Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians

350 Pages·2002·0.866 MB·English

by  Bill Grantham

Creation Myths and Legends
of the Creek Indians
Copyright 2002 by Bill Grantham. This work is li-
censed under a modified Creative Commons Attribu-
tion-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
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Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola
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Creation Myths and Legends
of the Creek Indians
Bill Grantham
University Press of Florida
Gainesville ·Tallahassee ·Tampa ·Boca Raton
Pensacola ·Orlando ·Miami ·Jacksonville ·Ft. Myers
Copyright 2002 by Bill Grantham
Printed in the U.S.A. on acid-free, TCF (totally chlorine-free) paper
All rights reserved
07 06 05 04 03 02 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grantham, Bill.
Creation myths and legends of the Creek Indians / Bill Grantham.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8130-2451-X (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Creek mythology. 2. Creek Indians—Folklore. 3. Legends—Southern States.
I. Title.
E99.C9 G68 2002
398.2’089’973—dc21 2001041580
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic
University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida
State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of
North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611–2079
http://www.upf.com
In memory of William Jefferson Grantham, Jr., 1934–1999
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Part I. Beliefs and Ritual
1. The Role of Mythology 3
2. Cosmogony 14
3. Creek Cosmology 21
4. Souls 38
5. Spiritual Specialists 45
6. Miscellaneous Beliefs 50
7. Sacred Plants or Medicines 55
8. Sacred Time and Space 63
9. Ceremony and Ritual 68
10. Conclusions 83
Part II. Myths and Legends
11. Earth Diver Myths 89
12. Emergence Myths 106
13. Migration Legends 134
14. Relationships Between the Tribes 159
15. Journeys into the Sky World 167
16. Visitors from the Sky World 188
17. Snake Man Legends 199
18. Man-Eating Birds 228
19. Tobacco and Corn: Sacred Plants to the Creeks 235
20. Contemporary Creek Myths and Legends 254
Appendix of Sources 277
Phonetic Guides 285
Glossary of Creek Words 289
Glossary of Geographical Locations 295
Notes 301
Bibliography 313
List of Stories by Author 319
List of Stories by Cultural Group 323
Index 327
Preface
In my own search for an understanding of Creek mythology and cosmol-
ogy, I realized that no single work existed that encompassed the entire
corpus of information available. The myths and legends collected here
were published in ethnographies, magazines, travelers’ accounts, and a
variety of other formats, many of which have become obscure. This work
brings together for the first time an extensive collection of Creek creation
myths and migration legends in a format that allows the reader to com-
pare the myths and legends and to retrieve information from them easily.
It is my hope that historians, anthropologists, folklorists, and students of
religion will find this work a useful reference and that people of Creek
descent will find it an accurate repository of their myths, legends, and
religious heritage.
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