Common Themes In Native American Myth

The life in “ The World on the Turtles Back” is created by two twin brothers. All the good thing are made by the right-handed twin and all the bad things in the world are created by the left-handed twin. In “The World on the Turtles Back” it says “These two brothers, as they grew up, represented two ways of the world which are in all people. The Indians did not call these the right and the wrong. They called them the straight mind and the crooked mind, the upright man and the devious man, the right and the left”(Iroquois).

The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.-Native American proverb” This is a Native American proverb that shows how important storytelling and stories are to the Native Americans and their culture. Storytelling was a big way of teaching their lifestyle to their younger generation. Storytelling is very important to the Native American culture because it helps explain their way of life, faith, and helps teach life lessons to the younger generation.

Many aspects of Native American culture can be seen in their literature. Native Americans showed a high respect to nature and often viewed animals as equal in rights to humans. Myths of creation, nature, social order, and relations towards other tribes are often topics of literature. Animism was a commonly shared belief of Native Americans. They believed that souls and spirits existed in nature and that forces of nature were controlled by spirits.

Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native

This is not the case with philosophical ideas and ways of thinking such as in the Native American culture. There are no clear distinctions in the ways of interpretation in the manner of storytelling, to teach lessons and morals to their youth. For example, the Native American narratives in telling the story of an elder who envisions himself as a great leader to his people, but before he can fully realize this vision he must endure hardship in learning discipline through hunting and fishing during a summer.

In the story, “Man’s Dependence on Animals,” it is clear that the Native American culture understood the importance of the relationship that existed between man and animals. In keeping with the tradition of storytelling, the storyteller carefully uses his words to describe man as a helpless being, needing his animal friends to survive. “At birth man was helpless. Again it was the animals who assisted the spirit woman in nourishing the newborn infants by bring fruits, vegetables, berries, and drink, while the birds and butterflies brought joy” (Animal 62). This interdependence of man with his environment is clearly illustrated in this story. To further illustrate this interdependence, the storyteller talks about how the animals sacrificed their flesh to feed man. It is clear from the many passages in the story that the Native American understood the close relationship that exists between himself and his fellow animals. The message expressed by the storyteller in the story is clear, conservation of the resources provided by Mother Earth is key to the survival of man. This concept is now referred to as “Going Green” and it involves conserving our limited natural resources. The storyteller goes on to talk about the consequences of not being grateful for the gifts provided by Mother Earth. “At last, weary of service, the

As the proverb goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty, as we know it, is subjective to each individual. However, some individuals are primed to perceive beauty as deriving from physique, clothing, and accessories; neglecting more important traits such as honesty and kind-heartedness. Aaron Shephard portrays in his short story, “The Hidden One: A Native American Legend”, that neglecting such traits results in failure. Any woman who makes deceitful attempts at proving they’re capable of seeing the Great Hunter is cast away. Little Scarface’s unpleasant older sister would “hold[] her down and burn[] her arms and face with sticks from the fire” (Shepard 1) and lie to their father about it. She claimed to see the Hunter and lied about that as well. The mistreated little girl is stripped of having appealing clothing and, what some may consider, a beautiful face; yet, only with her pure soul intact, she ultimately succeeds. The image of beauty the author is attempting to paint for you is that physical appearance only gets you to the door; the Hidden One, symbolized as the prize, is obtained with a “good heart”, free from “jealous[y] and cruel[ty]”.

While the tensions between the early European settlers and Native Americans of North America denotes that the cultures had extreme differences, their writings do not necessarily illustrate that belief. Both the Native Americans and the Puritans wrote about a creator and how that creator related to humans. Native Americans wrote creation myths, which tell us how they described the creation of Earth and how earth’s beings were created. Two specific groups who wrote creation myths were the Inuit and the Mayan Indians. Settlers such as William Bradford, wrote and kept a journal to document the first landing of the Pilgrims. The Puritans, however, wrote poems about their god and how this god interacted with life on Earth. The Puritans wrote about their god in a more hidden way since creativity or other dangerous expressions were frowned upon. Whether the creator was a Raven (Inuits), a Feathered Spirit and a maker (Mayan), or a human-like God (Puritans) all cultures sought this creator for guidance. Each culture had different perceptions of this creator as it related to mankind; Native Americans regarded their

All humans are interested in their origins and trying to account for their existence through creation stories. Native Americans tribes are no different from the rest of humanity. The tribes’ stories explain how people came into existence, how they came to be live on the lands they do and the how people interact with nature and each other. These trends can be seen in the legends of three tribes hailing from New England to the Great Lakes Region.

Like a coin dropped between the cushions of a couch, traditional oral storytelling is a custom fading away in current American culture. For Native Americans, however, the practice of oral storytelling is still a tradition that carries culture and rich history over the course of generations. Three examples of traditional oral stories, “How Men and Women Got Together”, “Coyote’s Rabbit Chase”, and “Corn Mother”, demonstrate key differences in perspectives and values among diverse native tribes in America.

After reading the article, I did not want to write this forum. I was shocked to realized that if it wasn’t for the PBS documentaries I watch on my free time, I would view Native Americans as static characters. As a Ghanaian American, I understand the frustration in being seen as just African, and being treat as if all Africans eat the same food and have the same culture. Realizing that due to what I was taught in school, I treated the Native American culture the same as others treated my culture, made me sad.

Why would it be cool to learn about Native American myths? “ The First False Face”, The Coyote”, and The Origin of The Buffalo and The corn” are all really interesting Native American myths and legends. They are alike but also different from one another. They tell different things but yet they are sometimes very similar.

Many stories can teach us about different cultures such as The Trojan Horse and The Blue Wren. The Trojan Horse teaches us about the Greek culture by telling in the story about the wars they had and the beliefs they had. The Blue Wren teaches us about the Aboriginal culture. The Blue Wren tells us that the Aboriginals made stories to explain why or how something is to be and tells us that Aboriginals made stories to have morals.

When the Europeans first came to the North American continent, scholars assumed that the Native Americans did not have literature due to the fact that there were no written record about it. However, as the time went on, the Europeans found out that the Native Americans had literature, or stories shared orally, for instance The Song of Hiawatha, which talks about a Chippewa hero Manabozho. Despite the fact that they discovered Native American’s stories, they interpret it wrong and accidentally addressed Iroquois Hiawatha. In every Native American literature, there are morals or lessons to teach people, for example literature called Origin of Animals, they talk about how animals came into existence and why the animals avoid