Native American Literature Essay Example

Native American Literature Essay Example Native American Literature Essay Native American Literature Essay Essay Topic: Girl in Translation These stories were usually presented by speakers who were focused on their performance. They used different voices, hand gestures, movements and were very animated. 2. Why is it important to know the origins of their literature? The origin of the literature helps you understand the stories by knowing the culture in which hey are taking place. It reflects a culture as it existed before the arrival of the Europeans. 3. What might be lost in the translation of their stories? Over time as the stories were retold over and over some of the stories may have been changed. Perhaps they may have changed with time and to adapt to new circumstances. 4. What group of people finally wrote down the stories? Why is this significant? The Native American stories and folklore did not come into print until the 19th century, over 300 years after the arrival of the Europeans. It is important that they wrote these stories down the Indians had a very limited written language and if the Europeans had not recorded them they would have been lost in time. 5. Briefly summarize A Tale of the Sky World. You should focus on plot. In the beginning the world was not as we know it today, up in the sky there was another world called The Sky World where human type beings lived. In this Sky World there was a great tree which bore corn that fed the village. Well it so happened, that the chiefs daughter was very sick but there seems to be no cure in sight. One night, a friend of the Chief had a dream that if the girl was placed by the tree and the tree dug up, her sickness would be cured. The girl was placed by the tree, and the tree was dug up. Along came a man who was upset that the tree that fed the village was being dug up and push the girl into the hole where the tree once was. The hole opened up into a world that was completely covered with water. The girls saw this world as she was falling. As she fell the birds of the sky decided to save her and carried her on their bodies. When they grew tired of carrying her, the turtle stepped in and aired her on his back. They quickly decided they could not continue to carry her and that the earth would become her home. They then began to prepare the earth so she could live on it. Soil from the bottom of the sea was brought up and place on the turtles back and it quickly increase where the land could hold all the earths future creatures. The girl recovered from the illness and was living comfortable on the earth, when she brought forth and baby daughter. The girl grew into adulthood and often accompanied her mother in digging wild potatoes. The daughter soon became with child. The mother claimed it was because she was facing the wrong direction while digging potatoes and the West Wind had entered her causing the pregnancy. The girl soon birthed twin boys, one a reddish color and the other a much lighter color. The grandmother did not like the darker child and cast him out into a hollowed tree. As the lighter skinned boy grew, he became a hunter and soon discovered his brother and told his grandmother of the boy. The grandmother then brought the boy home. The boys were very different from each other in personality. One brother was good a created a world that would help its people survive easily, but the other brother was not so kind and created a world that would hinder its future people and make their lives difficult. The inspection of each others creations caused a huge fight be;en the brothers which resulted in the death of the darker skinned brother. 6. What is being created and how is it being created? A livable earth was being created for the girl and its future inhabitants. This was done by bringing up dirt from the sea bottom and placing it on the turtles ace where it expanded and created enough livable for all the earths future creatures. . What type of tale is this? A creation myth 8. The daughter conceives the twins by facing the West 9. What does the violent ending of the tale suggest about the presence of good and evil on earth? Good always battles evil but, in the end, most of the time good prevails. 10. Briefly summarize The Chiefs Daughters. Two girls were laying under the star s making wishes. One girl wishes to be up in the sky with the dim star and the other wishes to be up in the sky with the bright star. When they awake the next morning, their wishes have come true. The one who wished to be with the dim star was the wife of a brave chief and the girl who wanted to be with the bright star was now a servant. The girls remained friend but, now the girl who wished to be with the bright star was to serve the other girl when they Went to dig turnips. They Were told to never strike the ground twice while digging turnips, but the wife of the brave chief was curious what would happen if they struck twice. The next time they went to dig turnips she convinced her servant girl to strike at the ground twice. Striking twice revealed a hole in which she could see her previous home, the earth. This caused the girls to cry, they both wanted to go home. The chief decided to grant their wish and send them back home to earth. He gathers many lariats and knotted them together and wound them around the girls bodies and dropped them through the clouds to their home. When the people of the village saw the girls they were overjoyed. 11. Discuss the possible moral of this tale. Be careful of what you wish for, as it may not be as good as it seems from afar. 12. What happened when the girl struck twice while digging up turnips? A hole opened up in the ground and she could see her previous home on earth 13. What was used to return the chiefs daughters home? Lariats were knotted together and would around the girls bodies and they were gently dropped through the sky to the earth. 14. This tale is a common type of tale called The Star Husband. want you to find a different version of this tale by searching the internet. Provide the title of your tale, the website where you found it, and compare and contrast it to The Chiefs Daughters. Website found: http://BMW. Profiteroles. S/UP-Html- sends/Amicableness-Mammal. HTML Title: Miasma Women Who Married Star Husbands. A Mica Legend Discussion and Research: How do the American Indian tales you read compare to similar tales from the culture in which you were raised? (For example: Remember that this is considered a creation myth. What story were you told about creation? ) Include the following in your answer: The titles Of the tales you read and briefly summarize each . The American Indian Tales and the tales I was told as a child are similar in that they both have been passed down from generation to generation. Most of the time they each use animals to tell the story. Both types of tales are written in a way that only children themselves could believe them. A creation myth that was told as a child is the myth about where babies come from. The myth is that babies are brought by a Stork. This myth was derived from the tale by Hans Christian Anderson titled The Storks, written in 1838. It is the story of how a mother stork, the father and their babies are made fun of by a group of boys. The teasing upset the baby storks and they wanted to get revenge on the boys. Mother stork would not agree o it until they learned to fly and then on their departure day they may get their revenge. When that day arrived the young storks agreed that the boys who did not sing and tease would get a new baby sibling from the pond where all children lie waiting for the stork to come a deliver them to their parents. The boys who had been first to sing and tease, they would bring him a baby who had dreamed itself to death, and the little boy who refused to sing and said it was not nice to make fun of animals would also get a baby brother or sister because he was a good boy.