Blog Four: Creation Stories

1. I believe that every human culture forms some sort of creation myth because they need some sort of reasoning. People find it hard to explain just exactly where everything came from, so creation stories are created to provide a reason for everything that is relatable to everyone. This reveals about human condition the constant need for knowledge. The entire human race constantly searches for reasons, explanations, and proof as to why things are the way they are. Creation stories display this aspect of the human condition. Creation myths still have a place in the world today to still provide a creative way to explain the inexplainable, as well as a means of entertainment. The myths attract people to have an interest in how everything came to be. They operate and inform the modern world in many ways. These myths provide today's society with an understandable and fun explanation to everything. They act as stories that, if nothing else, provide entertainment to people. Children and others who can't understand the highly scientific realistic explanations can find their knowledge in these stories. We are able to learn more about the cultures that created the stories by reading the creation myths they developed.

2. The individual stories reveal individual values and characteristics of the two cultures. Their respective creation myths reveal their values and show us even today what they valued hundreds of years ago. We can learn about their family views, religion, and much more that their societies revolved around. In Australian myths, we can begin to see what they value. We can see that they are very environmentally conscious because they stress in their myths the creation of natural occurrences. Animals have a very profound value, demonstrating the Australians great respect for them.The New Zealand myths have a slightly darker tone to them as they talk about fights among the gods and murder among families, which could mean that the Maori may have had a slightly pessimistic view towards life. Violence is more outstanding in the Maori myths which may also show their cultural views. Both myths talk about the creation of man before everything else, which shows the common belief that humans are dominant over everything else in the earth. Family is stressed in both myths, whether it be by necessary separation or unity, which also demonstrates both cultures views that family life is vital to all societies.

The Platypus, a common animal in Australian myths.

3. There are many similarities and differences between the Maori creation stories and those of Australia. The Australian creation stories put great stress on the creation of nature and the development of animals. This would probably be because the Australian aboriginese were very dedicated to nature, and viewed it as being very important. They also had a great respect for animals, so they continually talked about how animals came to be. In their myth, the Australians also talked about the separation of the two parental gods,  but this separation came by choice. This could demonstrate their belief in free will and the importance of people being able to choose for themselves. In the Maori myths, a much darker tone was present that that of the Australian myths, which could show that perhaps the Maori had a more negative view of the world. In their story, the parents were again separated, but this time it was by violence rather than by choice. This could demonstrate that the Maori were more violent people and put more stress on a necessity for violence. The main similarities was that in both stories, they put stress on the fact that man came first. This shows that they had excessive pride and believed that man was undeniably the most important figure on the earth. Another distinct similarity was the stress on family values. The gods in the stories were continually emphasized to be family, which shows that both societies had a strong family- tie value. The differences between these myths, plain and simply, would be that they two cultures had different view of the world, whether they be optimistic versus pessimistic, or violence versus peace.

4. The myths can explain the nonstop problems of the world. They explain why humans act the way they do, a question that science can never entirely prove. The natural wonders that occur every day are explained in more simple terms by these myths. Common people may not be able to understand the scientific explanations, and they look to the creation myths for a reason as to why everything happens. Science can explain why everything happens the way it does, but it is not necessarily relatable to the entire world. Creation myths are able to use entertainment and the story-telling aspect to explain difficult subjects in a way that is so much easier for the majority of the world to understand. In the creation stories, the characters constantly struggle with family members, the lust for power, a balance of what controls what, and the quest for truth. These problems still exist in today's world, and most likely will exist for all of eternity. People still have issues with their family that they need to overcome. Everyone at some point or another seeks to be ranked above another. Others constantly feel like they can not be "at the bottom of the totem pole" and look to control everything they can. And the search for absolute truth and actual knowledge will be something that intrigues man for all of eternity.

Traditional Maori people

5. I account for human life religiously, basing creation off of what I have been taught since I was young. I was not taught "traditional" creation myths, but rather taught about God and his methods of creation. This is the story that has constantly given me insight into creation. It helps shape my values and understanding because it gives me the explanation as to how and why everything is the way it is. I now believe that everything was created by God over seven "days". My understanding of the world is now based mainly on religion. Science is also somewhat implemented into my understanding, but primary beliefs regarding religion were instilled in me from a young age. My view of creation becomes a lens through which I view the world because it somewhat makes me biased toward other opinions. Although I am relatively open to other cultures' opinions, I am always slightly swayed based on my own faith and creation stories. The factors that made it so that God's creation story is my creation story are my family, my grade and middle school, and religion. I have been taught since a very young age the story of creation based on the Bible. This causes my views to be biased for religion, making it so that my primary beliefs are rooted in religion's explanation of the creation of everything.

Blog Three- A Comparison of Countries

The various events that occurred in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States over the course of their histories shows that countries can develop very differently, yet also enforces the fact that history repeats itself. There are aspects of history that unavoidably happen over and over again, which shows up in the different events that occurred in Australia, New Zealand, and America.

There are many similarities between the events that happened in the histories of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. All three countries were under the control of Great Britain, and were colonies of England prior to each country earning their independence. The three countries shared the similarity that although they were all British colonies, a different nation was the first from Europe to go to these countries. "The first European to visit Australia was Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon." "The first to explore New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel Tasman." And finally, "the first Europeans to go to America were the Vikings in the 11th century." (wikipedia). All three of these countries were also struck by a gold rush around the same time, the mid-1800s. In 1849, "a gold rush struck America that caused people from around the world to flock to California." (The California Gold Rush-book). Similarly, in 1851 a gold rush began in Australia that caused similar effects, and happened to New Zealand in the 1860s. Following their calls for Independence, these three countries established democratic governments to break away from the monarchial ways of Great Britain. In both Australia and the United States, various suffrage movements also made it so that the natives, Native Americans in the United States and the Aborigines in Australia, were given more rights and were granted their land back. "The Indian Reorganization Act, or Indian New Deal, returned land and made it so it would be governed by the Natives in America." (Historical Civilizations-book). In Australia, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act granted similar rights, that the Aborigines would be able to have control over their natural lands. The histories of New Zealand, America, and Australia had many similarities in their political and social histories.

The United States Gold Rush

The Australian Gold Rush

These three countries' histories also display however that there were significant differences between the histories of these nations. Colonies in Australia and New Zealand were not established by Britain until after the loss of America, which could possibly have been in response to Britain's losses. "Australia was initially used as a prison colony for England, whereas America was established to be a source of economic prosperity." (wikipedia). Also, when Australia and New Zealand declared independence, they still had small British influences within the country. Following America's declaration, British influence was permanently expelled from the nation. Britain and New Zealand also signed a treaty, making New Zealand a colony in return for protection. On the contrary, America and Australia were colonies in which the natives put up little resistance to the initial settlements by the British, and Britain gained the land for its own benefit. A final difference between the three countries was the purpose for their settlement by Britain. England settled America for its own political and economic gains to increase its position in the world's power rankings. Australia was initially used for a prison colony, and did not become a colony for Britain to inhabit until later. New Zealand started off as just another country that Britain had established trade relations with, but in time Britain exploited the island nation and made it a colony. These three countries, though they had similarities with their history, also proved to have major differences.

                     

The United States, Australia, and New Zealand had unique aspects in their histories that made them distinguished from the pasts of other nations. They shared similarities among how they were ruled and their treatments of the native peoples, yet were established for different purposes and had different levels of outside influences. These three nations prove to perfection the ability for countries to be both similar and different at the same time.