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The Creation section presents a short animated introduction of the Iroquois Creation Story. It is the story of how the Iroquois, the Haudenosaunee or People of the Longhouse, believe their world, Turtle Island, came to be. It is an "In the beginning..." story. Most cultures have a "creation" story, that is, some explanation of how the world came to be, of how man came to be, and of his place in the universe. These explanations are often symbolical and metaphorical.
Creation stories are often referred to as myths. "Myth" is a term that has several meanings. Sometimes "myth" is used to simply mean something that is not "true". It is sometimes used in a different sense. A "myth" being a traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with an historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, and religious rites of a people.
The expectations of presenting the Iroquois Creation story is to provide some understanding and insight into how the Iroquois peoples view the world - its beginnings and their place in it. From this understanding, others may gain an appreciation of the Iroquois Creation story as a different order of truth from a scientific explanation of how the world began. And also to promote an appreciation of all creation stories, in general, as a repository of the values, attitudes, beliefs, hopes and fears of a people. Considered in this light, the Iroquois Creation story is "true", even though it is untrue as a scientific account of creation. Just as other cultures believe in the "truth" of their creation stories, so do the Iroquois. The Haudenosaunee do not refer to their story of creation as a "myth". They call it the Creation Story. They believe in it. Their belief in its truth gives it great force in their lives.
The Creation Story was handed down from generation to generation in the oral tradition, since the Iroquois had no formal written language. There are a number of versions of this story, but all the versions have a common core. When compared to creation stories from other cultures, there are also many similarities.
For more information on Creation, see Creation - Text
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