Creation and Fall Mandan Style
Journal 2006 08 18
Creation and Fall Mandan Style
Chief Big White was now traveling with the Corps of Discovery. Captain Clark was enjoying Big White’s account of the history of his nation and others along the banks of the Missouri. He explained how large his nation had been until small pox and Sioux war parties had decimated his ranks to the two villages Lewis and Clark had grown so fond of. In his memory, and he estimates himself to be about forty years old, his people occupied villages seven times their current population.
The high winds from the previous day were still retarding travel. The waters were rough. After about forty miles the Corps put to shore, sent out hunters and made camp. William Clark sounds as though he was fascinated with Big White and retells the story of the Mandan people as told to him by the Big White Man Chief as Clark called him. “…after the fires were made I set my self down with the big white man Chiefe and made a number of enquiries into the tredition of his nation as well as the time of their inhabiting the number of Villages the remains of which we see on different parts of the river, as also the cause of their evacuation. he told me his nation first Came out of the ground where they had a great village. a grape vine grew down through the Earth to their village and they Saw light Some of their people assended by the grape vine upon the earth, and Saw Buffalow and every kind of animal also Grapes plumbs &c. they gathered Some grapes & took down the vine to the village, and they tasted and found them good, and deturmined to go up and live upon the earth, and great numbers climbed the vine and got upon earth men womin and children. at length a large big bellied woman in climbing broke the vine and fell and all that were left in the Village below has remained there ever Since (The Mandans beleive when they die that they return to this village) Those who were left on earth made a village on the river below and were very noumerous &c.”
For those Bible students reading this it just fuels the imagination doesn’t it? We don’t see Creation of the earth but we do see that his nation came out of the ground to occupy a great village. Adam was formed from the dust and placed in the Garden of Eden.
A grape vine was their connection between their origin, mortal life and after life. Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches.
When people ascended the vine to the earth they found buffalo and every kind of animal and fruit. “God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals--all kinds." And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was. God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning-- Day Six. (Genesis 1:24-31 MSG)
And the “big bellied woman,” who I take to be pregnant, literally fell and stopped up the climb of the Mandan civilization. All who were yet to ascend by the vine where forever kept from the fruit of the earth. “The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. …So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden …. Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life. (Genesis 3:6-24 GNB)
The Fall of Man. Quite literally the fall of a woman in the Mandan story.
Either way, there is something deep in the heart of man that understands the fall from the original plan of the Creator. Can we trust in the wisdom of the Spirit of God to allow us to use this Mandan story of origin as a scaffold to the Good News of the Living God? I bet the early missionaries to this tribe did. And we are to fulfill our Manifest Destiny, the Great Commission, in the same pattern. Like Paul in Athens, we are to use the local culture to springboard the Good News, the better news. “…Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, "I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious. For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, 'To an Unknown God.' That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us; as someone has said, 'In him we live and move and exist.' It is as some of your poets have said, 'We too are his children.' Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill. God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways. For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!" When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again." And so Paul left the meeting. Some men joined him and believed, …”(Acts 17:21-34 GNB) It was the right answer then and continues to be the message of our Manifest Destiny today as His Kingdom advances.
Proceed on.
Creation and Fall Mandan Style
Chief Big White was now traveling with the Corps of Discovery. Captain Clark was enjoying Big White’s account of the history of his nation and others along the banks of the Missouri. He explained how large his nation had been until small pox and Sioux war parties had decimated his ranks to the two villages Lewis and Clark had grown so fond of. In his memory, and he estimates himself to be about forty years old, his people occupied villages seven times their current population.
The high winds from the previous day were still retarding travel. The waters were rough. After about forty miles the Corps put to shore, sent out hunters and made camp. William Clark sounds as though he was fascinated with Big White and retells the story of the Mandan people as told to him by the Big White Man Chief as Clark called him. “…after the fires were made I set my self down with the big white man Chiefe and made a number of enquiries into the tredition of his nation as well as the time of their inhabiting the number of Villages the remains of which we see on different parts of the river, as also the cause of their evacuation. he told me his nation first Came out of the ground where they had a great village. a grape vine grew down through the Earth to their village and they Saw light Some of their people assended by the grape vine upon the earth, and Saw Buffalow and every kind of animal also Grapes plumbs &c. they gathered Some grapes & took down the vine to the village, and they tasted and found them good, and deturmined to go up and live upon the earth, and great numbers climbed the vine and got upon earth men womin and children. at length a large big bellied woman in climbing broke the vine and fell and all that were left in the Village below has remained there ever Since (The Mandans beleive when they die that they return to this village) Those who were left on earth made a village on the river below and were very noumerous &c.”
For those Bible students reading this it just fuels the imagination doesn’t it? We don’t see Creation of the earth but we do see that his nation came out of the ground to occupy a great village. Adam was formed from the dust and placed in the Garden of Eden.
A grape vine was their connection between their origin, mortal life and after life. Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches.
When people ascended the vine to the earth they found buffalo and every kind of animal and fruit. “God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals--all kinds." And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was. God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning-- Day Six. (Genesis 1:24-31 MSG)
And the “big bellied woman,” who I take to be pregnant, literally fell and stopped up the climb of the Mandan civilization. All who were yet to ascend by the vine where forever kept from the fruit of the earth. “The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. …So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden …. Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life. (Genesis 3:6-24 GNB)
The Fall of Man. Quite literally the fall of a woman in the Mandan story.
Either way, there is something deep in the heart of man that understands the fall from the original plan of the Creator. Can we trust in the wisdom of the Spirit of God to allow us to use this Mandan story of origin as a scaffold to the Good News of the Living God? I bet the early missionaries to this tribe did. And we are to fulfill our Manifest Destiny, the Great Commission, in the same pattern. Like Paul in Athens, we are to use the local culture to springboard the Good News, the better news. “…Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, "I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious. For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, 'To an Unknown God.' That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us; as someone has said, 'In him we live and move and exist.' It is as some of your poets have said, 'We too are his children.' Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill. God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways. For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!" When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again." And so Paul left the meeting. Some men joined him and believed, …”(Acts 17:21-34 GNB) It was the right answer then and continues to be the message of our Manifest Destiny today as His Kingdom advances.
Proceed on.
posted by @2007 Dick Cinkovich | 10:54 PM
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