4.7 Other Ways of Knowing about the Universe

First People's of North America

The Earth Diver myth is told by the First People's of North America. In this myth the Great Spirit or the Transformer dives, or orders animals to dive, into the primeval water to bring back mud, out of which he fashions Earth (Eastern Woodlands, Northern Plains).

In some versions of the myth, Earth is formed on the back of a turtle; Turtle Island is a popular name used by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples for the land of North America.