THE EARTH ON TURTLE'S BACK!

First Thoughts...

This afternoon, I read the myth, The Earth on the Turtle's Back, told by Onondaga-Northeast Woodlands. In summary, the plot is a woman falls into a hole that results in her to land in another dimension. As a result, a group various animals attempt to fish the Earth from the bottom floor of the water source. Finally, the smallest animal of all, the muskrat, succeeds at getting the Earth and places it on the turtle's back as well as the women. Therefore, creating the start of life on Earth. In regards to myself, I was greatly fascinated by this story, it provided a strong message and was entertaining. Now, what is a myth exactly? A myth is a story told/written to explain a concept that we don't understand. In this case, the myth  was explaining the "Big bang theory", or in other words the way the Earth was created/started.  Throughout the story, the tribe uses entertainment tools like personification (amorphisation), suspense, stereotypes to keep the story moving. Overall, the  moral of the story is with determination and resilience you can succeed all, never underestimate the “underdog”, don’t judge a book by its cover, and etc. . Now, the purpose of the tribe telling this myth to their younger members to make the  youth learn to never give up, be stubborn, and have a strong sense of determination. To conclude, the myth was a creative way to teach the youth of the tribe a valuable life lesson.

*RECOMMENDATION*—Imagine yourself in a group of people circled around a fire in the night while, a storyteller is center by the fire!






Singing out,
Destiny G.