Daniel Menendez, Genesis

The Genesis and Native Americans view on creation are very related. For example, In Genesis when it speaks of God being all powerful the beliefs of the Indians were the same. The Indians view on creation was much more in depth than the genesis story. In the Genesis story when the speak of God creating night and day there is a part in the native americans story very similar. They speak of the west as night and the east as yellow or day. The simalriaties of two very different cultures on the creation story are very close. The native americans speak of the 7 days and everything God created in the Genesis story matches up with the seven direction story of the natives.

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Kylie's Comparisons

Both of the Jewish culture and the Sioux Indian culture were closely related. They were both fairly monotheistic, and they both believed in a God that was all powerful and created everything. For example, the book of Genesis states that God created all of the land, ocean, sky, along with all of the life that inhabits those. The Seven Directions also state that God created all of these things as well, just in different terms. Where the book of Genesis says that God created light and called the light day and the dark night, the Seven Directions uses east with yellow to describe light and west with night to describe dark. Both mean exactly the same, but are stated in different ways.
Where Genesis just says that God gave us life, the Seven Directions go more in depth with the living spirit he gave to us as humans. He bestowed upon us adolescence, understanding, learning, and a spiritual being. Those all tie in with our mental, physical and emotional beings.
This God that both the Plains Indians and the Jewish people believed in took an active role in their lives. They both worshipped him and were believed to be in communication with him. He took an active role in their lives and they believed he controlled their destiny. The fact that these two amazingly different, yet so much alike cultures could exist never knowing one another is fascinating. It is quite obvious that the God they both believed in was the same.

The Native American story of the seven directions and the Genesis story of God creating the world in seven days are very close in meaning. The Genesis version use the seven days which is a world used in the bible very often to mean a very long time. On the other hand the Native American story use the number seven in the number of directions of creations. This by itself make the stories very close. The number seven in both of these stories could be looked at as a coincidence, but if it is why are did they both pick the number seven? It could also be looked at however as they both came from similar journey's to freedom and therefore the number seven in both stories means the same thing, that is, a long time. However there are more similarities then that. Both stories also have the same core message behind them. They both bring up the idea that God, or some being no matter what the name is, created the world a piece at a time and made it in their image. This is all the readers of these stories are looking for when they read this. Most people want to know that they have someone taking care of them and that they are loved. And if you take out all the specific details of the two stories you get that same idea. This shows the amazing likeness's of the stories just by their theme's. The Theme of a story is all that anyone reads a story for anyway. The details keep the readers interest but the theme is what the reader gets out of the story. Because of this the opinion can be drawn that the Native American and the Genesis readers are reading the same thing and there for believe the same things. This shows that there is not much difference in the idea about creation between the Native Americans and the Christians.

Two Creation Stories

There are numerous similarities between the Genesis creation story and the Native American creation story, not only from a religious stand point. The fact that the number 7 is used in the Native American story is very strange. Two civilizations, thousands of miles apart, use the same symbolic figures and numbers. The number 7 is used throughout the bible to represent long periods of time, and now we see that number used in other civilizations throughout the world. In the Genesis story, God created the world in seven days, creating day and night, the sun and moon, plants, animals, oceans, and finally, humans. In the Native American story, we see the seven directions creating these same things. There is a scary connection or resemblance between the two stories, one that shows the universality of religion and faith. It is very odd to see two extremely different societies with so many similar beliefs, from thousands of miles apart. Their major belief is that there is one God or Figure ruling over all the world, caring for it's people.

Native American genesis comparison- Marina

The Jewish people and the Native Americans are probably the two most influential groups that helped shape the way people think and believe today. The centers of their faith, the way and who created the world are practically similar which strengthens the monotheistic faith. Two completely diff rent cultures agree on the most important issue that ever and will exist.
The first chapter of Genesis consists of the Creation story. One God created everything spectacular around us. The sky, darkness, water, and the sun ere evenly distributed in creation over seven days. The Native Americans believed in an almost exact creation story. One God did it all as well. The distribution was the only difference. They believed that God created one of seven directions, a day. Theses directions consist of east, south, north, west, the earth and everything above and below it, and the divine spirit that was a gift from God to all. The number seven brings both groups to believe that there is a God that can do it all and all in seven days.

The most important similarity the Native Americans and the Jewish shared was their monotheistic belief. They only worshiped one God, the one maker of the world. There was and incident in Exodus that the Jewish people tested God by making an idol made of gold after God rescued them from Egypt. It caused Moses to furiously break the ten Commandments because of the Jewish ungratefulness and disrespect to God. They learned and God forgave them, and the mistake was not repeated again. The Native Americans believed that there was only one divine being that could create such life. Their beliefs centered around it and were passed on from generation to generation. From Abraham to Moses, and from many Native American tribes to more and more ones.

The Jewish believed that they were created in God's image. In Genesis 1:27 it says, "So God created man in his own image, the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." That means God gave the human the most power on earth. It also says in Genesis 1:26, "then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, ^[b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground." The Native Americans dominated the earth. The hunted and fished feeling like they were the most powerful creatures of God. They really made the most of the power. They may not read the Old Testament as much as the Jewish but they are aware of God's blessing to man and make the most of it.

Two completely different cultures are brought together under one God and the gift of life. The different cultures is what makes the diversity all over the world and the same beliefs is what makes the strong faith that God deserves from us.

Native American-Genesis Comparison

Native Ameircan-Genesis comparison Aravind Reddy

      The story in the Bible and the story of 7 Directions are noticeably similar. In the Bible, the story is about how God created the Earth in seven days. The first day God created light and dark to contrast each other. The second day, God created water and separated them in different areas. In the third day, dry land appeared and the first plants were beginning to grow. In the fourth day, god created the sun and the moon and all the planetary stars. God then created birds and sea creatures in great abundance on the fifth day. The sixth day is marked with God creating man and various types of other animals. The seventh day, also known as the Sabbath day, is when God rested. In the Native American story, there are seven directions (North, South, East, West, Above, Below and the Divine Spirit) that represent the creation of animals and all those things that are talked about in the Genesis story. This is very unusual because these two stories have the same message, but their cultures were on different continents. This also explains that both of these cultures probably have similar worldwide views that have resulted in similar religious beliefs. It is also important to note that both cultures had similiar nomadic experiences that might be an explanation for the same message of one God.

Both stories follow through the same message that one God or one being created this earth and controls everything that occurs on earth. God has the sole power in both of these cultures which explains why their belief is similar and the way their belief is constructed is also very similar. Since both Catholics and the Native Americans believe in one god, it is then logical to say that they follow the same God, but maybe be under different names. This is why it is so amazing to see that two cultures, thousands of miles apart, believed in the same message and faith. However, this proves the point of universality and explains why the story of Genesis and the story of the seven directions are the same, in different forms.