Teacher’s Resources
by Jacki Rowley

African Creation Myths

Try asking the class what they would like to find out. Some suggestions might appear in these stories. If not, what do they think the answers are? This will be the basis for the children’s own creation stories.

It may be interesting to discuss creation stories found in major religions and in other countries too.

Myth 1

In the beginning there was only sky above and water and marshland below. Many gods lived in the sky, and they were ruled by the chief god Olorun.

But there was one god, Obatala, who was very curious. One day, he looked down through the mists below the sea and realised that there was a huge empty ocean. Obatla was very excited and he decided to go to the chief god to ask permission to create dry land for creatures to live on. Obatala was given permission but was unsure what to do next so he asked advice from the chief’s son.

“Ah” said the chief’s son, “You will need a long gold chain, a snail’s shell filled with sand, a white hen, a black cat and a palm nut. These should all be carried in a bag”.

Obatala wondered where he could get so much gold, so he asked the other gods. They gave him all the gold they had so that it could be made into a long chain.

Now Obatala was ready. He hung the chain from the corner of the sky, placed the bag over his shoulder and started the long climb down. For seven days and seven nights he went down and down until finally he reached the end of the chain. But when he looked down, Obatala realised there was still a long way to go. He hung on, not sure what to do, and looked and listened for any clue.

 Poor Obatala was worried but then he heard one of the gods calling from above, “Pour the sand from the snail’s shell and let the white hen go!”

He did as he was told, and as the sand hit the water, to his surprise it spread and began to make a land. Next he saw the hen land on the sand and begin to scatter it about. The sand formed piles which became hills so Obatala jumped down to a hill and looked all around  him.

He planted a palm nut that grew and dropped more palm nuts on the ground. Each one grew up straight away and began to drop more and more seeds.

After walking a long time, Obatala grew thirsty and stopped at a small pond. As he bent over the water, he saw his reflection and was pleased. He took some clay from the edge of the pond and began to mould it into the shape he had seen in the reflection. Obatala settled down with the cat for company but after many months he began to grow bored and he decided to create others to keep him company. The new people built huts and soon there was a whole city.

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Myth 2: African Bushmen Myth

People did not always live on the surface of the earth. At one time, people and animals lived underneath the earth with Kaang, the Lord of all Life. This was a good place where people and animals lived happily together and did not wish for anything else. And even though there was no sun it was always light.

Kaang began to plan a wonderful world above the earth. He created a fantastic tree with branches stretching over the entire country and at the base of the tree he dug a huge hole down to where the people and animals lived. He worked to make the world above just as he wanted it, and when he had finished he led the first man up the hole.

Soon all the people came to the foot of the tree and looked around at the marvellous world. Now Kaang helped the animals out. Some were so eager that they found a way to climb up the tree’s roots and come out of the branches. They continued racing out of the world beneath until all of the animals were out.

Kaang gathered all the people and animals about him and told them to live together peacefully. Then he turned to the men and the women and warned them not to build fires or something terrible would happen. They promised that they would never do this.

As evening approached, the sun began to sink beneath the horizon. The people and animals stood and watched and the people began to feel afraid. Unlike the animals, they could not see in the dark and without fur they began to grow cold. Forgetting their promise, they decided to build a fire and soon grew warm and were able to see each other.

But as soon as the fire was lit, the animals grew frightened and ran away to the caves and the mountains. Since that day, animals and people do not live together and cannot talk to each other, but are frightened of each other.

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Myth 3

One day, the first man, Kihanga, was created and was sent down to Earth to live. Kihanga had skin like a zebra and was both black and white. He came down like a spider along a thread.and landed on Earth with such a  bump that when there is an earth quake people say “Kihanga is bouncing”.

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Myth 4 - Swahili – Kenya
In the beginning there was only god. He decided to create light. When God saw his light He looked at it and He loved it so much He blushed. This was the first colours of daybreak. God took the brightest part of His light in his hand and made the souls of people and angels. The angels are made only out of light so that you can see straight through them – they have nothing to hide.

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Myth 5 - Yoruba People of Nigeria
The great god of the heavens sent his sons to Earth to create the world. He gave them some gifts that would help them.

The two young men took the three bags they had been given and peered down. For miles and miles all they could see was swirling water. Their father sent down a palm tree and gave his sons a push. They landed safely in the branches.

The eldest brother cut a small hole in the tree trunk and immediately liquid gushed out. He drank the palm wine and fell asleep straight away.

The other brother was very different. He climbed down the tree trunk and stood in the cool water. Then he opened the first bag from his father and started to empty it out. White sand flowed into the surface of the water. Now he opened the second bag. A chameleon scurried out and carefully placed its feet on the sand.

“This ground is firm,” he thought. “I can walk on it.”

Next he emptied the remains of the second bag – it was black soil. Out of the third bag came a chicken. It started scratching around for food. Sand and soil flew in all directions, making solid land on the water.

The boy’s father was pleased and sent down more gifts – iron bars, tools and maize seeds.

And that was how farming began and people could live on earth.

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Myth 6 - Benin, West Africa

The god Wulbari was the god of the sky. His blueness stretched over the entire sky.

He was the god of the people and watched over them night and day, while they hunted and gathered, while they ate and slept. They told him all their secrets and worries.

Wulbari loved all his people, so he lay as close to them as he could. But after a while they started to take him for granted. They came to him with their worries and bothers at all hours and forgot to thank him.

One day the people of the earth were preparing their evening meals. They were cutting meat, mixing dough and stirring soup. Then one family went outside and started ripping chunks off Wulbari’s blueness. Then they put it in a pot and mixed it with the soup. They ate the soup. It was so good they ran over to the other houses and told their neighbours about the excellent tasting soup.

Wulbari woke up in pain. He didn’t know what had happened. The god was so mad he decided to rise higher into the blue. Then after dinner the children came out of their houses. They stood on a chair and wiped their hands on Wulbari’s skin. They didn’t mean any harm but Wulbari was mad, he wiped off the handprints and rose higher.

Next day he was watching the people prepare wheat. There was an old woman who lived at the edge of town. She took extra care in grinding. She spent longer grinding and she used an extra long beater. The beater rose, fell, rose, fell, rose. The beater hit Wulbari in the eye. He was furious and began to rise higher, higher until he was as high as he could go. It was only then that the people realised that the god had gone.

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