Origins of creation story about the bond between dogs and people
December 23, 2015 9:24 AM   Subscribe

I am having a reoccurring memory of reading about an Native American Indian creation story but I can't remember specifics or what book I read it in. I do remember the topic of the book or this specific part of the being about creation stories and liminal time and space.

The specific story I'm looking for says that at one time people and all animals lived together or the same plane of existence but then some kind of major change occurs causing animal and people to be separated, but just as this is to be changed forever dogs jump back into the human realm.

Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?
posted by slime to Society & Culture (1 answer total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I suspect this is one of those cases where someone makes up a cute story and, through wide distribution and the passage of time, it eventually gets attributed to unspecific Native Americans.

The story appears in The Natural Dog(2009), and in Shaggy Muses(2009) as "an ancient myth told the world over." Zen Mind, Zen Horse(2011) has a similar story where it's the dog and the horse that join humans.

I can find one citation as early as 1920, in a book called British War Dogs, but it's not sourced at all. In no case is it actually attributed to a specific tribe or group of people.

(The closest thing I could find in genuine folklore is this charming Menominee story of how dogs came to live with humans.)
posted by Jeanne at 11:08 AM on December 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


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