Native Americans played an important role in American Literature. The bottom lines of American writing is due to the oral traditions of the Native Americans. Assorted tribes told stories to their youth about their cultural beliefs. The Onondaga, through, “The Earth on Turtle's Back,” dealt with the formation of the World. The Modoc myth, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright,” explained how Native Americans matured. “The navajo Legend,” characterizes the ceremony of man and women, while the first formal document, “The Iroquois Constitution,” displays how the first government was created. This paper will explore how the Native American Oral Tradition expressed ways of ceremonial rites, different aspects of nature, and influences of the supernatural. …show more content…
In the story “The Earth on Turtle's Back,” the smallest animal of all, the muskrat, did a very big job that no other animal bigger than her could do. She swam all the way down, deep in the water, to get a small piece of dirt. When the muskrat got back to the surface, she sprinkled the dirt on top of the turtle's back for the earth to begin to grow. In the story “When Grizzlies Walked Upright,” the sky spirit kicked grizzlies out/away from his mountain because he thought they were scary and fierce looking. Later to come in the story, the sky spirits daughter got blown out of their mountain and the grizzlies took her in. Because of this encounter, the grizzlies and the sky spirits daughter created a new cultural, Native Americans. A reader will find that supernatural is just as important in the Native American life as nature …show more content…
In the story “The Earth on Turtle's Back,” the ancient chief of the Skyland’s wife, who was expecting a child, had a dream that she saw the Great Tree uprooted. The next day she was telling her husband and he said that this was such a powerful dream and that he must do all he can to make to true. That following day the Ancient Chief called all the young men together and had the tree uprooted. This is a perfect example of how different Native American tribes follow their spirit. Another example of supernatural comes up in the story “The Navajo Legend”. During this story, the Spirits laid one buckskin on the ground with the head to the west, on top of this they placed two ears of corn pointing to the east. After the corn came the last buckskin was placed, pointing the head towards the east. The last thing added to ‘Ingredient List for Life’ was the white and yellow eagle wings. After the ingredients were all done, the white wind blew from the east and the yellow winds blew from the west. While the wind was blowing, eight Mirage People walked around the objects on the ground four different times and as they were finishing the buckskins seemed to move. When they all backed up, the buckskin lifted up and a man and a women lay there in their stead, thus creating man and
In Native American literature, both creation myths and trickster tales were frequently told and passed down through generations upon generations orally, and then eventually written down. A creation myth is a tale that tells of how the world began or how people first came to live here, while a trickster tale is a short story that tells of a “trickster” with vacuous behavior, whose actions are meant to teach a lesson. Both types of literature are still relevant in modern society, whether it’s through pop-culture or re-told stories, and continue to guide individuals through their life, teach lessons about life on earth, morals, and human nature.
Throughout history, literature has been inspired from the culture of the time while staying true to the literary devices used in classical novels. Native Americans also used literary devices without knowledge of European usage across the Atlantic. In their literature, the Huron tribe demonstrated the use of the literary devices analogies and exaggeration while also being influenced by their culture and society. In both the standard creation myth of the Huron natives and the story of “Skunny-Wundy and the Stone Giant[b][c]” there were influences from the Iroquois tribes, who shared a similar language (Redish and Orrin, “Wyandot/Huron Language”). The Iroquois creation myth is very similar to the Huron as a result.
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.
to a native interpretation told through the oral tradition and a Native-American point of view, the
Discuss the distinctive qualities that define the way stories are told in Native American cultures. How do these differ from what you might have thought of as a traditional story?
Native American literature from the Southeastern United States is deeply rooted in the oral traditions of the various tribes that have historically called that region home. While the tribes most integrally associated with the Southeastern U.S. in the American popular mind--the FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole)--were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) from their ancestral territories in the American South, descendents of those tribes have created compelling literary works that have kept alive their tribal identities and histories by incorporating traditional themes and narrative elements. While reflecting profound awareness of the value of the Native American past, these literary works have also revealed knowing perspectives on the meaning of the modern world in the lives of contemporary Native Americans.
It also shows how different animals come together in harmony to create a new land that was once destroyed. The creation story teaches about different animals such as the loon who catches its food by diving underwater yet floated to the top weak and nearly unconscious, the hell diver who tried but also failed, suddenly the little muskrat came forward and accomplished what they all failed. This helps us understand the text’s social role and importance as the legend teaches about courage of all the animals to volunteer; bravery displayed by the muskrat as he disregards the more powerful and bigger animals as they taunted him, yet he strived to prove to them that he can do it. Ultimately muskrat resurfaces very weak from air and a few minutes later his spirit passed on to the spirit world; in his paw was a smallball of earth. The animals are regarded as one that people should posses such as bravery and courage. The theory makes the text more understandable as it creates a base on how the world and the people in it should
Introduction: The concept of the change and longevity of the fairy tale (or myth) is well illustrated in the story “Yellow Woman” by Leslie Silko. Not only is the story a modern explanation of a traditional Native American myth, but the style that Silko uses to tell it evokes and adapts the oral communication style that those old myths were passed down with. The story is also very self-consciously aware of its place as a modern revision of a myth, and makes many internal references to this aspect of itself. “Yellow Woman” becomes, in effect, the modern version of a Native American myth or legend, and therefore is a perfect example of the way in which old tales are made new.
Other stories explain the more distant origin of the world and emergence of the people, the development of the particular Native American population and crucial events in the history of that population, and the uncertain nature of human existence.”( Wiget) We as humans have yet to learn all of what is told and said throughout the years in history. The Native American people had different cultures which impacted the world throughout the years because they were very different from the Europeans. Unlike Europeans, Native Americans could name many more forms of “literature.” Some of them were “ Winnebago trickster tale cycles, Apache jokes, Hopi personal naming and grievance chants,Yaqui deer sings, Yuman dream songs, Piman shamanic chants, Iroquois condolence rituals, Navajo curing and blessing chants, and Chippewa sings of the Great Medici ne Society, to nam only some of the types of the Navtive American verbal expression.”(Baym and Levine
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
For the Native Americans to explain their existence, they created stories that described how things came to be. These stories are much like the ones that you would find in the Bible, and are very insightful in getting a better understanding of the Native Americans religious viewings. The Native Americans strongly believed in spirits and beings of another world. In the Iroquois Creation Story, these believes are strongly represented by telling the story of two brothers. This story is a representation of how the world was created. There is a good minded brother and a bad minded brother, which are not just brothers but twins. These unborn brothers and their mother were sent to the back of a turtle that in order to secure them from the dangers of the dark world she fell to. In a hurry to be born, the bad minded brother murders
I’m fascinated by the spoken word variety of storytelling. Splintered Literacies, when tied into my personal experience surrounding Native American and Spanish American literature drew me to the realization that grammatically correct English, the variety found typeset in classrooms and institutions, lacks substantial oral tradition. The author and extended family from rural Appalachia clearly value the stories passed down through the generations. Her account of her grandfather’s experience
In his essay, “The Indians’ Old World,” Neal Salisbury examined a recent shift in the telling of Native American history in North America. Until recently, much of American history, as it pertains to Native Americans; either focused on the decimation of their societies or excluded them completely from the discussion (Salisbury 25). Salisbury also contends that American history did not simply begin with the arrival of Europeans. This event was an episode of a long path towards America’s development (Salisbury 25). In pre-colonial America, Native Americans were not primitive savages, rather a developing people that possessed extraordinary skill in agriculture, hunting, and building and exhibited elaborate cultural and religious structures.
Native American Ritual Dancing “It has often been said that the North American Indians ‘dance out’ their religions” (Vecsey 51). There were two very important dances for the Sioux tribe, the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance. Both dances show the nature of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a sense of community.
Native American religion tends to center around nature. The scene, creatures, plants, and other natural components assume a noteworthy part in the religion of Native Americans. Many of the legends passed down were an attempt to explain events that occurred in nature. Native American religion incorporates various practices, services, and conventions. These services might be to pay tribute to various occasions. The act of taking certain psychedelic drugs was usually used to increase more prominent knowledge or speak with the divine beings. Functions may incorporate feasts, music, dances, and different exhibitions. Imagery, particularly with creatures, is frequently a typical piece of Native American religion. Creatures were utilized to speak