Modoc Tribe Summary

528 Words2 Pages

This story tells us about a creation myth. One where a daughter’s curiosity gets the better of her and her father is a creator. This story has been told for many generations to ensure that locals, natives, and others respect what is and how it came to be in their eyes. Things don’t just come out of nowhere, there must be a beginning. This story reveals the meaning of the customs and beliefs of the Modoc. Myths do tend to serve functions in cultures and everyday life. It’s important for the Modoc tribe to tell this story because it helps explain how things came to be and why there are certain respects that must be paid. They honor the grizzly bear and all of nature due to this story and respect a higher power that started it all. Modoc tribe members, locals of Mount Shasta want people to fall in love with their mountain and area just as they did so they do no harm and realize the beauty of it. There is no beauty in life without meaning. There must be a reason for why grizzlies walk on fours now and how the mountain came to be. …show more content…

They do not want to take for granted what they have. In their eyes they will be punished for disrespecting the higher power that made things the way they are now. The story has been passed down for so long so when children ask how the mountain came to be the Modoc can answer “Chief of sky spirits came down in giant strides, melting the snow and tearing up the land under his feet. That is why there are tracks in the rocky path.” Or “The Mountain is there because the Chief of sky spirits grew tired of his home so he created a new one by carving a hole in the sky with a stone to allow the ice and snow below until there was a great mound almost touching the sky. With his large stick he made animals and plants.” That would surely help children ensure the lasting of their huge

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