Editing Creation myth (section)

====Motif distribution====
According to [[Gudmund Hatt]] and [[Tristram P. Coffin]], Earth-diver myths are common in [[Native American mythology|Native American folklore]], among the following populations: [[Shoshone]], [[Meskwaki]], [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]], [[Chipewyan]], [[Nahwitti (trading site)|Newettee]], [[Yokuts]] of California, [[Mandan]], [[Hidatsa]], [[Cheyenne]], [[Arapaho]], [[Ojibwe]], [[Yuchi]], and [[Cherokee]].<ref name=hatt/><ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Tales of North America: An Anthology for the Adult Reader |editor=Tristam P. Coffin |location=New York, USA |date=1961 |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=3 |s2cid=243789306 |doi=10.7560/735064-003 |quote=The most common Indian myth begins with a primeval water, out of which some animal brings up a few grains of sand or mud which a culture hero then develops into the world}}</ref>

American anthropologist [[Gladys Reichard]] located the distribution of the motif across "all parts of North America", save for "the extreme north, northeast, and southwest".<ref>Reichard, Gladys A. "Literary Types and Dissemination of Myths". In: ''The Journal of American Folklore'' 34, no. 133 (1921): 274-275. https://doi.org/10.2307/535151.</ref> In a 1977 study, anthropologist Victor Barnouw surmised that the earth-diver motif appeared in "[[hunter-gatherer|hunting-gathering societies]]", mainly among northerly groups such as the [[Hare people|Hare]], [[Dogrib]], [[Kaska]], [[Beaver people|Beaver]], [[Carrier people|Carrier]], [[Chipewyan]], [[Tsuutʼina Nation|Sarsi]], [[Cree]], and [[Innu people|Montagnais]].<ref>Barnouw, Victor. ''Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977. pp. 59 (map 2), 57, 60.</ref>

Similar tales are also found among the [[Chukchi people|Chukchi]] and [[Yukaghir]], the [[Tatars]], and many [[Finno-Ugric mythologies|Finno-Ugric]] traditions,<ref>Deviatkina, Tatiana. "[https://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol48/deviatkina.pdf Images of Birds in Mordvinian Mythology]". In: ''Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore'' Vo. 48 (2011). p. 144.</ref> as well as among the [[Buryats|Buryat]] and the Samoyed.<ref>[[David Adams Leeming|Leeming, David Adams]]. ''A Dictionary of Asian Mythology''. Oxford University Press. 2001. p. 55. {{ISBN|0-19-512052-3}}.</ref> In addition, the earth-diver motif also exists in narratives from Eastern Europe, namely [[Romani people|Romani]],<ref>Kornel, Vladislav. "[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015005721066&view=1up&seq=91&skin=2021 Gypsy Anecdotes From Hungary: II-How the Devil assisted God in the Creation of the World]". In: ''Gypsy Lore Journal'' Vol II, No. 2. April, 1890. pp. 67-68.</ref> Romanian,<ref>[[Marcu Beza|Beza, Marcu]]. ''Paganism in Romanian Folklore''. London: J. M. Dent & Sons LTD. 1928. pp. 120-123.</ref> [[Slavic creation myth#Creation by diving|Slavic]] (namely, Bulgarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), and Lithuanian mythological traditions.<ref>Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/7396 Pasaulio kūrimo motyvai lietuvių pasakojamojoje tautosakoje]" [The Motifs of creating the world in the Lithuanian narrative folklore]. In: ''Liaudies kultūra'' Nr. 5 (2002), p. 9. {{ISSN|0236-0551}}.</ref>

The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have a common origin in the [[East Asia|eastern Asiatic]] coastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west into [[Siberia]] and east to the [[North America]]n continent.<ref>{{harvnb|Booth|1984|pages=168–70}}</ref><ref>[[Vladimir Napolskikh]] (2012), ''[https://www.academia.edu/4918926/Diving_Bird_Myth_after_20_years_2012 Diving Bird Myth after 20 years 2012]'' (Earth-Diver Myth (А812) in northern Eurasia and North America: twenty years later)</ref> However, there are examples of this [[mytheme]] found well outside of this boreal distribution pattern, for example the West African [[Yoruba culture|Yoruba]] creation myth of [[Ọbatala]] and [[Oduduwa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/artbyculture/kingscrown_story.html|title=King's Crown Story|website=The Minneapolis institute of Art}} citing {{cite journal|first=P. C. |last=Lloyd|title=Sacred Kingship and Government among the Yoruba|journal=Africa|volume=30|issue=3|pages= 222–223}}</ref><ref>[[Rupert Glasgow|R.D.V. Glasgow]] (2009), ''The Concept of Water'', p. 28</ref>