In earth-diver creation (see Creation) myths an animal or god is sent by the creator to retrieve substance from the depths of the primal waters. This substance, in any number of possible ways, becomes the earth. Earth-diver creations are particularly prevalent among Native American peoples, who very likely originally migrated to North America across the Bering Strait from Asia. Not surprisingly, then, earth-diver creations are found in the mythology of the Ainu people of Japan (see Ainu Creation), the Birhor people of India (see Birhor Mythology), and in the mythology of Hinduism (see Purāṇic Cosmogony, Boar). In addition, it is found in the Chinese flood myth (see Chinese Flood), and especially in the creation stories of many Central Asian (see Central Asian Mythology) groups—particularly the Buriat, the Samoyed, and Altaic peoples (see Altaic Mythology).
