Native American - Genesis Comparison

The Old Testament of the Bible provides a short history of the Jewish people. These experiences-conquests, slavery, famine, genocide-sharply differentiate the Jews from the Sioux. Although life in the Great Plains was not entirely peaceful, the various tribes of Sioux were never organized into nation states, nor did they develop large urban centers or any major agricultural sites. The Sioux and the Jews were separated by oceans and continents. These two cultures were worlds apart.
However, the Plains Indians of North America and God’s chosen people were closer than you might think. Both cultures were semi monotheistic and believed in an all powerful God. This God actively intervened in worldly affairs, influencing everything from the weather and animal herds to war and trade. This God gave man a special role in the world: he was given power over living things and was encouraged to subdue the world around him.
The creation stories of the Jews and the Sioux are very similar. The Jewish version is summarized by the book of Genesis. Within seven days, God created the universe and everything in it. He forms the Earth populates it with plants and animals. Finally, He creates man, fills him with His spirit and gives him dominion over the new creation.
In the Sioux creation story, one God again creates the heavens and the earth. The main difference between the two is that the Sioux creation story is not anchored within a definite timeline but in directions. North, South, East, West and other directions represent specific facets of creation. Coincidentally, there are seven directions (North, South, East, West, Above, Below and the divine spirit) in the Sioux story, compared with seven days in the Jewish version.
These similarities are striking. Two cultures that are separated by much of the planet independently develop religious beliefs that are analogous to one another. How could this have happened in a world where the fastest communication and transportation was on the back of an animal?
One explanation is that the Sioux and the Jews have two different interpretations of the same truth. Moses composed the book of Genesis. His experiences in Egypt and as the leader of the Jewish people would definitely differentiate his worldview from that of a peasant farmer in southern China. Likewise, the experiences of the Sioux people-the migration from Siberia to North America, tribal life, a nomadic hunter existence-shaped a much different worldview than Moses’. Neither the traditional Jewish creation story or Sioux beliefs are intrinsically wrong; they are the way two very different peoples, using the same information, have tried to explain their existence.