dear. It is a beautiful and simple tale that carries with it the wisdom and worldview of a people who lived within their means long before it was pressingly evident that mankind needs to do so. Additionally, its historical context provides a cautionary tale of failures to communicate, and the effects of the efforts of the aggressively ambitious on those who live within the smaller spaces of the world.</p>
<p style="text-align: center" align="center"><i><span style="text-decoration: underline">Works  Cited</span></i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Skinner, Alanson. <i>The Mascoutens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians, Part 1, Social Life and Ceremonies</i>. Milwaukee: Literary Licensing, 2011. Print.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">-          An in-depth description of the social makeup of Potawatomi society; useful for studies of the living conditions, religious underpinnings and other social information about the Potawatomis</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify">Skinner, Alanson. <i>The Mascoutens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians, Part 2, Notes on the Material Culture</i>. Milwaukee: Literary Licensing, 2011. Print.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">-          An in-depth description of the living conditions and physical industry of the Potawatomi peoples; was helpful in understanding and describing the Potawatomi villages.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify">Skinner, Alanson. <i>The Mascoutens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians, Part 3, Mythology and Folklore</i>. Milwaukee: Literary Licensing, 2011. Print.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">-          A series of recounts of Potawatomi folklore and legend, which contains the actual Potawatomi creation myth</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify">Edmunds, R. David. <i>The Potawatomis, Keepers of the Fire</i>. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. Print.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">-          A lengthy, in-depth description of the history of the Potawatomi peoples, beginning in the 1700’s and ending in the late 1800’s with the removal of the Potawatomis to their reserves; was useful for all specific historical information regarding the movements of the tribesmen</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify">Hard, Robin. <i>The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology</i>. London: Routledge, 2004. eBook.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">-         A book of information about Greek mythology; was used for references to the Greek creation myth</p>