Last Updated: 10 years ago
The Apache peoples, deeply connected to the natural world, hold a profound reverence for animals, elements, the celestial bodies, and various natural phenomena. Aspects of existence that transcend their immediate understanding are often attributed to the supernatural, woven into a rich tapestry of beliefs and traditions. Central to this cultural framework is their unique creation narrative, a story passed down through generations, explaining the genesis of the world and the beings that inhabit it. This Apache Creation Story offers a fascinating glimpse into the Apache worldview, revealing their spiritual understanding of the universe and their place within it.
In the primordial void, before the dawn of time, there was nothing. An absolute and all-encompassing darkness reigned supreme. The earth, the sky, the sun, the moon – all were absent, nonexistent, lost in the infinite expanse of the pre-creation state. This was a time of pure potential, a blank canvas awaiting the touch of the divine.
From this profound darkness, a remarkable transformation began. A thin disc materialized, seemingly suspended in the void. One side of the disc glowed with a vibrant yellow hue, while the opposite side shone with a pristine white light. Within this ethereal disc sat a figure of immense importance: Creator, also known as the One Who Lives Above. He was depicted as a small man with a beard, suggesting wisdom and age. He appeared as if awakening from a deep slumber, his movements slow and deliberate as he rubbed his eyes and face with both hands, a gesture of re-emergence into existence.
As Creator’s gaze pierced the endless darkness, a response manifested in the form of light. Above him, light began to coalesce, a nascent dawn breaking through the eternal night. Looking downward, he saw the darkness transform into a sea of light, a radiant expanse mirroring the illumination above. To the east, streaks of yellow began to emerge, signaling the coming of a new day. To the west, a kaleidoscope of tints and colors painted the horizon, a breathtaking display of creation’s unfolding beauty. Clouds of various colors formed, adding depth and texture to the nascent sky.
Creator, now actively shaping the world, wiped his sweating face, a testament to the effort and energy required for his divine work. He rubbed his hands together, concentrating his power, and then thrust them downward. From this gesture, a shining cloud appeared, a platform for another being: a little girl.
"Stand up and tell me where are you going?" Creator asked, his voice echoing through the void. However, the girl remained silent, her origin and purpose shrouded in mystery. Creator, undeterred, rubbed his eyes once more, focusing his attention on the enigmatic figure. He then offered his right hand to the girl, who was known as Girl-Without-Parents, a name hinting at her unique and unexplained arrival.
As she grasped his hand, Girl-Without-Parents posed her own question, mirroring Creator’s initial inquiry. "Where did you come from?" she asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
"From the east where it is now light," Creator replied, stepping onto her cloud, joining her in this nascent world.
"Where is the earth?" she then asked, her quest for understanding continuing.
Creator responded with a counter-question: "Where is the sky?" He then began to sing, his voice filled with the power of creation. "I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next." This chant, repeated four times, held a significant meaning, as four was considered a magic number, representing completeness and balance in Apache cosmology.
Creator, continuing his work, brushed his face with his hands, rubbed them together, and then flung them wide open. From this act, Sun-God emerged, radiating warmth and light. Again, Creator rubbed his sweaty brow, and from his hands dropped Small-Boy, a youthful presence joining the divine assembly.
Now, all four gods – Creator, Girl-Without-Parents, Sun-God, and Small-Boy – sat in deep thought upon the small cloud, contemplating their next act of creation.
"What shall we make next?" Creator asked, voicing the collective thought. "This cloud is much too small for us to live upon." The need for a larger, more stable foundation became apparent.
In response to this need, Creator brought forth a series of beings and elements. He created Tarantula, a skilled spinner; Big Dipper, a celestial guide; Wind, a force of nature; Lightning-Maker, a controller of storms; and western clouds, designed to house Lightning-Rumbler, a being of thunder and power.
Creator then began to sing again, his voice resonating with the intention of creation. "Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, earth; I am thinking of the earth," he sang, repeating the chant four times, invoking the power of the magic number.
All four gods shook hands, their sweat mixing together, a symbol of their collective effort and shared purpose. Creator rubbed his palms together, and from this act, a small, round, brown ball emerged, no larger than a bean.
Creator kicked the ball, and it began to expand. Girl-Without-Parents then kicked the ball, causing it to enlarge even more. Sun-God and Small-Boy took turns giving it hard kicks, each kick further expanding the ball. Creator then commanded Wind to go inside the ball and inflate it.
Tarantula spun a black cord and attached it to the ball. He then crawled away fast to the east, pulling on the cord with all his strength. He repeated this process with a blue cord to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With these mighty pulls in each direction, the brown ball stretched to an immeasurable size, transforming into the earth. Initially, the earth was smooth and featureless, a vast, treeless, brown plain. No hills, mountains, or rivers were visible.
Creator scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers together, and Hummingbird appeared.
"Fly north, south, east, and west and tell us what you see," Creator instructed.
Upon his return, Hummingbird reported, "All is well. The earth is most beautiful, with water on the west side."
Despite its beauty, the earth was unstable, rolling and dancing up and down. To remedy this, Creator created four giant posts, each a different color – black, blue, yellow, and white – to support the earth. Wind carried the four posts and placed them beneath the four cardinal points of the earth, anchoring it in place. The earth sat still.
Creator sang, "World is now made and now sits still," repeating the phrase four times, solidifying the stability of the newly created world.
He then began a song about the sky. None existed yet, but he envisioned its presence. After singing about it four times, twenty-eight people appeared to help create the sky above the earth. Creator chanted about creating chiefs for the earth and sky, establishing a hierarchical order.
He sent Lightning-Maker to encircle the world. Upon his return, Lightning-Maker brought three uncouth creatures, two girls and a boy, found within a turquoise shell. These beings were incomplete, lacking eyes, ears, hair, mouths, noses, or teeth. They had arms and legs, but no fingers or toes.
Sun-God summoned Fly to build a sweathouse, a place of purification and transformation. Girl-Without-Parents covered it with four heavy clouds. In front of the east doorway, she placed a soft, red cloud to serve as a foot-blanket after the sweat.
Four stones were heated by the fire inside the sweathouse. The three uncouth creatures were placed inside. The others sang songs of healing on the outside until the sweat was finished. The three strangers emerged and stood upon the magic red cloud-blanket. Creator then shook his hands toward them, bestowing upon each one fingers, toes, mouths, eyes, ears, noses, and hair, completing their physical forms.
Creator named the boy Sky-Boy, designating him as the chief of the Sky-People. One girl he named Earth-Daughter, assigning her the responsibility of overseeing the earth and its crops. The other girl he named Pollen-Girl, entrusting her with the care of health for all Earth-People.
Since the earth was flat and barren, Creator decided to create animals, birds, trees, and a hill, adding diversity and beauty to the landscape. He sent Pigeon to observe the world’s appearance. Four days later, Pigeon returned and reported, "All is beautiful around the world. But four days from now, the water on the other side of the earth will rise and cause a mighty flood."
In anticipation of the impending flood, Creator made a very tall pinon tree. Girl-Without-Parents covered the tree framework with pinon gum, creating a large, tight ball, a vessel for survival.
In four days, the flood occurred. Creator ascended upon a cloud, taking his twenty-eight helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents placed the others inside the large, hollow ball, sealing it tight at the top.
After twelve days, the water receded, leaving the float-ball high on a hilltop. The rushing floodwater had dramatically altered the landscape, transforming the plains into mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers. Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out from the float-ball onto the new earth. She then took them upon her cloud, drifting upward until they met Creator with his helpers, who had completed their work of creating the sky during the flood.
Together, the two clouds descended to a valley below. Girl-Without-Parents gathered everyone together to listen to Creator.
"I am planning to leave you," he said. "I wish each of you to do your best toward making a perfect, happy world."
He then assigned specific responsibilities to each of the gods:
"You, Lightning-Rumbler, shall have charge of clouds and water."
"You, Sky-Boy, look after all Sky-People."
"You, Earth-Daughter, take charge of all crops and Earth-People."
"You, Pollen-Girl, care for their health and guide them."
"You, Girl-Without-Parents, I leave you in charge over all."
Creator then turned toward Girl-Without-Parents, and together they rubbed their legs with their hands and forcefully cast them downward. Immediately, a great pile of wood arose between them, over which Creator waved a hand, creating fire.
Great billowy clouds of smoke drifted skyward. Creator disappeared into this cloud. The other gods followed him in other clouds of smoke, leaving the twenty-eight workers to populate the earth.
Sun-God went east to live and travel with the Sun. Girl-Without-Parents departed westward to live on the far horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made cloud homes in the south. Big Dipper can still be seen in the northern sky at night, a reliable guide to all. This powerful Apache Creation Story reflects the values, beliefs and practices of the Apache people. This is the end of the Apache Creation Story.