Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part A

(Beringia Land Bridge courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

I will be doing my reading note over the Creation. I know a little bit about the theories of how Native Americans came to North America. There is the land bridge theory in that they crossed over from what we now call Siberia through a land bridge that connected Asia and North America. The Beringia land bridge connected Siberia and Alaska. It is no longer seen today as water levels have risen and submerged it.

In the Creation story when the Osages come to Earth they find it covered in water. They get Elk to come and help them and he blows the water into the sky using the wind. At first they only see rocks and they have to travel through the rocks to find the “soft earth.” I believe similarities can be drawn between the hard and rocky earth the Osages find at first and the Beringia land bridge. Perhaps the Beringia land bridge was barren as well and that is what caused the Native Americans to cross it and come over to North America.

In the story the Osages find human footsteps and they follow them to find other humans and join them in the search for food. This to me seems like the Osages maybe followed other humans over the Beringia land bridge in search of food.

I find it really interesting that the creation story of the Osages has so many similarities to their crossing over the Beringia land bridge and entering North America. I think I will try to write my story incorporating this into it. Perhaps by leaving little details in the story where connections can be made

Bibliography: This reading note comes from stories covered in the Great Plains unit. This particular story comes from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).