What is Cherokee mythology?
[[File:Fainsislandpage35spider.png|thumb|The [[water spider]] is said to have first brought fire to the inhabitants of the earth in the basket on her back.<ref>Powell, J. W. ''Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,'' Part 1, 1897-98. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900. Page 242.</ref>]] The [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Cherokee]] people of the [[Appalachians]] have a complex set of [[Spirituality|spiritual]] beliefs. Their [[mythology]] involves a set of [[Totemism|totemic]] [[Creation myth|creation]] [[spirit]]s who are said to have formed the world. The Cherokee believe that [[Omen|signs]], visions, [[dream]]s and [[supernatural|powers]] were all gifts of the spirits. They believe that the real world is intertwined with and presided over by the spirit world. ==Creation beliefs== The [[creation myth]] of the Cherokee describes the earth as a great floating [[island]] surrounded by an [[ocean]]. It hangs from the sky by cords attached at the four [[Cardinal direction|cardinal points]]. The story tells that the first earth came to be when Dâyuni'sï, the little [[water beetle]], came down from the sky world (Gälûñ'lätï) to see what was below the water. He paddled over the surface of the water, but found no place to rest. He dived to the bottom of the water and brought up some soft mud. This mud expanded in every direction and became the earth. The other spirits in Gälûñ'lätï were eager to come down to the new earth. Firstly, birds were sent to see if the mud was dry. The [[buzzard]] was sent ahead to make preparations for the others, but the earth was still soft. When he grew tired, his wings dipped very low and brushed the soft mud, forming [[mountain]]s and [[valley]]s in the flat ground. When the earth was finally dry, all of the animals came down from the sky. It was dark, so they took the [[Sun]] and put it in a track to travel east to west. At first, they set it too low and the [[crawfish]] was burned. So they elevated the sun several times to