The Passing Down of a Tribe's Ancient Legends
Thesis: The Shaman’s job of passing down the tribe’s ancient legends are very important.
I Shamans
A. definition
B. purpose
1. balance
2. success hunting
3. planting
4. cure sickness
C. Usually males
1. post menopausal women
2. blood powers
II passed down from generation to generation
A. usually from memory
1. sand drawings
2. birch bark scrolls
3. paintings on rocks
4. animal hides
B. children
1. eight-familiar stories
2. ten- know history
III answer basic questions
A. where do we come from
B. where are we going
C. how the world came into being
D. how it was transformed
E. guidelines of behavior
F. tools of survival
IV unknown how long been around
A. possible
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flung flesh
H. tribes sprung up
I. blood- Nez Perce
XV Wappo Legend
A. flooded earth
B. hawk and coyote alone
C. create people from feathers
D. ask Old man moon
1. talk
2. movement
3. laughter
4. walk eat
XVI Tsimshian
A. raven pities dark world
B. transformed to a cedar leaf
C. dropped in stream
D. swallowed by chief’s daughter
E. gave birth to raven
F. played with the box that held daylight
G. stole it and flew to earth
H. smashed it on rocks
XVII Enlightenment of the sky
A. Zuni
1. Mother and father earth in primordial waters
2. Mother grew pregnant
3. Slipped beneath
B. Luiseno
1. short dialogue
2. made love
XVIII Okanagon
A. Earth a woman
B. Mother of all people
C. Flesh- soil
D. Bones- rocks
E. Breath- wind
F. Hair- plants
G. Movements- earthquakes
XIX Wichita
A. Star that is always moving
B. Shoot third deer
C. First-white
D. Second- black
E. Chased it in the sky
F. Stars
G. Finally catches world ends
XX Pawnee
A. Buffalo
B. Hair falls each year
C. All gone the end of the world
XXI Pawnee
A. Council meeting
B. Wolf not invited
C. Stole storm’s wind bag
D. People killed the wolf
E. Wolf people
XXII Closing
Shaman is a word that described the mystic healers of Siberia. They are also one of the names that French trappers named the Native American "doctors", along with medicine men and priests (Flaherty 15). Shamans are usually males, but sometimes they are postmenopausal females. The Native
In this culture, as with many others, one becomes a shaman only after being selected by the divine spirits (Sakovich, 2009). Both men and women are able to become shamans, however, they are referred to by different names as each have distinct responsibilities. The men are called ‘Yuta’ while the women are called ‘Nuru’. The women typically “administer public or communal ceremonies while 'Yuta' focuses on the civil or private matters” (“Shaman Portal” 2012”). One distinct aspect of their form of shamanism is their annual festivals which consists of a group of ten females and ten males. On sacred ground the group purifies themselves in the ocean water and performs a religious ritual to summon a goddess from across the sea. Following these actions, the group "hikes to a small settlement at the top of a nearby mountain to offer rice, sake, fish, and other foods to the divinities" (Sakovich
Atleo, M. R. & James, A. (2000). "Oral Tradition - A Literacy for Lifelong Learning: Native American Approaches to Justice and Wellness Education." Adult Education Research Conference. http://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2246&context=aerc
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