Anishinabe Creation Story and Ojibway Creation - Essay Example

Teacher Essay Creation stories: Anishinabe creation story and Ojibway creation If one will closely examine the stories of creationby different religion, one will observe that they have similarities to one another. They may not be entirely similar but their story resembles with each other at some point or another that what is contested is no longer whether they are similar or not but rather the extent of their similarities. The story of creation that will be compared in this paper will be the Anishinable creation and the Ojibway creation story in the MIshomis book. The story of creation by Anishinable began with Kitche Manitou the Great Spirit who in His vision saw the universe and the earth and all therein contain. He found that it was good idea and decided to proceed to create them. He then made the earth and all things therein contained including man. It can be likened to the Christian Genesis of creation such as creation of the sea, animals, plants, insects and various creatures each day where Kitche Manitou created man on the last day. The creation of Man was special because he was given the power of dreams that set him apart from other creatures that would later prove his source of superiority and mastery over nature. The Mishomis book on the other hand also tells a creation story in the Ojibway creation in chapter one. The creation story in the Mishomis book differs in a manner that the earth is already created and treated as a woman where everything came from. From it came the animals and plants and all things and creatures therein contain. And finally, just like the Anishinable creation story and Bible’s Genesis of creation, man is created last. Taken together, the story of creation by Anishinable and Ojibway creation story would make up the genesis of the Christian Bible with only the names of the characters and circumstances that was changed. There are also some omissions in one creation story and that would be complemented by the other creation story. For example, the Anishinable creation story was extensive in creating the earth and all its creature each day but stopped short of telling what happened to man after creation. Kitche Manitou however gave him the power of dream. Anishinable resembled greatly with the seven days that the Christian God has created the universe and the earth to the extent that last of His creation is man. The Anishinable creation story has just added a twist with the creation of man that he was the weakest of all God’s creature but has the power of dreams. Of course we already know the application of this dream. This is not the dream we have when we are asleep but rather the power of imagination and intelligence that made us superior to all beings that made us on top of the food chain. Without this power of dream, we may have been extinct long time ago because we are one of the most frail of all creatures in this planet. The Anishinable creation story however is short of what happened to man. This shortage however was filled by the creation story of The Mishomis Book whereby man realized that he was the only creature without partner. There is a twist here because unlike the Christian Bible where God with all His Wisdom and might thought of creating man a partner because he is only, it is quite different in the Mishomis Book creation chapter. In Chapter 2 where Man Walks the Earth, it was man who asked God to make him a partner because he is the only creature of all the creatures that walk on the planet that has no partner. But instead of taking a portion of his rib to create a woman, God in the Mishomis Book creation story version, God sent him a wolf initially. Yes, a wolf just like in the big bad wolf story of Hansel and Gretel. But this wolf will accompany man and they will travel together until they became alike. It is like the Darwin’s evolution where the wolf became woman albeit the Mishomis Book creation story was not explicit that the woman is an outcome of the wolf’s evolution. It is because it may be confused with Ojibway creation story in the chapter 1 where the woman actually preceded man because the earth is actually a woman and man is just a product of a Sacred Shell with the creator’s breath and Four Sacred Elements. And again just like the Anishanable creation story and Christian Genesis, man is created last. Having read these stories made me realized that man’s understanding of the creation of his world and universe is universal albeit there may some little changes or omission and perhaps some twists but in principle they are almost the same. Other religion may be dismissive of the other forms of faith just like the Catholic religion which is a sect of the Christian religion branding non-Christians as pagans. Had this been the 18th to early 20th century, the concept of Kitche Manitou and the woman as the earth where all life blossoms in the Ojibway creation and the manner the universe are created may have been touted as sacrilegious and false. Moreso, the people who believed in this kind of system of faith may have been branded as pagans. And because this kind of faith has exotic name of their god and have a heavy attachment to nature such as the Ojibway creation story where mother earth is treated as a woman, the people who professed this kind of faith may have been branded as savages, uncivilized or natives. This has happened in history during the European conquests where they converted the “pagans” (in their eyes) to Christianity in their act to civilize them and make the savage tamed. This has happened in North America with the Native Indians, in Latin America, in the Philippines and elsewhere where Western European set foot to colonize. Religion is even used as a tool to subjugate the people they colonized and even viewing it as giving their captors favour even if the Europeans enslaved the people they colonized. This was done by the Spaniards to the Philippines and to other countries they colonized. And if the people will resist the conversion, they will be rebuked harshly and even threatened with physical punishment if not death. I think at some point, the Anishinabe creation story and Mishomis creation story experienced the same treatment from Catholic and some Christian fanatics of condescension as a pagan religion that worship false gods. I have said this because the history Catholicism is replete with intolerance to other system of faith that does not subscribe to their manner of faith. They are especially disdainful to faith that is based in nature such as Anishinabe creation story and Mishomis creation book. I can only imagine how the early catholic faith would react knowing that the gods were called Kitche Manitou and to some extent, a woman is a good because life blossomed from her. Name Teacher Class Date Essay 2 Creation stories: Anishinabe creation story and Ojibway creation The creation stories of Anishinabe and Ojibway creation in Mishomis book in essence complements each other that could make the Genesis portion of the Christian Bible. It is because what is lacking in the creation of Anishinable is filled up by Ojibway creation that if one will integrate them and ignore the nomenclature, one would even thought that it is the Genesis of the Christian Bible that they are reading. This would attest that our common faith in a Supreme Being makes our interpretation universal although we may call it with different names and the circumstances differ but in essence remains the same. Setting aside the intolerance of major religion to other system of faith, I believe that this similarity among various system of faith even if the other system of faith is not Abrahamic in origin, is due to the acknowledgement that there is a Supreme Being who created us all. Although we may have different way of understanding and telling the narrative of creation as what is illustrated in the Anishanable creation story and Ojibway creation story, the similarity cannot be avoided because we all acknowledge that there is a Supreme Being who created us. How else would He or She have created us in the first place? Is there any other manner other than the use divine inspiration and Omnipotent power? Gods do not need the intricacy of science nor have to explain methods which would have differed had it been case, but Gods created the universe, the earth and man in almost the same manner because it was created out of divine inspiration thus the similarities in the manner of creating them. Having said this, it is really pointless to argue whose version or story of creation is better or correct or whose God is the true God because it will not only lead to conflict but also a pointless exercise because almost all religion have similarity to a certain extent and that their story of creation also have similarities. Names, terms, places, circumstances and other subtle details may vary but in essence, all of them teaches the same thing which is to be good person, treat your neighbour kindly, live a moral life, seek peace and harmony, improve yourself etch. I am yet to stumble on a religion that teaches to hate our neighbour or to become a bad person. The narratives of different religion or system of faith may be different but in essence they are the same. And even if we consider other creation story, surely there will an intersection of similarities between them because the concept of creation and God is universal – that we are all created by a Supreme Being by His or Her Divine Inspiration and we all came from something be it the earth or the four winds of Heaven or from dust. That something may differ in rendition but essentially the same that God created our universe and our environment before creating us so that we may live. God is not only powerful but also has a common sense. He or She has to create the universe and the earth to provide the ecosystem that would later support life. If we are created first, then we will not survive because we do not have the environment that could support life. How would we eat if there are no plants and animals around us? Let alone breathe if there is earth, heavens and atmosphere created yet. I believe that no matter whose creation story will render creation or no matter what system of faith we will subscribe to, the manner that it will be told will be almost the same albeit there are some changes and omission to it such as names but they will be essentially the same – universe created first, then the earth and its various components such as heaven, seas, air and land that would support the life of plants and animals. Then man would be created last because the ecosystem that would support the fragile man is already created. It may be cruel and unfair to say, but most religion, especially those of Abrahamic origin, will treat the woman as an afterthought. This was evident in the Mishomis book of creation where the literal woman that is supposed to be the partner of man first came as a wolf and only evolved as a woman in her present form when they travelled together. Probably Darwin got his theory evolution from Ojibway creation story. Understanding different version of creation and in effect different religion makes us more tolerant to the belief of others. It is because learning other methods of faith makes us realize that what we believe in is more similar to other faith than it differs from them and that all of us has the tendency to believe that our faith is true which we should temper because it is dangerous. And just because other faiths differ from what we believe in, it does not necessarily mean that the belief of other people is wrong. For all we know, we may be believing in the same thing only that we call it with different names. The world is already replete with conflict of this nature and we ought to learn from that and no longer add to this conflict that originated from religion. I personally think that those who engage in conflict with other faiths and religion are those who have not studied other faiths. And to avoid it, we must all study other beliefs to widen our perspective and become tolerant of other beliefs and make this earth which God created a better place to live in for all of us. Read More