Myth Analysis “Why the Opussum’s Tail is Bare” is a myth told by the Cherokee Indians, and contains several fairy tale and folk tale elements. First, the story begins talking about how animals acted highly similarly to people, as the animals talk and live in houses. This is an example of a fairy tale element because animals cannot talk and are being personified in such a way. Another example of a fairy tale element is the designated roles in the animal society; the myth states, “Thus, Frog was leader in the council, and Rabbit because of his speed, was employed to carry messages and announcements to others.” Animals acting in this way are very fictional and are therefore examples of personification. Another example of personification is found …show more content…
First, the myth explains how the Rabbit lost its tail during a fight with a bear, giving the rabbit a short bushy tail. This is a great example of a pure myth element because it explains part of nature that the Cherokees would have seen daily. The myth also explains a little bit about how other animals got their features, such as the deer losing its sharp teeth and the buzzard losing its head hair. The cause of neither of these features is explained other than to say that Rabbit, who is a mischief maker, was the one who caused it. However, the main natural phenomenon explained in the myth is the opossum’s tail. The entire story is focused around how the opossum’s tail became scaly and bald. The story explains how rabbit wanted revenge on opossum since opossum loved is beautiful hair covered tail; therefore, rabbit hired someone to shave it completely. When opossum goes to reveal the tail that he thinks is beautiful, it is revealed as ugly and bald. This causes the animals to laugh at him, and embarrassing opossum. Opossum, embarrassed by the situation, rolls over, frozen. These incidents with opossum explain two natural elements, one being why the opossum’s tail is bald and scaly and two why opossums today roll over and play dead. Overall, the myth explains how animals that the Cherokee saw everyday an obtained certain features through a fictional story, making the story a pure …show more content…
The Cherokee Indians first began in the Tennessee and Carolina regions of the United States. However, they did not live there forever, as many were soon forced out by the “white people”. The Cherokees first came in contact with Europeans when Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto explored the region. Later, in 1673, Colonial traders begin coming in contact with the Cherokee tribe. Several years later, in the early 1700, the Cherokees waged war against the southern colonists; however, in the end the Cherokees suffered several losses as a result of smallpox. The population of the Cherokee Indians was estimated at 35,000 in 1685, but in 1760 the population was estimated at seven thousand. Also, the Cherokee had an established democratic government in which each clan governed itself separately. Overall, there were seven Cherokee clans that created the Cherokee nation. Although they had a well-established society and government, they were soon forced from their homes. In 1838, President Jackson and an army forced Cherokee Indians to migrate west. This forced migration later became famously known as “The Trail of Tears”, as 4,000 natives died of hunger or disease. Today it is viewed as one of the darkest moments in American history, and the “trail” remains as a memorial to the Indians who perished. The Cherokee Indians currently reside in Oklahoma, where
The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jackson"'"s Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the '"'Trail of Tears'"', and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their will. During the journey westward, over 60,000 Indians were forced from their homelands. Approximately 4000 Cherokee Indians perished during the journey due to famine, disease, and negligence. The Cherokees to traveled a vast distance under force during the arduous winter of 1838-1839.# This is one of the saddest events in American history, yet we must not forget this tragedy.
After reading a selection of Cherokee oral narratives, my understanding of how Cherokee look at land and animals changed. I was able to see how they personify the land and animals to make it feel as though everything is living as breathing with minds like humans. It is easy when reading the narratives to feel as though we are only piece of the life going on around us. My favorite legend was “Why The Possum's Tail Is Bare”. This story was very enjoyable to read as the different animals were given dialog and personalities. I love how they use stories to explain natural things such as why possum doesn’t have fur on his tail. The story titled “The Great Leech Of Tlanusi'yï” also seemed to be told to try to explain a natural phenomenon that they
Along the way 4,000 Indians died because of the harsh terrane and the cruelty of the soldiers and many of them are buried in unmarked graves along the trail of tears. The trail of tears has been Know according to a white Georgian the “Cruelest work I ever knew”(Tindall pg 343).A few Cherokees Indians hide in the mountains and became knew as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Later the Creeks and the Chickasaws went back to try to take back control of their lands. During the trail of tears nearly 100,000 Indians were forced to relocate to the west. The government during that time sold about 100 million acres of Native American lands, and most of the land was prime cotton growing
...ew western home.” More than 13,000 Cherokees were forcefully moved by the American military. They traveled over 800 miles by steamboat, train cars, and mostly by walking. During this trip known as the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees suffered from starvation, exposure, disease, and hardship. “No report was made of the number of Cherokee who died as the result of the removal. It was as if the Government did not wish to preserve any information.” However, it is estimated that at least 4,000 may have died and some believe that as many as 8,000 died.
1830 saw the instatement of the Indian Removal Act, a forced relocation of several Native American tribes. This spurred what is now known as the “Trail of Tears.” The Five Civilized Tribes, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole were forced to relocate after resisting assimilation with American civilization. Over 17,000 tribe members were removed and sent to what is now Oklahoma by the order of President Andrew Jackson. Despite the ruling of Chief Justice John Marshall, Jackson set in motion the Trail of Tears. Many perished on the way, and many perished after. (“Q&A: The Trail of Tears”)
The Trail of Tears was a horrific time in history for the Cherokee Indians. May 18, 1830 was the beginning of a devastating future for the Cherokee Indians. On that day, Congress officially passed Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. This policy granted President Andrew Jackson the right to force the Cherokee tribe consisting of about 13,000 people off of their reservations consisting of about 100 million acres east of the Mississippi River in the Appalachian Mountains and to attend a long and torturous journey consisting of about 1,200 miles within nine months until they reached their new home, a government-mandated area within present-day Oklahoma. They left their land which was home to the “Five Civilized Tribes” which were assimilated tribes including, the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminoles.
Why can we be so simply misled or deceived? Myths, folktales, legends and similar stories of freaky imagination often contain such a large amount of nonsense and clearly recognizable misinformation that one should identify the ‘masterpieces’, immediately and easily, as pure rubbish.
...(Perdue 20). It gave them two years to prepare for removal. Many of the Cherokees, led by John Ross, protested this treaty. However, in the winter of 1838-1839, all of the Cherokees headed west toward Oklahoma. This removal of the Cherokees is now known, as the Trail of Tears was a very gruesome event. During the trip from the southern United States to current day Oklahoma, many of the Cherokees died. Shortly after their arrival in Oklahoma, they began to rebuild. They began tilling fields, sending their children to school, and attending Council meetings (Perdue 170).
A young boy named Nicki has his grandmother make him white mittens to wear out in the cold. When Nicki drops one of those mittens in the snow, a bunch of forest animals squeeze in one-by-one stretching the mitten to its limit and go to sleep. Until the bear sneezes. Brett’s telling of a Ukrainian Folktale is made captivating by her beautifully detailed and brilliant illustrations and borders. These colorful illustrations are a stark contrast to those in Alvin Tresselt‘s version of the folktale in which they alternate between full and one color pictures. His version also differs from Brett’s in that the last creature to go into the mitten is a cricket not a mouse causing the mitten to completely burst. Also, in Brett’s version the animals look
Up in the beginning of the 1830s about 125,000 Native Americans stayed on millions of land in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. By the end of the 1830s very few Indians remained occupied on the land. They were all forced out of their land by the federal government for white settlers so they could take over that land and use it for growing cotton. The government forced them to travel to “Indian territory”, a special designated place across the Mississippi river. This long and difficult journey is known as the trail of tears. White Americans, particularly those who lived on the western frontier, often feared and resented the Native Americans they encountered: To them, American Indians seemed to be an unfamiliar, alien
Imagine that a spider has to capture many creatures to gain stories from a god or a cat has to dress in fancy clothes to help his master attain wealth and social status. These are the stories of the classic Ashanti folktale “How Stories Came to Earth” and the classic fairy tale “Master Cat” or “Puss in Boots”. Both of these stories are trickster tales which are stories that have an animal or person use their wits and cleverness to gain what they desire. These stories also use anthropomorphism, which is the attribution of human characteristics to an animal, god, or inanimate objects. These stories can be told as folktales. These are stories that are spoken and not written down that get passed from generation to generation. They can also be told as fairy tales that are written make-believe stories. Even
In conclusion, the development of the folktales leads to the obtaining of ideas about gender. In many ways our society supports the idea that women seem underestimated as well as physically and mentally weak in comparison with the men who is portrayed as intelligent and superior. This can be shown in many ways in the different versions of this folktale through the concepts of symbolic characters, plot and narrative perspective.
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
I am writing this paper because I am interested in the history and importance of fairy tales. Stories are very important to us because they let us share things with others over time and also with people around the world. If we didn’t have stories, we wouldn’t be as creative as we are now. They also have helped us to talk to more people around the world and see what kinds of stories they like to read. Stories have impacted me in many more ways than one. They have given me more creativity as well as opened my mind to new places, people and things. When you read, you get sucked into another world. It allows you to escape reality for a while.
Children’s literature is provided enjoyment and entertainment, advanced and to tooth values by fables which are short, simple stories that teach a lesson. More specifically, the animal fable is a fable in which animals are personified to play the characters of the story to give human a moral message that children can learn from them. The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox Hunting is one of the fable which send to us a message that looking and learning from other’s and yours mistakes, so we can make and solve problem better than before, and if we don’t have any mistakes, we won’t have any lesson to learn.