Origin of Living Creatures (South American myth)
The "Origin of Living Creatures" is a myth from the Arawak tribes of South America, particularly associated with the sacred ceiba tree, which plays a central role in their creation narrative. In this story, the high god known as the Mighty One sits atop the ceiba and observes the world, realizing it lacks life. To remedy this, he causes the tree to grow, allowing its bark and twigs to fall into the surrounding earth, sea, and sky. This debris brings forth various forms of life, including fish, birds, and animals, while humans are also created from the tree's materials and are uniquely helped by the Mighty One to stand upright.
The narrative highlights the harmonious relationship between early humans and animals, where neither harms the other. However, the arrival of Wadili, the first Arawak man, transforms this dynamic as he teaches hunting and other survival skills, leading to the Arawaks' growth and dominance. This myth reflects the Arawaks' reverence for the ceiba tree, which is also significant in other indigenous cultures, such as the Mayans, symbolizing a connection between different realms of existence. The story is part of a broader oral tradition that has faced challenges due to historical conflicts and colonization, which impacted the Arawak population and their cultural legacies.
Origin of Living Creatures (South American myth)
Author: Traditional Arawak
Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE
Country or Culture: South America
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
Beneath the sacred ceiba (or silk cotton) tree, wise old men tell a story of how the moon, sun, earth, sky, and sea all stand before the high god, the Mighty One. The Mighty One looks at them with pride, having created them. While all of the natural wonders he brought into the world are beautiful and tranquil—evidenced by the sound of waves gently breaking on the beach and the light, gentle breezes overhead—the Mighty One feels that there is something missing. There is no life, he observes, while sitting atop the komaka (ceiba tree). There is no movement in the bushes. There are no bird songs. The Mighty One decides to bring life into the world.
Still sitting in a throne atop the ceiba, he causes the tree to grow. It grows so high it reaches upward into the clouds. Spread out all around the foot of the ceiba are the earth, sea, and sky. The great god waves his hand, and bark and twigs begin to fall from the tree, falling all over the air and land around it. Wherever the pieces fall—on the land, the water, and in the air—new life starts to appear. In the waters, fish begin to swim around where the twigs have come to rest. In the air, the debris makes colorful birds. On the solid ground, different beasts and reptiles begin to appear. The earliest humans also appear from this falling bark and tree debris. However, the Mighty One, using his great hand, helps the people rise and stand upright. This special act makes people distinct from the other animals that were created from the sacred ceiba tree.
In this new world, humans do not hunt the other animals, nor do the animals inflict any harm upon the people. The early humans eat the fruit from the trees and drink only water. The beasts and the birds play with human children, as the people do not take the animals’ lives for food. However, over time, a new human, the first of the Arawaks, comes into the world. Wadili, as he is known, encounters the women living in this new world. Falling in love with them, Wadili takes them as his brides, thus siring the entire Arawak people. He also teaches his fellow humans how to hunt, fish, and domesticate the animals. With the arrival of Wadili, the Arawaks begin to multiply and take a dominant role in the new world created by the Mighty One and his sacred ceiba.
SIGNIFICANCE
The legend of the ceiba tree is part of the tradition of the Arawak tribes, indigenous peoples who occupied much of the West Indies, including what is now Haiti and Guiana. The Arawaks were among the tribes that Christopher Columbus and his crew encountered during their voyages to the New World. Much of the Arawak population was eradicated—both by conflict with rival tribes, such as the Caribs, and under the rule of Spanish colonizers. Because most Arawaks were wiped out, it has proven difficult for experts to piece together their religious traditions and mythologies. However, many stone artifacts have been unearthed in the region, and Arawak legends and myths were handed down via oral tradition.
This story describes the actions of the Awaraks’ highest god, who sits atop a ceiba tree and creates all living things. As is the case with many of the traditions of other indigenous tribes of Latin America, this god—the Mighty One—possesses great power over the natural world. However, he does not demonstrate any characteristics that distinguish him from other gods, known as zemi. In this story, the focus is not on the Mighty One but on what he creates from the debris of the ceiba tree.
The ceiba tree is held sacred by many Latin American tribes. The Mayas believed that a great ceiba tree stood at the center of the earth, connecting the terrestrial world and the heavenly world of the spirits.
Although it varies in size and appearance from species to species, the ceiba is frequently a tall tree and has wide-reaching branches. Its distinctive appearance features prominently in many indigenous mythologies. In another Arawak myth, for example, this tree is broken open by a hero named Suko. The rupture releases an enormous flood that covers the world. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Arawaks (who, on the island of Hispaniola, were also known as Taino) was the fact that they used the wood of the ceiba tree for the construction of their canoes, which they used to travel throughout the West Indies and to the mainland.
The story’s focus on the father of the Arawaks, Wadili, is also significant. This individual gives the humans that were created by the falling ceiba debris a distinctive set of characteristics. Following his arrival, the humans with whom he interacts evolve to become hunters and begin to dominate the other living creatures of the earth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brett, William Henry, comp. and ed. “Origin of Living Creatures (Legend of the Ceiba Tree).” Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indian of British Guiana. London: Gardner, 1880. 7–8. Print.
Corbett, Bob. “Arawak/Taino Native Americans.” Pre-Columbian Hispaniola. Webster U, Feb. 2009. Web. 26 May 2013.
Lankford, George E. Native American Legends of the Southeast. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2011. Print.
Roth, Walter E. “Creation of Man, Plants, and Animals.” An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians. Washington: GPO, 1915. 141–48. Print.
---. “No Evidence of Belief in a Supreme Being.” An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians. Washington: GPO, 1915. 117–18. Print.
Woodward, Catherine L. “The Ceiba Tree.” Ceiba.org. Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Preservation, 2010. Web. 12 July 2013.