rive to find everything to be deserted and sterile. Tulungersaq goes about planting some herbs and flowers. He discovers some pods, out of which a human being emerges. The Raven is so bewildered that he throws his bird mask back and once again transforms into a human being. This selection is one that quite well illustrates the notion of "creation from above." Father Raven, or Tulungersaq initially creates everything in heaven and then essentially recreates everything on earth in the same way. This is a method which is predominant in most creation myths. A second utilization of this method can be found in the Ongwe creation myth. The term Ongwe means "man-being" and also stands for the images of all things which later existed on earth. These include the images of trees, houses and animals. A summary of this myth is as follows:In one place there lived two Ongwe, a man and a woman who were of high rank and lived very religious lives. Suddenly the woman became pregnant, although there had been no sexual contact between the two. At the same time, the man fell ill and stated that he will soon die. This happened as predicted. After a short period of time, the child was born and she developed surprisingly quickly. She cried for a period of five days, during which time her mother grandmother took the child to her father's coffin. When she saw her father's corpse, she immediately stopped crying. Soon after they left, the child began once again began to cry. This ritual continued for some time. Each time the child was brought before the corpse, she would immediately stop crying. After a time the father had called to the girl from his coffin and said that the time had come for her to marry. He instructed her to go to a faraway place, to which he would provide the directions. At this place she would find a chief of good repute and they shall get married. Shortly after her union with this chief, she too becomes pregnant surprisin...
