So, in this instance, there is a similarity in the Iroquois and European creation stories, as the downfall of human beings, as evidenced by good and evil or the range of personalities of the deer, bear, and wolf, are accounted for as part of both heritages. .
The significance of the Goddess in Iroquois cultural tradition is, however, in distant contrast to that of the European traditional. As the Goddess created dry land, which sustained fruit bearing trees, and birthed all the animals known today as well as human beings, the woman is seen as having the most power. In fact, the Iroquois women are known as the keepers of plants, healers, the family and order in the tribe - all essential to survival. In their agricultural society the Iroquois men will traditionally move to the woman's family when they marry and, in contrast to women, Are viewed as in charge of hunting, war, and disorder? The Goddess is also thought to be the great consort of God and under His protection. .
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In contrast, in the biblical version, Adam was the first human being and he was created by God, in the image of God. Thus the Europeans have a strong patriarchal tradition, and according to Joseph Campbell, the Old Testament refers to the Goddess as an "abomination." Eve, supposedly having manipulated Adam into eating the forbidden fruit, was blamed for the downfall of man and was punished for her sin by being made subservient to Adam. They became the prototype for the European view of all men and women - and marriages- that followed. The women who knew plants and practiced healing were called witches and systematically were outcast or murdered. The idea that God was consorting with a Goddess was likely thought to be blastmey to the first Europeans, even though they were fleeing a kind of persecution which had to do with patriarchy themselves.
In fact, the first European settlers of America were very hard pressed to understand and respect the Iroquois creation story, steeped as they were in the basics of their own religious tradition.