I believe that there are myths from many peoples of the earth that speak of a 'first couple' usually belonging to their tribe. But in regards to a common bond, NDN's call on 'all my relations'. This includes, but is not limited to, mankind as a whole. It is my understanding that this comes from the belief that all things upon the Mother Earth are connected. We all share the same breath/energy. We breathe the same air, drink the same water, etc. 'All my relations' includes animals, plants and yes, the rocks.

BS"D

http://www.angelfire.com/md/elanmichaels/naquotations.html

[QUOTE=wohali;702561]Buns, the site that you linked has this:

(Cherokee) [SIZE=-1][COLOR=#8e88dc]Afrika[/COLOR][/SIZE]
Ho! Mitakuye Oyasin
"We Are All Related"

Mitakuye Oyasin is Lakota, not Tsalagi.

I'm not sure what the "Afrika" is in reference to............. [/QUOTE]


Looks like a musical group, Wohali.

[QUOTE=golden_eagle;701839]I am wondering, would an NDN consider even a white man as a brother or sister of the Earth.  [/QUOTE]

So Tenz said something to me that is appropo here.  You can acknowledge someone is related, but that doesn't mean you have to like them. Like the cousin always kicking sand in your face.

Unfortunately, this thread is another example of the damage that has occured to Jewish and Christian oral history due to it being written down, lie-fully interpretated and then those interpretations being cemented through print.

It is my understanding that in the oral history of the Old Testement; Adam and Eve did not take on the human form we know it today until the point where they "don the skins of animals" in order to survive the world outside the garden of Eden. Prior to that point, Adam and Eve were much like how First Nations see the Deer Spirit in relation to individual deer. They were representations of HUMAN on a level closer to the Creator. Prior to that expulsion from Eden, the story of Adam, Eve and the snake can also be seen as the interplay of matter and energy, and the 'decision' that was made which saw matter slow down energy. Their continued interaction after that point caused the reality we see today... and eventually the need for HUMAN to don skins of animals and become physical. Unfortunately, Christians squeeze much of the truth of the Old Testement out of it be insisting it is just historical fact... rather than oral history, which includes, both allegorical and historical facts.

Obviously the idea of evolution and the primordial ooze can be easily metophored into the idea of man coming from mud. I believe the Anishinabae, the Cree's close, but dumber cousins (Just teasin' you filthy Nishes!), their word for themselves means basically "The star man who was brought down and made from the earth". While my people's name for themselves does not reference mud or earth (the root word for Adam means 'earth', or 'soil', I believe), our creation story does reference mud as a starting point for all things living.

Just as an interesting side bar: Canadian First Nations (not just the Blackfoot) refered to the dinosaur fossils they found around the Drumheller region as the Grandfather of ther Buffalo.

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10181