Background for Native American Myths and Origin

Stories: Native American

Oral Tradition

N. Scott Momaday Biography

• Kiowa author & historian

• House Made of Dawn (Pulitzer

1969) was one of first Native

American works to interest

mainstream readers & scholars

• interested in the culture of

Native Americans and in what

their stories mean for us today

• has revived interest in Native

Americans and shown that their

art deserves as much

appreciation as Greek or

Scandinavian works

N. Scott Momaday’s Ideas

“We have no being beyond

our stories.”

1) In what ways are we, as

people, products of the stories we

tell?

2) What function do stories serve

in our society (ranging from those

we tell each other to blockbuster

movies)

3) How has storytelling changed?

How has it remained the same?

N. Scott Momaday’s Ideas

“Our stories explain us, justify

us, sustain us, humble us, and

forgive us. And sometimes

they injure and destroy us.”

1)Find an example of a story that

does one of these things.

2)Discuss why we create stories

that “injure and destroy”.

N. Scott Momaday’s Ideas “Perhaps the greatest stories are

those which disturb us, which

shake us from our complacency,

which threaten our well-being.”

1) Make a list of stories that have

had an impact on your life. Do

any of them support Momaday’s

assertion?

2) Why do stories that “shake us

from our complacency” impact

us so greatly? Is this a positive

or negative effect?

Native American Perspective: The Oral Tradition • Words are powerful & magical.

• Words can bring about physical change in the

world.

• Words are sacred & rare, and must be spoken

with great care

• The speaker must be careful in choosing what is said, for it will be taken as a reflection upon him or herself.

• There is a connection between the sacred & the verbal. Careless use of language is a poor reflection on character and breaks the ethical both between the sacred & the verbal.

“The belief that words in themselves have the power

to make things happen—especially words in

extraordinary combinations—is one of the

distinguishing features of Native American thought;

and it may be said that for the people who share this

belief a connection exists between the sacred and

the verbal, or to put it in more familiar terms, a

connection between religion and poetry.”

- John Bierhorst, The Sacred Path

1) How does our modern world still hold to this

idea of the power of words?

2) Do you believe that words possess this power?

If not, why do we feel the need to speak them?

The Power of Words

• The original or ideal, upon which later versions

are based.

• e.g. The tree in “Sky Tree” is the archetypal

“world center”, the point from which life

originated. Many ancient religions have a

tree that is central to their creation story

• There are many different archetypes, including:

• the hero (Neo, Odysseus)

• the mentor (Morpheus, Gandalf)

• the seducer (the One Ring, the Ice Queen)

• the trickster (Hermes, Coyote, Aladdin)

Content Knowledge: Archetype

• A story should have the following qualities in order

to be categorized as a myth:

• emerges from a particular cultural group (without

a specific author)

• explains the unexplained workings of the universe

or passes along guidelines, morals, advice,

wisdom, etc. for dealing with life

• must focus on the exploits of a god or on the

interaction of a mortal with a god (see epics for

the opposite focus)

• originate in oral traditions, then are written down

after many retellings (during which numerous

changes occur to the story)

Content Knowledge: Myth

The Arrowmaker Once there was a man and his wife. They were

alone at night in their tipi. By the light of the fire the

man was making arrows. There was a small opening in

the tipi where two hides were sewn together. Someone

was there on the outside, looking in.

The man went on with his work, but he said to his

wife: “Someone is standing outside. Do not be afraid.

Let us talk easily, as of ordinary things.” He took up an

arrow and straightened it in his teeth; then, as it was

right for him to do, he drew it to the bow and took aim,

first in this direction and then in that.

And all the while he was talking, as if to his wife.

But this is how he spoke: “I know that you are there on

the outside. If you are a Kiowa, you will understand

what I am saying, and you will speak your name.”

The Arrowmaker (cont) But there was no answer, and the man went on in

the same way, pointing the arrow all around. At last his

aim fell upon the place where his enemy stood, and he

let go of the string. The arrow went straight to the

enemy’s heart.

1) What is your interpretation of this story? What

does it tell us about language?

2) Why is the Arrowmaker successful in defeating his

enemy?

3) What point does this story make about strength vs.

wit?

Kiowa Origin Myth

You know, everything had to begin, and this is

how it was: the Kiowas came one by one into the world

through a hollow log. There were many more than now,

but not all of them got out. There was a woman whose

body was swollen up with child, and she got stuck in

the log. After that, no one could get through, and that is

why the Kiowas are a small tribe in number. It made

them glad to see so many things in the world. They

called themselves Kwuda, “coming out.”

From “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday

Kiowa Origin Myth Questions

1) Many societies have creation myths that are

centered around a body of water. Why? What can you

infer about the Kiowa’s location based on their myth?

2) There is a very important difference between the

Kiowa origin story and that found in most other

cultures. What is it?

3) What does this difference indicate about the Kiowa

world view?

By: Vista Townsend

Native

American

Literature

• Many cultures around the world have

stories about creation.

• Three Native American creation

myths we will study are:

• The Earth on Turtle’s Back ~

Onondaga

• When Grizzlies Walked Upright ~

Modoc

• Navajo Origin Legend ~ Navajo

Creation Myths

Oral language

• The languages of Native American

tribes were never written down

before the English arrived from

Europe.

• Their stories were passed verbally

from generation to generation.

Language of North America

• The population of the native civilizations of

the current territory of the United States fell

from about 20 million to the present level of

less than 2 million.

• Beyond the shrinking size of the ethnic

populations, the languages have also

suffered due to the prevalence of English

among those of Native American ancestry.

• Most Native American languages have

ceased to exist, or are spoken only by older

speakers, with whom the language will die

in the coming decades.

Forgotten Languages

• Only 8 indigenous languages of the area of the continental United States

currently have a population of speakers in the U.S. and Canada large

enough to populate a medium-sized town. Only Navajo still has a

population of greater than 25,000 within the U.S.

Remaining Speakers

Language Family Locations Speakers

Navajo Athabaskan AZ, NM, UT 148,530

Cree Algic MT, Canada 60,000

Ojibwa Algic MN, ND, MT, MI, Canada

51,000

Cherokee Iroquoian OK, NC 22,500

Dakota Siouan NE, ND, SD, MN, MT, Canada

20,000

Apache Athabaskan NM, AZ, OK 15,000

Blackfoot Algic MT, Canada 10,000

Choctaw Muskogean OK, MS, LA 9,211

• During World War II, bilingual Native Americans , mainly Navajo, transmitted messages through codes for the United States Army.

• The codes were never broken by the enemy.

• The Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a three–line message in 20 seconds. Machines used at that time to perform the same operation took 30 minutes.

Code Talkers in WW II

• This story is a legend that was written by the

Onondaga Tribe.

• It displays the emphases they placed on dreams

• It was most likely written before the Europeans

came to America in the late 1400’s. There is no

exact time period in which it was written.

• This legend was passed down from generation to

generation.

Time Period and Literary Style

• Origin myth - which describes the creation of the

earth.

• Shows that weaker and smaller animals can

accomplish things that larger and stronger animals

have failed to complete

• Teaches that you have determination nothing will

stand in your way.

Author’s Purpose

• Imagery—images formed in reader’s mind relating

to story

example: tree, water world, turtle

• Repetition—repeating something over and over

example, when the Muskrat was swimming,

the author repeated the idea of swimming

deeper to show how much determination

the Muskrat had

Imagery & Repetition

Modoc

Captain Jack

• Time period—Before the Europeans came to

American in the late 1400’s by the Modoc tribe

• Origin myth explaining “The Sky Spirit” creates the

earth, and the creation of the Native Americans.

Time Period and Literary Style

• Explains the creation of Mount Shasta and the

land and animals nearby.

• Tells how the daughter of the Sky Spirit

marries a bear and their children become the

first Native Americans.

• The Native Americans living around the

mountain would never kill a grizzly bear

because of this story.

Author’s Purpose

• The Sky Spirit had cursed the grizzlies by

saying, “Get down on your hands and knees.

You have wronged me, and from this

moment all of you will walk on four feet and

never talk again.”

• The Sky Spirit Chief behaved like a human

when he used anger to punish the grizzlies.

Conflict

Navajo woman with her children

•The time period - Native Americans before the English came to America. •The Navajo told the myths verbally, passing them from generation to generation.

Time Period

• The purpose of the story is to examine

how the Navajo people believed the

human race was created

• The Navajo people believed these stories

were true.

• It is a origin myth telling how marriage

began.

Author's Purpose

• The author used symbolism in the literature.

• The corn was placed facing east and west,

relating to the passage of the sun

• The man and woman were created from the

corn and the buckskin. The corn & deer are

basic foods which provide life for the Navajo.

• The four gods represent the four directions of

the wind which gave life to the humans.

Literary Techniques & Author‘s Purpose

• "The Iroquois Constitution" was first thought

to have been written in the 1500's, but a newer

theory believes it to be between 1090 and 1150

A.D.

• Five Nations that formed the Iroquois

Confederation included the Mohawk,

Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca

tribes.

Time Period

• The Iroquois Constitution set forth a series of

laws, forming a government that any could join

if they wished to obey the laws.

• At the beginning of counsel meetings, the

Iroquois gave thanks to the Creator for the

natural world.

Government

• The author uses imagery to help the reader

picture what the author is describing.

• “Tree of the Great Peace” can be imagined

in your head.

• The author also uses symbolism.

• The tree symbolizes the Iroquois

Confederacy

• The roots of that tree symbolize peace and

strength.

Imagery & Symbolism

Assignment

• Go to ELA Dashboard to open your

textbook and read The World on Turtle’s

Back p.20