Comparing Cherokee And Lakota Creation Stories - 1721 Words

A Comparison of the Cherokee and Lakota Creation Stories Joshua J. Vanderstigchel HIST223 History of the American Indian Tamrala Swafford American Military University 08 July 2017 A Comparison of the Cherokee and Sioux Creation Stories There are many cultures throughout the world, and each has its’ own creation story, and many of them are very similar; however the creation stories of the First Nations’ People are some of the most magical. These stories not only tell how the world was created, but give a glimpse into who the Cherokee and Lakota were, and their views of the relationship between human beings and creation, and human beings and animals. The Cherokee and Lakota creation stories are similar in many ways, but each has†¦show more content†¦The Lakota being the biggest of the three, are from the Great Plains, and are what most people imagine when they hear the term â€Å"Indian†, with feathers in their hair, riding on horseback chasing buffalo, and living in tepees. However, they didn’t always live on the plains, the Ojibwa had pushed them out of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and onto the plains area. Their society was patriarchal with each tiyospaye, their family unit, having a man as the head. The Lakota were also polygamists, taking several wives. Duties and responsibilities of each family member were generally based on sex and age. The men were the hunters, the women were responsible for camp duties, and the children were helpers, doing small tasks like gathering fuel for fire. The Lakota were very prosperous until the near annihilation of the buffalo by the Americans. This and land encroachment by pioneers due to U.S. government policies started the â€Å"Indian Wars†. A famous Lakota during these wars was the Chief Sitting Bull who defeated General Custer at The Battle of Little Bighorn. Eventually, the Lakota had all their land, including their sacred Black Hills, was taken from them and were placed on reservations. On the reservations they had to deal with ever changing federal policies that forbid sacred practices