Kind and selfish, deep and shallow, male and female, and foolish and wise aren’t always words that are associated with each other, quite the opposite in fact. However, when it comes to the trickster tales of Native Americans, each word is associated with the other and describes more or less the same person or animal. To Native American people a trickster affects the world for an infinite number of reasons, including instruction and enjoyment. A trickster, like the name implies, is a cunning deception. A trickster can be a hero. However, at the same time he could introduce death. How is that heroic? Why would a group of people want to remember a person that brings punishments such as death? The function the trickster tales have/ had on Native American communities is still powerful today quite possibly because of their context, the lessons they reap, and the concerns they address. As the tales are told, the stories unravel showing the importance of a trickster and the eye-opening experiences they bring.
The stories that reveal these eye-opening experiences are very extraordinary. The story of Wakjankaga the Winnebago trickster is a story not many people from modern time, and I would think also in historical times, would not reenact. First, a male is converted to a female in order to trick a chief’s son. Next, three males have sex with this recently converted female (trickster). Then, the female (trickster) has three babies with the chiefs son. Finally, when the youngest child is old enough to be on its own, the mother (trickster) leaves the tribe, when usually the children would leave the tribe. These aforementioned unusual circumstances cause the story to be unacceptable. Most of the trickster tales are taboo, possibly because of...
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...hey leave the reader with a lesson that could influence communities. Their context, impact, and ability to be associated in any society allow them to function with power and vigor in societies to come and in societies past. Although the language and grammar of the trickster tales is challenging, the image that can be created is greater than any barrier. Dr. Bright of the Unviersity of California recognizes the persistence of the Native American tricksters tales in the world today.
“As we speak of Trickster today, you must try to blow life into the image, to imagine Trickster as life energy, to allow Trickster to step out of the verbal photograph we create . . . . Because trickster stories still have power: the power to bring us to laughter, the power to baffle us, the power to make us wonder and think and, like Trickster, just keep going on” (Bright).
Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. Luana Ross. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1998.
Which makes us question whether he/she is a well implemented metaphor. For example Dr. Alberta Frank’s lecture asking students to come up with interpretation of a particular drawing “Plains Indian Ledger Art” students do not fully comprehend the picture and it’s meaning which in turn emphasizes the fact that students are disassociated with Native traditions (King,p18-21). But it also allows us to consider the fact that trickster is the metaphor of the association that connects the contemporary with the mythic story in the novel. One about is the realistic story of a few Blackfoot Indians who are in identity denial. The four main characters from the contemporary part of the novel are Lionel, Charlie Looking Bear, Alberta Frank and Eli Stands Alone and another which incorporates various creation sequels with the four old Indians (Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye) who have left a Florida hospital to save Lionel; The elders are each romantically involved with a female character from Native customs (First Woman and the Lone Ranger, Changing Woman and Ishmael, Thought Woman and Robinson Crusoe, and Old Woman and Hawkeye). Just like Coyote these four heroes drift between the narratives that shape the modern part of the novel. Interestingly, these elements are brought together into one narrative that relate to Coyote as he is entrusted with bringing balance, between the two
The American institution has raised countless generations with misconceptions and lies regarding various foreign cultures. During the 1950’s the educational system in America was given the responsibility of teaching children the horrors and injustices they would suffer if the "evil" communist took over the world. Schools taught students that communist wanted to take away music, apple pie, baseball, and anything else that Americans cherished. Students learned that it was best to believe in the righteous of America. The preceding discussion has much in common with the treatment that Native Americans have received from picture books in America.
Perpetuation of Native American Stereotypes in Children's Literature Caution should be used when selecting books including Native Americans, due to the lasting images that books and pictures provide to children. This paper will examine the portrayal of Native Americans in children's literature. I will discuss specific stereotypes that are present and should be avoided, as well as positive examples. I will also highlight evaluative criteria that will be useful in selecting appropriate materials for children and provide examples of good and bad books. Children will read many books as they grow up.
What values are reflected in this culture’s lore and why are they important to the bedrock the culture itself? This is your thesis statement. You will be proving the importance of values in all aspects of Folklore throughout this research paper.
There were other taboo's in the Indian culture other then not naming the dead, such as you were never to kill snakes. It was thought that if one were to snake, it would make the snakes mad and more snakes will come and kill a friend or relative. Snakes, spiders, and scorpions were all seen as bad creatures and they were supposed to avoid them. The only time when you are allowed or only safe time to kill one of these was if they bit you or caused you harm. The Indians also believed that if a fox comes near your home and makes noise, that would be the indication that one of your relatives was going to die. The Owl and coyote were messengers to tell you that the person that was supposed to die is already dead. The Indians believed in magic or healers and witches. The way a person comes to gain super natural powers were through dreams and after that the person becomes empowered with special abilities. They believed that certain springs were cursed and you were not supposed to drink from them. The causes of bad springs would be from a witch that would put a special stone in the water and if you drank from it, you would start hearing voices and seeing things. If the person lingered too long around the spring, you would eventually not be able to think any more and would lose your mind essentially. If a person had a bad dream, it could give you bad powers that would make people sick. The Indians were very scared of witches because of the bad things they could do to you. They would not have to touch you to curse you. The good healers when first having their power would go off and dance by himself and start healing people. Witches were not able to harm good people such as healers. If you were cursed by a witch, it would require a healer tha...
Urban legends are the supernatural folklore of our modern society. From one generation to the next, they orally travel throughout the world, constantly changing from one region to the next. Although cultural variations exist, the core of all these urban legends remains the same, to unveil the universally known individual and societal fears. “The Graveyard Wager” is a timeless urban legend told again and again, and the one of which I will explore more in depth.
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
Although the Indians in I Heard The Owl Call My Name, and in The Black
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will discuss the major themes of the book and why the author wrote it, it will describe Native American society, its values and its beliefs and how they changed and it will show how Native Americans views other non-Natives.
Elements of the supernatural have long enhanced the folklore of many cultures. Stories of ghosts, magic, and so-called aliens are transferred from generation to generation, sparking our imagination and uncovering our deepest fears. While some stories are clearly fabulous, others are believed by those who tell them. The story I wish to report is of the latter kind: an experience that generated real fear in the teller. Although the story is completely original, it contains ideas reflected in much other folklore, including similar tales from similar locations. And like all folklore, the effectiveness of the story depends upon the performance of the teller and those to follow.
There is a recurring character that appears in many Native cultures, this character can be described as the trickster. The trickster serves a very important purpose in all the Native cultures, and that purpose is as a teacher. The trickster teaches the people of the tribe to live in harmony with the all things.
The carving of pumpkins is one of the most important Halloween traditions. Pumpkin carving is founded on the story about “Stingy Jack.” Irish legend states that Stingy Jack invited the Devil for a drink. Of course, Jack did not wish to pay for the drinks. They didn’t call him Stingy Jack for nothing! He played a trick on the Devil and convinced him to turn into a coin so that he may pay for their drinks. When the Devil did this, Jack picked up the coin and placed it in his shirt pocket covering it with a silver cross. The cross prevented the Devil from returning to his normal form. After some time, Jack freed the Devil, with the understanding that the Devil could never claim his soul and would leave Jack in peace for one year. After a year, the Devil returned to Jack...