The Creation Story of Mother Earth: An Anishinabek Perspective

How was our Mother Earth created? How did the world and life begin? And why do we say Mother Earth?

Watch this video for the original creation story of our Mother Earth that has been passed down to us from our Anishinabek elders and other indigenous teachings. I'm Mallory Graham from tribaltradeco.com.

Be sure to subscribe and hit the bell so that you get notified when we post a brand new video every week on smudging and the indigenous culture. You have likely heard of Mother Earth before, but where did it come from?

If you want to know why indigenous people refer to the earth as our Mother Earth and how it was created, then we are here to share the teaching of our Mother Earth creation story that is so important to the Anishinabek nation.

We've helped thousands of people with indigenous teachings that have been passed down to us from our elders. And we can't wait to share this one with you.

By the end of this video, you will know exactly why indigenous people refer to the world as Mother Earth and how it was all created. Whether it's in the indigenous culture or other belief systems, many cultures refer

to the earth as Mother Earth or Mother Nature. And you will soon see why we refer to our home on Planet Earth as our mother. The indigenous people of North America have different creation stories amongst the different

tribes and nations. In this video, we will share the Anishinabek creation story, which explains the creation of Mother Earth and the first man on the earth.

This story, similar to many others has multiple sections or stages. First stage of the creation story is the understanding of family. Family is the center of everything in the Anishinaabe culture.

And your family doesn't just mean your immediate family. It is not even limited to your extended family. Your family is also your community or your tribe.

And the connection to that tribe or your nation or your people is everything. Now in the creation of the earth, there was a family as well. Our mother, the earth, our grandmother, the moon, our grandfather, the sun, and the creator

of the family and the creator of all things, which would make sense that the creator is our father but the creator hasn't been identified as our father in any of the teachings that I personally have heard.

And many of the teachings of the Anishinaabe culture follow this framework of these family members. Now the second stage of the creation story is the importance of our Mother Earth.

Now, why is the earth our mother? Mother Earth is all of our mother. Her children are all living things on the earth.

Similar to the mother who gives us life, our Mother Earth gives life to all creation. That is why there is such a great importance for water amongst indigenous people, because water is the lifeblood of Mother Earth.

Water flows through her and gives life to all living things. Water keeps her and everything else on the earth alive. Our Mother Earth has four sacred elements, which are explained in the Medicine Wheel

teaching. If you haven't seen the video on the Medicine Wheel teachings, then watch this video right here.

The four sacred elements are earth, wind, water, and fire. Have you heard of this creation story before, or is it similar to another Mother Earth teaching that you've heard in the past?

If so, please share with us in the comments below. Now the third stage of the creation story is the actual creation or birth of Mother Earth.

When the creator or Gzheminidoo created Mother Earth, he first pictured a beautiful life giver. In the beginning, Planet Earth was bare.

The creator first sent birds down from the spirit world to Mother Earth, carrying the seeds of life. The birds flew across the entire earth dropping seeds that grew the plants, forests and flowers

with the life from the sacred water that flowed through Mother Earth. Then the creator sent the land animals, the insects and fish down to Mother Earth to live together in harmony.

Before any humans existed on the earth, all of nature, animals and plants co-existed together in peace on their mother who provided everything that they needed to live. For a long time, all creation existed and lived in harmony on Mother Earth without any

humans. Now the fourth stage of the creation story is the creation of man. Now, after all creation was living together in harmony on Mother Earth, the creator decided

to build Anishinaabe. Anishinaabe means original man. The original man or Anishinaabe was believed to have been created in the image of the creator

himself. Man or Anishinaabe was the last thing to be sent from the spirit world to Mother Earth, from the creator.

To create the original man, the creator put all four sacred elements into a shell. The creator then blew into this shell that had the four sacred elements in it, which created the spirit of the Anishinaabe.

The creator then lowered the man down to Mother Earth from the spirit world. Is this story similar to other creation stories that you've heard? If so, please share with us in the comments below.

So now we've gone through all four stages of the creation story of Mother Earth. So you should know exactly why we call the planet our Mother Earth and why our Mother Earth is so important to the indigenous people and our culture, especially the Anishinabek

Nation. Now you can fully understand why Mother Earth is crucial to the life of all creation and why our deep connection is so important to our spiritual, physical, and emotional wellbeing.

If you're wanting to learn more about this and the various sacred medicines, then download our free Sacred Medicines and Smudging Guide at the link in the description below. Please reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram if you have any questions.

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Thank you so much for watching, guys. I hope you have an amazing day and we'll see you next time.