0.5 Notes on creek mythology

In this brief paper a few general conclusions and comparisons in regard to the mythology of the Creek Indians, now of Oklahoma, formerly of Georgia and Alabama, will be given. It may be said in the beginning that the different tribes of the Muskogian linguistic stock present in every branch of life many similarities to each other, so that we can rightly speak, geographically, of a Southeastern culture area including all the Muskogian tribes and the others of this region in the one large group.[1] The non-Muskogian tribes of the Southeast; namely, Yuchi, Cherokee, and Catawba, appear to conform closely to the type in general culture and, as far as is known, the same similarity is found in their mythology.

The characteristics of Creek and Southeastern mythology, generally speaking, do not present anything decidedly different from what is commonly found all over the continent. Nor do there appear to be any very specialized types of myth here which might warrant the assumption of a different trend of development. In conformity with the usual American type we find the idea of the culture hero to be quite prominent among the Creeks. Then, in addition, there is the usual class of animal myths, with some particular animal playing the part of trickster. In the present case the culture hero and animal trickster are entirely separate and distinct figures. Besides these tales, there is a miscellaneous class comprising what might be called boy hero tales, animal incidents, hunters' tales, quasi-historical and short explanatory myths setting forth in a few sentences the purely arbitrary reasons why such and such things occur in the natural world, or why this or that is done by certain animals.

The incidents of these Creek and Southeastern myths may be cognated with those of many neighboring and many distant tribes. Sometimes only the incidents resemble each other, sometimes only the characters in them, sometimes the motives, and sometimes all three elements appear cognate. Incidentally, it should be added, there are strong resemblances in some points between these American myths and European folk-tales, which similarities should not, of course, be attributed to any historical contact between the two areas. The underlying concepts in the actions of Creek mythology are unquestionably a part of the myth fabric of this continent. A few of the common Creek types which lend themselves favorably to classification and comparison will be given.

The genesis myth of the Creeks presents many similarities to that of neighboring tribes. Some divergences in detail, however, occur. As nearly everywhere, the Creeks conceive the universe to have been originally a waste of waters peopled by supernatural beings. From the depths of this ocean a little dirt was brought up by a crawfish who dived for it after several other animals had failed in the attempt. From this beginning the present earth was brought forth. The account of the animal diving for the earth is common to the Algonkin tribes northward from the Creeks, and it is also found in many distant American regions. Elsewhere we find variously the muskrat, beaver, duck, turtle, and frog, as the successful earth bringers.