In most Folklore Turtles are seen in a positive way. They are sometimes seen to be protectors of people and are often linked to stories about the creation of the world. Many North American Aboriginal peoples explain the beginning of the world with stories involving a turtle. Some even call North America “Turtle Island”. One of the most familiar stories about a turtle is Aesop’s fable about a tortoise and a hare. In this story, the quick-footed hare learns that sometimes “slow and steady wins the race”.

Turtle Tales

Sea turtles can be found off the coast of many countries around the world. The turtle appears in the tales and beliefs of many different cultures. One folktale from Papua, New Guinea explains how that island was created by a sea turtle. The turtle wanted somewhere to rest when she grew tired of swimming. She brought rocks and sand to build a hill in the ocean. When she was getting the rocks, she found a man living alone in a cave beneath the sea. He wanted a wife and a family. The turtle took him to her island. Then she swam across the sea to another island and found a woman who wanted a husband. The turtle brought her to the island to live with the man. The couple raised a family, and they eventually populated the whole island.

There is a Hawaiian legend about a young turtle named Kauila whose parents were two supernatural turtles. Kauila could become a human girl and then turn back into a turtle. She would change into a girl to play with children and then return to a turtle to an underwater spring to sleep. When she returned to her spring, she would become a turtle again. Kauila protected the village children from drowning and her spring gave them fresh water.

A fable from Papua, New Guinea explains how sea turtles got their shells and why they live in the sea. A turtle was found eating chiefs bananas. The villagers decided to eat the turtle and tied him upside down in a large wooded dish. The turtle escaped into the sea, with the dish still tied to his back. Since then, turtles have had shells on their backs, lived in the sea, and never eaten bananas.
A fable from Fiji explains a custom of women calling turtles from the sea. The legend describes two women kidnapped by the people of another village. As the women were being taken away in canoes, they changed into sea turtles, and their kidnappers became frightened and threw them overboard. The sea turtles are said to be the relatives of those two captive women. The woman of their village still chant a song above the water, and the sea turtles rise to hear the song.