The Emergence Myth

Alex Figueroa

P. 3

In this Native American myth, there is one major element that I saw recur, the number four. There are four worlds that relate to colors, world one was the “Black world”, World two was the “Blue world”, world three was the “Yellow world” and World four was the “Black and white world”. These colors also relate similarly to the four animals that come from the four cardinal directions: Mountain Lion (Yellow), Wolf (white or grey), Hummingbird (multi-colored), and Bluebird (blue). Another example of the use of four would be the four deities that corresponded, again, with the colors of the four worlds; “Four gods- White body, Blue Body, Yellow Body and Black Body”. Finally, right before the population ascended into the 5^th and final world, four faces called out to them. Four faces, A man, woman, boy, and girl, called to them from the four corners of the earth. So it is safe to conclude that the number four has some value assigned to it by these people.