Editing Tree of life (section)

===Northern America===
In a myth passed down among the [[Iroquois]], ''The World on the Turtle's Back'', explains the origin of the land in which a tree of life is described. According to the myth, it is found in the heavens, where the first humans lived, until a pregnant woman fell and landed in an endless sea. Saved by a giant turtle from drowning, she formed the world on its back by planting bark taken from the tree.

The tree of life motif is present in the traditional [[Ojibway]] cosmology and traditions. It is sometimes described as Grandmother Cedar, or {{lang|oj|Nookomis Giizhig}} in [[Anishinaabemowin]].

In the book [[Black Elk Speaks]], [[Black Elk]], an Oglala [[Lakota people|Lakota]] (Sioux) {{lang|lkt|wičháša wakȟáŋ}} ([[medicine man]] and holy man), describes his vision in which after dancing around a dying tree that has never bloomed he is transported to the other world (spirit world) where he meets wise elders, 12 men and 12 women. The elders tell Black Elk that they will bring him to meet "Our Father, the two-legged chief" and bring him to the [[axis mundi|center of a hoop]] where he sees the tree in full leaf and bloom and the "chief" standing against the tree. Coming out of his trance he hopes to see that the earthly tree has bloomed, but it is dead.<ref name="First People">{{cite web |title=Black Elk Speaks |url=http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/Black-Elk-Speaks-Visions-of-the-Other-World.html |access-date=1 January 2015 |work=Visions of the Other World |publisher=First People of America and Canada – Turtle Island. |archive-date=1 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101162043/http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/Black-Elk-Speaks-Visions-of-the-Other-World.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Oneidas tell that supernatural beings lived in the Skyworld above the waters which covered the earth. This tree was covered with fruits which gave them their light, and they were instructed that no one should cut into the tree otherwise a great punishment would be given. As the woman had pregnancy cravings, she sent her husband to get bark, but he accidentally dug a hole to the other world. After falling through, she came to rest on the turtle's back, and four animals were sent out to find land, which the muskrat finally did.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://oneida-nsn.gov/our-ways/our-story/creation-story/ |publisher=[[Oneida Indian Nation|Oneida Nation]] |title=Creation Story}}</ref>