Week 11 Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales Part A

 The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds (Part 1/Part 2)

• Iagoo (storyteller) seated in a corner at night, staring into a fire

• He was thinking about the strange/wonderful things he had seen

• Burning logs/coals would take curious shapes and make weird pictures only he could understand

• The children never interrupted him, waited for him to speak/tell a story

• This one night, Iagoo stayed still and kept staring into the fire; children feared he had forgotten them/wouldn’t tell a bedtime story

• One girl gets his attention, asks if the mountains were always there

• Iagoo looks into fire, concludes that the mountains WERE always there

• Iagoo begins telling story of magical Big Rock

• Back in the day where animals/men were on friendly terms, a little boy and girl lived in a valley

• The valley was beautiful place to live- (lovely fields, flowers, berries, and birds)

• Boy/Girl would wander making friends with the animals- mutual love btw kids/animals

• River flowed through the valley, for bathing and drinking

• Boy/Girl would play in shallow pool on hot days, Beaver taught them how to swim

• One day after swimming, they decide to lie on a big, flat, mossy rock to dry off

• Fall asleep on the rock, and the rock rises/grows; becomes taller than the trees

• Parents look for their kids, asking animals where their kids are- animals don’t know

• Coyote decides to help them, sniffing around to get their scent and finds them

• Coyote calls all animals together to figure out how to get them down

• They eventually decide to try jumping up there

• Many animals try to jump, fall miserably. Measuring Worm offers to try, all the animals laugh

• Measuring Worm starts slithering/climbing up the rocks; takes him a month to get to the top

• Worm guides Boy/Girl safely down the rocks

• Lions/Bears no longer live in valley; Indians name Big Rock after Worm (Tu-tok-a-nu-la)

How the Summer Came (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3)

• Morning Glory hated winter, longed for spring to come

• Asks old man (Iagoo) if spring/summer will ever come- wouldn’t the lack of spring/summer be dreadful?

• Old man tells him when he hears wild goose and robin flying North, summer will be soon

• Morning Glory complains about the wind and wonders if there’s ever been such a long winter

• Iagoo explains there was a time there was no summer on Earth (covered in snow and cold), ruled by Ka-bib-on-okka (the North Wind)

• O-jeeg, the Fisher, eventually gave his life so summer could come- North Wind now rules the Land of Ice

• Iagoo tells Morning Glory/Eagle Feather story of how summer came

• O-jeeg (a hunter) knew the woods very well, was able to follow animals- good at archery, didn’t let a storm/snow turn him back from a journey, did everything well)

• Some believed O-jeeg was magical; very friendly with animals, always willing to help him at a moment’s notice

• O-jeeg provided for his family (wife/son) through hunting- food, clothing from skins, inspiration for son. Winter was always a struggle (snow never melted)

• Son goes out to hunt, squirrel asks Son if he can make Summer come from the sky

• Son says he’ll get O-jeeg to do it; O-jeeg says he’ll try

• O-jeeg meets w/ animals to get advice; Lynx tells him there’s a high mountain that reaches the clouds, might be able to break the sky/release the sun by climbing it

• Lynx tells O-jeeg there’s a giant that could tell them where/how to climb it

• O-jeeg/animals set out on journey, find/meet the giant at a lodge, stay the night

• Giant tells O-jeeg to travel straight to the North Star

• They will be able to climb the mountain by following North Star for 20 days, but they will not be able to get down

• O-jeeg/animals climb the mountain, call out to Great Spirit for success

• Each of the animals try to jump up and claim the sun

• Otter jumps, hits his head on the sky, slides down the mountain

• Beaver/Badger/Lynx try, but hit their heads on the sky

• Wolverine tries, hits his head on sky and dents the sky; eventually breaks it

• Sun comes out; snow disappears, grass grows, flowers bloom, birds come out, fruit is grown, streams flow through meadows, etc.,

• Spring/Summer/Autumn escape into the world below

• Wolverine jumps down the hole back to Earth; O-jeeg was occupied releasing birds into the Earth, hole closes and O-jeeg gets trapped

• Sky-Dwellers chase O-jeeg; O-jeeg climbs tree, Sky-Dwellers leave him alone

• O-jeeg comes down and fails to find a hole back to Earth; forced to live up in the sky

• O-jeeg (Fisher) is now visible in the sky with an arrow through his tail; Indians call them Fisher Stars, white men call them the Plough constellation

Boy and Girl on Top of the Rock, via the Untextbook

Story Source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921)

Week 10 Reading Notes: British North America Part B

Turtle and Thunder

• Turtle lived alone in a lake

• Turtle would get hit by something several times, but didn’t know what it was (couldn’t see it)

• Turtle goes to the woods to get help; Deer agrees to help

• Turtle asks to see Deer’s fighting ability; Deer fights a tree and breaks his antlers

• Turtle says Deer won’t last long enough; Bear offers to help

• Bear fights a tree, looks clumsy jumping around while fighting

• Turtle says Bear won’t last long enough; crowd of small turtles come out and offer to help

• Crowd of turtles fight Turtle to prove abilities; Turtle approves of their fighting

• Turtle leads small turtles to the lake; Turtle leaves them and goes home

• Big stone falls on the small turtles, killing them

• Turtle runs outside to see commotion, sees big Thunderbird

• Muskrat explains that is the Thunderbird and he is very scary

• Turtle now stays in the water during a thunderstorm

The Making of Lakes and Mountains

• Group of bears steal a woman; made to obey them

• Woman comes up with a plan to escape

• Woman combs/gathers their hair in a pile; also gathered hair oil, sharpening stone, red Earth pigment

• Bear/Woman gather wood, Bear walking slow because he has a lot on his back, Woman has small bundle in her arms

• Woman runs back to the house ahead of Bear, grabs hair/oil/stone/pigment and runs away

• Bears notice she’s gone and chase her; when bears get close, woman pours out some hair oil, and it turns into a lake

• Runs some more, breaks off some sharpening stone, it turns into a mountain

• Snowbirds surround her, pours red Earth pigment; snowbirds flock to it to paint their faces

• Throws hair on ground, turns into a mass of fallen trees to impede the Bears

• Bears get closer; woman shoves the comb into the ground, turns into a bunch of mountains

• Bears cannot get over them, so they have to go around

• Snowbirds surround her; does the same pigment trick

• Makes another mountain with whetstone

• Birds surround her again; combines hair/oil to create a lake with fallen trees in it

• Woman gets to the seashore, asks a man in a canoe to let her go with him

• She gets in; Bears catch up, jump in water and swim after her

• Man puts a carved club in the water, killing all the Bears

Coyote and Fox

• Coyote comes across an underground house

• Rock Rabbit People live there- very small and short

• Coyote wants to eat them; kills them, ties them up, and carries them off

• Coyote finds a tree, makes a fire pit of rocks, puts in rabbits, covers it with leaves and dirt; takes a nap while they cook

• Fox sees Coyote/fire pit, digs up the rabbits and eats half

• Coyote awakens, tells Fox to leave him some

• Coyote too sleepy/lazy to stop him, Fox eats all of them

• Coyote wakes up and is mad at Fox, follows him to see Fox sleeping under a tree

• Coyote uses magic to make tree fall on Fox, tree misses Fox though

• Fox leaves and falls asleep in thick/tall rye grass

• Coyote sets grass on fire, Fox wakes up and leaves before fire gets him

• Fox goes to where a lot of rabbits are; Coyote sets another fire- rabbits run out everywhere

• Fox leaves, Coyote goes for the rabbits

• Coyote travels to a magpie area, catches many magpies, makes a robe of their skins

• Coyote sees Fox wearing a beautiful robe of silver-fox skins and golden eagle feathers

• Coyote offers to trade robes, Fox refuses; Coyote steals robe and runs away

• Fox makes magic wind blow; Robe blows off of Coyote’s body and comes back to Fox

• Coyote goes to find his old magpie robe, which is gross and broken

• Fox wore his silver robe until he became an ordinary fox, robe turns into his beautiful silver fur

Silver Fox, via the Untextbook

Story Source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917)

Extra Credit Reading Notes, Week 10: British North America Part A

Creation of the World

• Wyandots- people who lived beyond the sky

• Shaman tells Indians to dig around a tree by chief’s lodge; break through the Sky Land floor

• Tree and chief’s daughter fall through into a sheet of water

• Swans see her falling, catch her on their back, go to Big Turtle to ask what to do with her

• Animal Council gathers, suggest divers go down to get some Earth from its roots to create an island for the girl

• They all go to where the tree fell, have to dive down into water to collect the Earth

• Otter dives down, drowns. Muskrat tries, drowns. Beaver tries, drowns.

• Old Toad offers to try, the animals laugh at her. Big Turtle tells her to go for it

• Old Toad comes up with a few grains of Earth, spits them out and dies as well

• Small Turtle rubs the grains on the edges of Big Turtle’s shell

• Shell begins to grow into an island; becomes large enough for woman to live on

• Island grows larger and larger until it becomes the Earth we know today

• Earthquakes occur when Big Turtle moves his foot

Creation of Light

• The whole world was dark, except inside the tepee of an old chief

• Chief owns all light, fire, and water- didn’t share light

• Animals go and try to steal the light

• Everyone puts on masks and dancing aprons- goes to chief’s lodge for a dance

• Each animal sang their own song, they all sang for Light in their own way

• Chief constantly refused to give them light

• Animals sang for light loudly and steadily; light begins to steal up into the sky

• Chief notices, starts shouting “let there not be” to stop it (but he didn’t say “light” at the end so it didn’t work)

• Animals keep dancing/singing, Chief shouts “Let there be light!” in a panic

• Light shone throughout the sky; Men have had light ever since

Origin of Light and Fire

• Raven/Seagull were friends who lived near one another

• World was constantly dark; Seagull owned the daylight that stayed in a box

• Seagull only let the light out for his own personal use

• Raven thought that was selfish; planned to steal it/let it out

• Puts thorn branches outside Seagull’s house; tells Seagull his canoe has been set adrift

• Seagull runs out of his house barefoot; gets thorns in his feet

• Raven offers to pull thorns out; says Seagull needs to let some daylight out of box so he can see

• Raven pushes Seagull’s arm, breaking the box and letting the light out

• Raven cleans himself, paints face black

• After four days, Raven sees smoke on the south shore of the sea

• Raven’s servants try to paddle in canoe to the smoke, but it was swamped

• Borrows Seagull’s canoe; goes to house of the Fire People

• Steals the baby in the home and runs away

• Sturgeon, Whale, Seal and others go search for Raven and his boat

• Raven returns to his home with the baby

• Fire People try to give Raven presents in exchange for the baby

• Raven refuses all gifts, but agrees to return the baby for some fire

• Fire People give Raven fire, and teach him how to make fire

Story Source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917)

Picture of Old Toad, via the Untextbook

Week 9 Reading Notes: More Brer Rabbit Part B

 Mr. Fox is Again Victimized

• Brer Rabbit treats Brer Fox as a horse

• Ties him to a rack as he goes to hang out with girls- smoking, playing music, etc.,

• When Rabbit/Fox leave, Fox turns loose- tries to buck Rabbit off of him (jumping very high, tearing up the ground)

• Fox gets tired, Rabbit runs into the forest to get away

• Rabbit squeezes into hole in base of tree, Fox lies outside to wait/gather his mind

• Buzzard comes along and thinks Fox is dead; Fox makes a deal w/ Buzzard to help him catch Rabbit

• Fox leaves to get an axe while Buzzard keeps watch

• Rabbit tells Buzzard there’s a big squirrel in the tree to tempt him

• Rabbit tells Buzzard he’ll help him drive the squirrel out so Buzzard can eat him

• Buzzard at one side of the tree, Rabbit will run through the tree to drive the squirrel toward the Buzzard

• Rabbit kicks up dirt to make it appear the squirrel is coming

• Buzzard dives into the tree, gets stuck, Rabbit runs towards home

The End of Mr. Bear

• Brer Rabbit runs into Brer Bear

• Asks him how Miss Brune (Bear’s wife) and Miss Brindle (Bear’s girlfriend) are doing

• While they talk, Brer Bear secretly wants to nab/eat Brer Rabbit

• Rabbit tells Bear that he found an “old-time bee tree” oozing with honey (aka beehive)

• Bear wants the honey to feed his family, Rabbit takes him to it

• Bear starts to climb the tree; Rabbit takes a pine pole to “shove the honey to where Bear can get it”

• Bear gets to the top, sticks his head in the hive; Rabbit hits the hive to rile up the bees

• Bees sting Bear, his head swells up so he can’t remove his head

• Bear ends up hanging from the tree with his head stuck in the hive; Rabbit runs away in relief

How Mr. Rabbit Saved His Meat

• Brer Wolf coming back from fishing trip; smells Miss Partridge nearby

• Wolf sets his fish down, goes to find Partridge to eat her

• Brer Rabbit sees fishes, takes them; Wolf comes back and finds them missing (but knows Rabbit was in the area)

• Wolf goes to Rabbit’s house to ask where the fish are; Rabbit denies it

• Rabbit says “If you really believe I have your fish, you can go kill my best cow”

• Wolf goes to Rabbit’s pasture to kill a cow; Wolf hears slave patrol, runs into underbrush

• While he’s gone, Rabbit kills a cow, skins and cuts it; sticks the cow tail into the ground

• Rabbit calls out to Wolf; convinces him the cow is stuck in the ground

• They yank out the tail; Rabbit convinces Wolf that the now tailless cow is still in the ground

• Brer Wolf grabs digging tools (spade, shovel, pick axe) to try and dig up the cow

• Brer Rabbit goes to his porch to watch Wolf dig for no reason and laughs at him

• Rabbit and his kids have tons of cow meat to enjoy

Story Source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris

Brer Rabbit Riding Brer Fox, via the Untextbook