Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: Historical or Public Health Issue?
Indigenous Nations each have their own iteration of how the world was created. Robin Wall Kimmerer opens her book Braiding Sweetgrass with the oral tradition of Skywoman. As Skywoman falls from Skyworld, geese work together to catch her fall in the darkness, and a great turtle offers his shell as a place of refuge until the animals can find a home for Skywoman. Loon, Otter, Beaver, and Sturgeon each dive below the darkness to see what they can find for Skywoman. Muskrat, the weakest diver, offers his services to help the human. And even though Muskrat’s lifeless body returns to the surface, his tiny hand is clamped around mud. Skywoman takes this mud and spreads it over the Turtle’s back, thus creating ᏧᏴᏢ ᎠᎹᏰᏟ (tsuyvtlv amayetli/Turtle Island) and Earth. Skywoman brought a bundle of plants and trees with her from Skyworld, and she planted them in the mud to sustain life. source: http://christibelcourt.com/ For the Cherokee Nation, our creation story begins when...