In our Week 1 Lecture: "Key Terms", we were cautioned that:

1. "Often we recognize and label our own beliefs as knowledge and others’ beliefs as beliefs unsubstantiated by Western scientific practice."

2. "As folklorists/anthropologists we are not concerned with whether a belief is true, what matters is how it fits with the group’s practices and traditions (Nichols 2019)"

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As we have seen, to those who tell it, Earth Diver it not 'just a myth' but, instead, represents a sacred, true story of how the world began with a powerful and enduring significance and cultural relevance to the maintenance of culture and individual and group empowerment today ...

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... before we get too far afield with our anthropological theories and folkloric interpretations, it seems we as anthropologists and folklorists should take a step back and ask Native Americans (and other tellers of Earth Diver myths) what does it mean to them?