Reading Notes: Alaska Part B

A man married the only woman that they knew of at the time and she lived in the south. A while after they married the son of the headsman went to the south to get the woman and grabbed her by the shoulders. When the husband awoke he noticed what was happening and grabbed his wife by the feet. They both started to pull in different directions and the woman's body broke in half.

The son of the headsman took the top half of the woman's body up north and her husband took the bottom half to the south. They each completed the rest of the woman's body by carving wood to make the body complete.

The woman in the north was great at sewing and needlework but not so great at dancing because her legs were made of wood. The woman in the south was good as dancing but not needlework because her arms were made of wood.

So to this day, all the women in the north are skillful with their hands and the woman in the south are good dancers.

Bibliography: The First Woman from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson

Image source: Alaskan Eskimo women from Wikimedia Commons 

Reading Notes: Alaska Part A

Man burst out of a pea pod when he stretched. He stretched and moved his arms and legs and realized that he was full-grown and there was a hole in the bottom of the pod that he came out of. The ground was very soft and was moving under his feet, which made him feel uneasy, so he stopped to get a drink of water from a pool underneath him.

He saw a black figure flying towards him and it turned out to be a raven. The raven moved his beak up to the top of his head with the help of his wing. When he did that, he became a man. He was shocked at what he saw and started looking at Man from all different angles.

Raven went to get Man some berries so that he could eat and came back four days later. When he came back they went to the river and they molded animals out of clay. Then Raven would flap his wings over them four times and they would come to life.

When he was done with the animals, he created a girl so that Man would have a companion.



Bibliography: The Raven Myth: Raven's Creation from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson

Image Source: Black Raven from Wikipedia

Week 10 Story: Black Bear and Squirrel

You can find the updated story in my portfolio.

In a mountain far away lived a very friendly black bear named Sobig. He was very friendly and was always willing to help the other animals that lived in the same area. Throughout the years, He had mastered the skill of balance due to there being a tight rope that connected two mountain cliffs. The rope was usually used by humans, but every so often Sobig liked to cross over to the other mountain cliff. He found it easier to cross on all fours than trying to cross standing up on his two hind legs.

One day, he was getting ready to cross over to the other mountain when he ran into a squirrel named Scrat. Scrat needed some help getting over to the other side and getting Sobig to help him was his only chance of making it across. Scrat was very clumsy and there was no way he would make it over on his own.

"Hi Sobig," said Scrat.

"Hey Scrat, what are you up to today?" asked Sobig.

With a big grin on his face, Scrat said, "I need some help getting across to the other mountain cliff and I have heard that you seem to do it pretty easily."

"I have indeed mastered crossing to the other cliff. I would love to help you, why don't you sit on my head between my ears? replied Sobig.

Scrat replied, "I am afraid If I do that then I will fall off."

"Well then you can sit on my back if it works better," said Sobig.

"That brings us back to the same thing though, I am afraid that I will fall," replied Scrat. 

"How would you like me to get you across then?" asked Sobig.

"Let me hop inside you and you can carry me across in that way," said Scrat. 

"Sure, sounds like a great idea!" said Sobig.

So, the two of them went on their way and started to head across on the tight rope to the other mountain cliff. While in Sobig's body, Scrat was slowly gnawing away at Sobig's carotid, which is one of the biggest blood vessels in the body. When they made it to the other cliff, Sobig collapsed because of how much blood he had lost. Scrat climbed out and began to look around. 

"I need to find a sharp, jagged rock to butcher Sobig," Scrat said to himself. 

As Coyote was walking by, he heard Scrat talking to himself and wanted to be a part of his plan.

"Hey Scrat, let's make a deal. Once we find a good rock to butcher Sobig with, the person who can jump over him without falling should be the one to butcher him," said Coyote. 

Scrat agreed, but as sly as he is, he had a plan in mind. Coyote went first and did not quite clear the body of Sobig without tripping and falling. Scrat is significantly smaller than Coyote so it is nearly impossible for him to fully clear Sobig. So, he jumped over his head since it is not as big as the rest of his body. 

Scrat started to butcher Sobig and gave Coyote his internal organs to go wash in the stream. When he got back, Scrat noticed some of the organs were missing and he checked his mouth only to find remnants of food in there. He was about to kill Coyote when he saw that, but Coyote was quicker and killed him with a flint that he had found. He left all of the food sitting next to Scrat's dead body as well as a tick and went to go get his children. 

Scrat got up, and when he did the tick flew to Coyote and informed him that Scrat was not dead. So, Coyote went back to the site, killed him again and went back on his way. Once again, the tick flew to Coyote and told him that Scrat had once again got up. So, Coyote went back one last time to assure that Coyote was dead. When Scrat got up and saw that the tick was about to go get Coyote, he killed the tick. 

With Coyote being gone, Scrat got all the food and climbed up a nearby tree. It was late when Coyote got back everything was gone and Scrat was nowhere to be found. Scrat finally called to Coyote from the top of the tree and told them that they could lay down at the foot of the tree and he would throw them some food. Once they had all fallen asleep, Scrat grabbed the biggest, heaviest tree limb that he could find and threw it down at Coyote and his kids. It killed all of them and Coyote took them to the edge of the mountain cliff and threw them down into the canyon. 

Authors Note: In the original story, Buffalo helped Porcupine cross the stream by letting him crawl inside him. Porcupine gnawed at one of his main blood vessels and when Buffalo got to the end of the stream he instantly fell over. Coyote and Porcupine found flint and the one that could jump over the buffalo without falling would be the one to butcher Buffalo. Porcupine fell when he tried to jump over the body and Coyote just jumped over his tail. Since Coyote got to butcher Buffalo, he sent Porcupine to the stream to wash off his organs and noticed that Porcupine had eaten some, so he instantly killed him. Coyote's feces, that he left at the site, told Coyote when Porcupine had got up. After two times of this happening Porcupine threw dirt in the feces mouth so that they could not alert Coyote. So, Porcupine climbed up in a tree and when Coyote came back with his kids, he killed them all. 

In my story, I kept the same plot for the most part but changed it in some instances. I also changed the animals in the original story to different ones in mine. The lesson that is taught from this story is that sometimes the one that is known to be kind and helpful is taken advantage of by sly ones. 

Bibliography: Coyote and Porcupine from Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard


Image Source: Mountain cliffs at Yosemite National Park with a tight rope between them from    
                        Wikimedia Commons 

Reading Notes: Apache Part B

In this story, Porcupine needed the help of Buffalo to get across a stream.

Buffalo offered Porcupine several different ways that Porcupine could get on him, but Porcupine said no because if Buffalo moved then he would fall off.

So porcupine said that he would just get inside him and cross the stream the way.

While Porcupine was inside Buffalo, he was gnawing at a large blood vessel which caused Buffalo to collapse when he got across the stream.

When he was about to go out and find a flint, Coyote heard him talking to himself and he convinced Porcupine that the one to butcher Buffalo should be the one who is able to successfully jump over him.

Coyote won that and he got to butcher Buffalo. He gave porcupine some of Buffalo's organs for him to go wash off and Porcupine ate some while he was at it.

When he came back he Coyote checked his mouth and saw some food remains which led Coyote to kill him.

He stood back up a total of three times with Coyote having to go back and kill him. On the third time, Coyote did not come back and came back later with his children.

Porcupine had taken all the food to the top of a tree and told Coyote and his children to lay at the foot of the tree and he would throw them food. However, he threw a backbone at them and killed them all except for the youngest one because he saw it coming and ran.

He climbed up the tree with Porcupine and when he sat on a branch Porcupine knocked him off and he fell into the canyon and burst.

Picture of Porcupine;

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Coyote and Porcupine from Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard

Reading Notes: Apache Tales Part A

In this story, Naiyenesgani turned corn into snakes several times before the Pueblo Indians realized that he was a true medicine man.

The Pueblo Indians told him about a sinking hole that kept taking his people and they never came back.

So Naiyenesgani went over to the sinking hole and made 4 different colored hoops. When he threw the first hoop in the water it made a hole in the center. As he threw the others in, the hole got bigger and bigger until there was no more water left.

 A ladder was sticking out and when he went in the sinking place there was an old man and woman.

He filled the place with smoke and started telling the people to come out from behind the doors that they were in.

As they came out he told them to follow him and when they went back up the ladder he told them to go home.

Taos Pueblo

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Naiyenesgani Rescues the Taos Indians a part of Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard

Reading Notes: The Jealous Wife

A man had two wives. One was younger and one was elder.

I can only imagine that his wives were jealous of the other at times. He went away for some time and while he was gone, the wives decided to get ready for him by going fishing and getting some fish to cook. The elder wife went first. The younger wife went second and her son was brighter than the elderly wife's son.

That made the elderly wife jealous and she sharpened a razor throughout the day. She planned on using the razor to kill the young wife's son while the boys slept.

She killed the boy while they were sleeping and the next morning when she went to move the body she realized that she killed the wrong boy and she killed her son.

When she realized it was her son, she took him and ran into the forest. When the husband got home and found her missing he went to go look for her in the forest and they found her and killed her too.

Forest 

Source: CIA

Bibliography: The Jealous Wife by Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett

Week 8 Progress

So far this semester, I am not very content with where I am in the class. While I have enjoyed it, I have had trouble staying on top of it and managing my time well enough to work the assignments into my schedule. I have missed lots of readings and that has affected me. I have done some extra credit, but not a lot of it and I need to take more advantage of it. My portfolio, however, is coming along great and I couldn't be happier.

As we get into the second half of the semester, I am wanting to stay ahead of schedule to ensure that I get all of the assignments done and turned in on time. I also want to utilize the extra credit that we have available to us so that I can increase my grade and be where I want to be. I am really excited to keep working on my portfolio and get to the final product.

Motivational quote to finish this semester strong;

Source: Flickr