Week 11 Story: Creating in Increasing Order
Kemush, the Old Man before the time of the Ancients, had made the world. He understood the importance of the small details and shaped the world from small to big, simple to complex.
First, came the up and down quarks to make up atoms, but they did not act the way Kemush had imagined. To find more of a balanced building block of life, he incorporated four more quarks and added an intermediate between the quark and atom - neutrons, protons and electrons. At first the neutrons tried not to pick a favorite but tended to be drawn to the protons forming the nucleus of the atom. The electrons were pulled towards the positive charge of the protons and decided to orbit the nucleus. However, theses clusters of protons, neutrons, and electrons were unique, forming a diverse population of atoms.
Finally happy with these atoms, Kemush began creating the Earth by trying to combine these atoms i unique ways. When he joined, two hydrogen atoms with an oxygen atom, water was created. He liked this first discovery and in his excitement, created so much that water covered about 70% of the Earth before he moved on to create other molecules. Often, Kemush would create something, and then, that creation would shape another through spontaneous reactions with existing things. Soon, the world was creating itself as fast as Kemush.
After seven days, Kemush felt a rush of tiredness for the first time since he started creating. His last act of the day was to build the Lodge of the North Wind, Yamsi. Kemush dreamt of beings - creatures that could swim, creatures that could talk, creatures with four legs, creatures with six hearts, and everything in between.
Kemush woke up to a new world, because as he slept, the Earth continued creating. He walked from one edge of the Earth to the other, amazed at the brilliance of their creation. As he walked back to the lodge, he thought on how to create these creatures his subconscious had imagined. He knew there needed to be a sort of language or instruction guide that the body would use to continue to function after he gave it life. Kemush used a binary to code for the body of an ant. Then, he created the organelles of the cell that could read these instructions, create energy, and make needed molecules. The ant lived for five weeks before dying. Kemush was happy with the ant's life but wanted to create more diverse creatures. Kemush started again with the binary but was unable to make enough unique combinations to create the diversity of life he had imagined. So he began using instructions that had four unique "letters" to build the language of life.
Using this new method, Kemush made the plants of the world, including the white pine and juniper of the forest and the kelp and algae of the ocean. He looked to the heavens for their food source, giving plants the ability to convert the energy of the sun into usable energy for their cells. Then, he made the animals of the Earth, including the mallard and the white goose of the clear rivers and lakes; the coyote and white-tail deer of the forest; the shark and whale of the ocean; the elephant and lion of the grasslands; and snakes and lizards of the dessert. Again, Kemush felt an overwhelming feeling of tiredness, falling asleep almost instantly. So tired was he that he slept through a hundred thousand winters. He woke again to a new world, bustling with his creations and those that evolved from his creations. Kemush walked from one edge of the Earth to the other and was delighted at the life he encountered.
As his final act of creation, Kemush created the Maidu, the people of the Plains; Aikspala, the people of the mountain of the great blue heron; and Maklaks, the people of the Coast.
Authors note: This is a retelling of a Native American creation story. I wanted to include some of the scientific knowledge our society has today with the knowledge of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, I added information about how physics, chemistry and biology play a role in the functioning of the world. Kemush is the name of the creator in the original story, and I also kept some of the other names, including those of the people created and the lodge.
Image information: Atom diagram; Mount Shasta
Bibliography:
How Kemush Created the World. Story source: Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Katharine Berry Judson (1910).
First, came the up and down quarks to make up atoms, but they did not act the way Kemush had imagined. To find more of a balanced building block of life, he incorporated four more quarks and added an intermediate between the quark and atom - neutrons, protons and electrons. At first the neutrons tried not to pick a favorite but tended to be drawn to the protons forming the nucleus of the atom. The electrons were pulled towards the positive charge of the protons and decided to orbit the nucleus. However, theses clusters of protons, neutrons, and electrons were unique, forming a diverse population of atoms.
Finally happy with these atoms, Kemush began creating the Earth by trying to combine these atoms i unique ways. When he joined, two hydrogen atoms with an oxygen atom, water was created. He liked this first discovery and in his excitement, created so much that water covered about 70% of the Earth before he moved on to create other molecules. Often, Kemush would create something, and then, that creation would shape another through spontaneous reactions with existing things. Soon, the world was creating itself as fast as Kemush.
After seven days, Kemush felt a rush of tiredness for the first time since he started creating. His last act of the day was to build the Lodge of the North Wind, Yamsi. Kemush dreamt of beings - creatures that could swim, creatures that could talk, creatures with four legs, creatures with six hearts, and everything in between.
Kemush woke up to a new world, because as he slept, the Earth continued creating. He walked from one edge of the Earth to the other, amazed at the brilliance of their creation. As he walked back to the lodge, he thought on how to create these creatures his subconscious had imagined. He knew there needed to be a sort of language or instruction guide that the body would use to continue to function after he gave it life. Kemush used a binary to code for the body of an ant. Then, he created the organelles of the cell that could read these instructions, create energy, and make needed molecules. The ant lived for five weeks before dying. Kemush was happy with the ant's life but wanted to create more diverse creatures. Kemush started again with the binary but was unable to make enough unique combinations to create the diversity of life he had imagined. So he began using instructions that had four unique "letters" to build the language of life.
Using this new method, Kemush made the plants of the world, including the white pine and juniper of the forest and the kelp and algae of the ocean. He looked to the heavens for their food source, giving plants the ability to convert the energy of the sun into usable energy for their cells. Then, he made the animals of the Earth, including the mallard and the white goose of the clear rivers and lakes; the coyote and white-tail deer of the forest; the shark and whale of the ocean; the elephant and lion of the grasslands; and snakes and lizards of the dessert. Again, Kemush felt an overwhelming feeling of tiredness, falling asleep almost instantly. So tired was he that he slept through a hundred thousand winters. He woke again to a new world, bustling with his creations and those that evolved from his creations. Kemush walked from one edge of the Earth to the other and was delighted at the life he encountered.
As his final act of creation, Kemush created the Maidu, the people of the Plains; Aikspala, the people of the mountain of the great blue heron; and Maklaks, the people of the Coast.
Authors note: This is a retelling of a Native American creation story. I wanted to include some of the scientific knowledge our society has today with the knowledge of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, I added information about how physics, chemistry and biology play a role in the functioning of the world. Kemush is the name of the creator in the original story, and I also kept some of the other names, including those of the people created and the lodge.
Image information: Atom diagram; Mount Shasta
Bibliography:
How Kemush Created the World. Story source: Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Katharine Berry Judson (1910).
Hi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI LOVED your story. The mix of the scientific and spiritual creation is fantastic. It was so fun to read and I think that the images were great. You said that you kept some of the names, does that mean that you came up with some? How did you come up with the names that you didn't take from the original story? Do they have some meaning?
I look forward to reading some more of your work!
Hi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting combination of Native American folklore with modern scientific knowledge, and the blend made it fun to read. Are you studying any of these areas, or do you have some background knowledge from other classes, or did you do research about it? In any case, I thought it was interesting. Good job and good luck on the rest of your stories!