Seminole Myths of the Origin of Races

In a recent issue of this journal, Alan Dundes had presented some variants of a Seminole myth of the origin of races.1 All seem to be versions, reported in more or less detail, of a story in which the ancestors of the Whites, Negroes, and Indians are created by baking, with the skin colors the result of varying periods of heating leading to two failures (Whites, Negroes) followed by a success (Indians). (If the comparison is to pottery firing, which only the earliest version makes explicit, then the metaphor is inaccurate because longer or hotter firing does not result in darker colors; perhaps more likely the intended comparison is with cooking some sort of food, such as a corn bread. ) Dundes reported examples of the myth from 1818, 1823 (in two versions, published in 1840 and 1842), and 1962, and pointed out the significance in the variation of the order of creation, and especially in the (presumably original) two failures (White, Negro) and one success (Indian). To Dundes' examples, I can add one early report, one relatively recent report, some modern field data, and some comparative data. The early report was published in 1825, and gives a summary of the myth as told to James Pierce in 1824 by the (unnamed) chief of Sanfalasco, a Seminole town near the Santa Fe River in northern peninsular Florida

Genealogy · Mythology · American History and Culture · American Literature and Humor Studies · Classics · History · Race, History, and American Society

• The mildest form ever known upon earth?”

  Edward Mair•American Nineteenth Century History•2020

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