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Native American Oral Tradition. The Origins of Literature Question 3. The origin of what we call American literature predates the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Oral tradition is the foundation of literature
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The Origins of LiteratureQuestion 3 • The origin of what we call American literature predates the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. • Oral tradition is the foundation of literature • Early rock carvings and petroglyphs are perhaps the first examples of written language
Newspaper Rock (UT) petroglyphs
“A Storyteller and His Art” N. Scott MomadayQuestion 1 • “We have no being beyond our stories.” • “Our stories explain us, justify us, sustain us, humble us, and forgive us. And sometimes they injure and destroy us.” • “Perhaps the greatest stories are those which disturb us, which shake us from our complacency, which threaten our well-being.”
Stories & StorytellingQuestion 1 • “Make no mistake, we are at risk in the presence of words.” • “We are shaken and soothed in turn by stories.” • “…the central function of storytelling is to reflect the forces, within and without us, that govern our lives, both good and bad.” • “Stories are pools of reflection in which we see ourselves through the prism of the imagination.” -from “A Storyteller and His Art” – N. Scott Momaday
Question 2 “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
Words are powerful Words are sacred Words are magical: they can bring about physical change in the world The Oral TraditionQuestion 2
The Oral TraditionQuestion 2 • Words must be spoken with great care • The speaker must be careful, clear & deliberate, for he will be taken at his word • There is a connection between the sacred & the verbal; to be careless in the presence of words is to violate a fundamental morality
Two Stories The Arrowmaker The Kiowa Brothers
The Arrowmaker Question 5 If an arrow is well made, it will have tooth marks upon it. That is how you know. The Kiowas made fine arrows and straightened them in their teeth. Then they drew them to the bow to see if they were straight. 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. After a while he caught sight of something. 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, for I can feel your eyes upon me. If you are a Kiowa, you will understand what I am saying, and you will speak your name.” 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. From The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday. University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
The ArrowmakerQuestion 5 • The Arrowmaker and his wife survive not because of the arrow but rather because of language and words. • He is “a man made of words”– his survival is contingent on his knowledge of language and his enemy’s lack of knowledge. • The story illustrates the importance and power of language in the oral tradition.
The Kiowa Brothers Question 6 On a raid against the Utes, one of two brothers was captured. The other, alone and of his own will, stole into the Ute camp and tried to set his brother free, but he too was captured. The chief of the Utes had respect for the man’s bravery, and he made a bargain with him. If he could carry his brother on his back and walk upon a row of greased buffalo heads without falling to the ground, both brothers would be given horses and allowed to return in safety to their home. The man bore his brother on his back and walked upon the heads of the buffalo and kept his footing. The Ute chief was true to his word, and the brothers returned to their own people on horseback. From The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday. University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
Kiowa BrothersQuestion 6 • The chief is true to his word even though he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing so. • The chief fulfills his promise of freeing the brothers andgiving the valuable commodity of horses to the brothers. • The chief never for a moment considers or would consider going back on his word.
Myths Question 4 • The heart of the oral tradition is the story. • Myths: traditional stories passed down from generation to generation, which explain why the world is the way it is. • They characteristically involve immortal beings and contain magic or the supernatural
MythsQuestion 4 • Myths attempt to explain things such as • Natural phenomenon • The origin of humans • The customs & religious rights of a people • Events beyond people’s control
MythsQuestion 4 • Through myths and legends we can see social orders and daily life: • how families were organized • how political structures operated • how men caught fish • how religious ceremonies felt to the people who took part • how power was divided between men and women • how food was prepared • how honor in war was celebrated
MythsQuestion 4 • Myths teach the values and ideals of a culture -what that culture holds as important. • Myths are the stories that a culture uses to create coherence in its life, values, and symbols.
MythsQuestion 4 • In myths a culture tells its story of origin and its understanding of the major issues of life and death. • Myths are not stories in isolation: they express a culture’s whole life—all that it is and all that it values.
MythsQuestion 4 • Myths and legends are not told merely for enjoyment, education or amusement: they are believed. • They give concrete form to a set of beliefs and traditionsthat link people today to ancestors from centuries and millennia past.
Legends and myths are unique in the way they are told and the regions and landscapes in which they are set. Yet there are some universal recurring themes and images: • the sacred four directions: North, South, East, West in various forms • the children of the sun • the twin brothers who bring culture • worlds piled on top of each other • primordial waters • perpetual destruction and recreation • powerful heroes and tricksters (Veeho, Rabbit, Coyote, Spider Man)
Creation Myths • Myths and legends of human creation and origin reflect in myriad ways a common belief that people are a living part of the natural world, brother and sister to the grain and the trees, the buffalo and the bear.
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. They looked around and saw the world. It made them glad to see so many things. They called themselves Kwuda, “coming out.” From The Way to Rainy Mountain – N. Scott Momaday
Devil’s Tower • The Native American myth of the boy who turns into a bear is common among many tribes of the Great Plains. • The myth explains the natural phenomenon of Devil’s Tower and of the Big Dipper.
“Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they ran, and the bear after them…
They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the Big Dipper.”
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Tower” http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/home.htm
Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear's House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear's Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear's Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear's Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear's Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota). • The name Devil's Tower probably originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God's Tower. This was later shortened to the Devil's Tower.
http://www.sdnhm.org/exhibits/bears/teachersguide/background.htmlhttp://www.sdnhm.org/exhibits/bears/teachersguide/background.html
Verbal Equations Songs, Spells, Prayers
Verbal Equations • (Question 7)Spells, prayers and songs that are characteristically brief, and contain patterns, repetition and formulas, all of which make them easier to remember. • (Question 8)Verbal equations are recited at specific, significant times for an intended purpose (birth, marriage, travel, sickness, hunting, harvest time). • Question 9 • Spell: a set of directions • Prayer: a request • Song: a description
Lullaby Baby, sleep, sleep sleep Father has gone to find turtle shells He said he will come back tomorrow Baby, sleep, sleep, sleep - Creek
Cradlesong sleep, little one, your father is bringing a spotted deer to be your pet, a rabbit’s ear to be your necklace, spotted bramble fruits to be your toys. - Mbya
Woman’s Song A loon I thought it was But it was My love’s Splashing oar To Sault Ste. Marie He has departed My love Has gone on before me Never again Can I see him - Chippewa
Song Early morning dawning green, Ah…is the willow so green? In the green fields, You gave me your love. - Quechua
Medicine Man’s Prayer Listen, my dream! This you told me should be done. This you said should be the way. You said it would cure the sick. Help me now. Do not lie to me. Help me, Sun person. Help me to cure this sick man. - Blackfeet
Prayer Before Killing the Eagle Do not think that I shall harm you. You will have a new body. Now turn your head to the north and lie flat! - Yokuts
War Song clear the way in a sacred manner I come the earth is mine - Sioux
Dog Soldier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNY7L_RdObA
