I decided to focus on the Native American's relationship and beliefs with and about the rainbow. Though all Native Americans seemed to have different ideas about what the rainbow represented or how it came to be, they all considered it sacred. I will be talking about a few of the myths that I have uncovered and then what I believe the rainbow meant to Native Americans in general.
The first myth I will be discussing is the prophechy of the "Warriors of the Rainbow." The propechy was first told by a Cree woman named Eyes of Fire. She told of a time where the earth would be ravaged due to the American's Yo-ne-gis, greed, and mankind would start to fade. Rivers would turn black, streams would be poisoned and deer would die unexplainably. She told of how right before it all ended that the natives would have to teach the white men what was right and together they would become the Warriors of the Rainbow. These "warriors" job was to spread the message of justice, peace, and freedom and of the "Great Spirit". After they succeeded them elohi, the way of the earth, would be restored. It was also told that not any one could be a Warrior of the Rainbow, but that they would have to be just and pure in their intentions and would be chosen for the duty by the Great Spirit themself.
Though this propechy is quite old, it is actually not dead. While searching for more about it I found one of those, "the world is ending in 2012" websites that actually posted an article about how some Natives believe that the time for the Warriors of the Rainbows is arising and all of the natural disasters that seem to be occuring is a sign. I did not particularly like how the site was using these people's beliefs to further their goal of convincing all that the world is ending because it seemed like they honestly did not think much of the prophecy as more than another symbol pointing to how we knew the end was coming for quite a while.
Another interesting myth I found was the story of the Rainbow Crow which has been adapted into multiple children's books. The story talks about this beautiful rainbow crow who was part of this group of animals. Where it lived there had been great snowfall and though the animals seemed to enjoy it at first, they soon began to start getting sick due to the intense cold. The council of animals met up to see who would go to the Creator to tell her about what was happening and since no others could go due to their personal faults, the perfect rainbow crow decided to make the three day long journey. When the crow made it there the Creator asked the bird to sing and sing it did with the most beautiful singing voice of all of the other birds. After it sang, the bird told of how the animals were unable to withstand the cold so the Creator gave the bird a branch with a fire on it and told it to hurry becuase if the branch burned out, so fire would too. The crow flew as fast as it could back to save the animals but on its way, the bird's tail caught on fire and it inhaled smoke so as it fell back to earth it's rainbow feathers became black and its singing voice turning into unappealing cawing. The bird looked upon itself in despair but as it saw the animals surrouding the fire it decided it was worth it. The Creator then came down and told the crow that she had made it so that no one would want to eat the crow due to it tasting of smoke and no one would put it in a cage and make it sing for them. The last gift the poor crow got was that on the inside, its feathers shined the colors of the rainbow as a symbol to show what it had given up for the other animals. This myth uses the rainbow as a medal of honor connecting it to the other side where the Great Spirit (aka The Creator) is located.
The final piece of information I found is not exactly a myth but is a rock formation that a few Native American tribes that lived by it believed it to be the sacred "Rainbow Bridge". The rainbow bridge is literally a bridge made of a rainbow that the Natives believed led them to the other side and in an area of isolated canyons at the base of Navajo Mountain, there happens to be a rock structure that resembles a rainbow that the Natives believed to be this bridge's form for the living's eyes. This formation had been though of as sacred for centuries for the tribes that lived near there including the Hopi and the Navajo Indians. Through the years the Natives have had to fight to keep this formation preserved and respected and today it is a protected monument and the National Park Service just asks visitors to be respectful of the people who have considered it sacred for a few years.
I believe the Natives believed the Rainbow to be something that connected them to the other side, the Rainbow Bridge was literally just that. The Rainbow was not just a light prism that reflected off of something to make pretty colors in the sky after rain but a true symbol of their beliefs. The Natives believed that the Rainbow connected the earth to their beyond and everytime they saw one it was meant to be an honor to have recieved a gift from the Creator.
2012 Rising National Park Service Native Languages
Nice work Amal! You did a really great job of supporting and explaining the different legends associated with rainbows.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog! It was a very interesting and original topic. I love that you incorporated the rainbow into your paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI love the myths you shared and how you made each paragraph a different color of the rainbow!
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful critique of the way a Native American myth has been "used" by others. You did a great job of expanding your focus when your initial choice of a topic became too limiting. Thank you for your research and discussion here.
ReplyDelete