Turtle Island Inuit Symbols Pendant Dangle Charm

Some Indigenous peoples refer to Earth or North America as 'Turtle Island'. The oral tradition among the Iroquois people states that 'the world was conceived of as a large island which floats in space and is a place of endless peace.' When the world was submerged in water, or more particularly, when there was a 'great cloud sea,' Sky Woman dropped to the ground. To bring back soil to form land, several creatures sought to swim to the ocean's bottom. Muskrat was successful in accumulating dirt, which was then put on a turtle's back. The turtle became larger because of the dirt's proliferation. The turtle kept becoming bigger and bigger, and the soil kept growing until it was a vast area of land. As a result, the earth is frequently referred to as Turtle Island in Iroquois civilizations.