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Native American Tales & Activities |
| Arrow to the Sun | Rough-Faced Girl | Song of Sedna | Whale of a Tale |
Arrow to the Sun |
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Background This story is a Pueblo Indian Tale. It is the story of the son of a young maiden who lived in a pueblo. The Lord sent down a spark, she became pregnant and had a son. Often, the boy was made fun of because he had no father, so he went off in search of his father. He asked the Corn Planter and the Pot Maker if they knew who his father was, but they weren't able to help him. Finally, he went to the Arrow Maker, who knew the answer. Instead of telling the boy, he made an arrow and the boy was transformed into the arrow, then shot to the sun. When he got the the sun, the Lord asked him to prove he was his son by passing through "four chambers of ceremony - the Kiva of Lions, the Kiva of Serpents, the Kiva of Bees, and the Kiva of Lightening." He passed these test, was filled with the sun's power, and sent back to earth. The story has aspects that are similar to the Bible story of Jesus and Mary, and the trials are like trials undergone by characters in Greek mythology. The book by this title, illustrated by Gerald McDermott, won the Caldecott Medal for the wonderful illustrations. Suggested Lessons and Activities 1. Discussion. What is a Caldecott Medal? How were the pictures made? (gouache and ink, according to the book). Does the artwork have some significance to Pueblo culture? 2. This book may be used as a jumping point for a unit on Caldecott Award Winners. 3. Art project - Design own pictures using the same materials McDermott used. Bind them into a class book. Citations McDermott, Gerald. Arrow to the Sun. New York: Viking, 1974.
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Rough-Faced Girl |
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Background These two stories are Native American versions of what Euro-Americans would consider to be "Cinderella" stories. Nearly every culture has a type of Cinderella story. Other versions of the story include Perrault's The Glass Slipper, The Egyptian Cinderella (Shirley Climo), Ashpet (Appalachian), Yen-Shen (Louie), Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (African), The Golden Slipper (Vietnamese), and many others. Some sources say there are over 700 versions of Cinderella (Cech, 113), while others claim the number is even higher -- perhaps over 1500 versions (Wolf,129). There is even a Cinderella Project at USM to tell the variants of Cinderella. The Rough-Faced Girl is an Algonquin Indian Cinderella (Martin, Author's Note). Like the French version, it opens with a girl who isn't very pretty and who is treated poorly by her sisters. Her sisters make her sit close to the fire to feed the flames, causing her to become scarred and burnt. Village girls know that the Invisible Being lives close by, and he plans to marry the girl who is able to see him. All of the girls in the village want to marry this being, especially the Rough-Faced Girl's sisters. This beautifully-told story leads us through the girls' attempts to marry him and the Rough-Faced Girl's journey to meet the Invisible Being and his sister. The Soot-Faced Girl, by San Soucci, and Little Scar Face are similar Native American stories. Suggested Lessons and Activities 1. Locate on a map or globe where this group of Native Americans lived. Have students locate this area on their map and color it a certain color, according to the map key. 2. Complete a comparison chart of this version of Cinderella and the French Cinderella with which most of them are familiar. You may wish to compare it to Cinderella stories from other stories as well. Click here for a sample chart. 3. If you read the book rather than telling the story, discuss the pictures with the students. How did Native Americans live long ago? What were their homes like? What did they eat? What kind of clothing did they wear? What things did they consider important, or what qualities did they most admire? 4. Using several different variants with the "Cinderella" motif, discuss different elements which are in all folktales (plot, characters, setting, theme, etc.). 5. Discussion - how is the number three important in Cinderella (and variants)? What things come in threes? What other folktales have threes in them? Citations Martin, Rafe. Rough-Faced Girl. New York: Putnam, 1992. SanSouci, Robert. The Soot-Faced Girl: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
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Song of Sedna |
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Background This is an Eskimo tale which deals with the origin of the sea, motif A2101 (MacDonald, Storyteller's). Although I was unable to locate variants of this tale, it is similar to other origin tales. Also, Greek and Roman Myths, such as myths about Posieden, relate to the sea. For suggested lessons and activities, please click here. Citations SanSouci, Robert. Song of Sedna. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981. Cole, Joanna, ed. Best-Loved Folktales Around the World. New York: Anchor Press, 1982. Suggested Lessons and Activities: Alaskan Tales 1. Locate on a map or globe where this group of Native Americans lived. Have students locate this area on their map and color it a certain color, according to the map key. You will want to use the same map as for the other stories. 2. Discussion: Whale of a Tale: What happened to the boy in the end? Could a boy really eat all of those things? What stories, either picture book or folktales, can you think of in which the main character eats lots of things? Sedna: What other folktales deal with similar themes? 3. Bring in different items from Alaska. You may want to bring in or locate the following pictures in books: needles made from bone (or a regular needle so students understand what the eye of a needle is), a picture of an igloo, pictures of Alaskan homes today, pictures of the animals in the story, other objects or artifacts from Alaska. 4. This story may be integrated with units on Alaska, Native peoples, etc. 5. Book talk on tales from Alaska: You may also wish to talk about other tales of Alaska, such as Julie and Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. 6. Compare how Eskimos lived a long time ago and how they live today. A good handout for this is available in: Jefferies, David. Multicultural Folktales. Huntington Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials, 1992, p. 36. This book also has a student activities such as a story ladder and reader's theatre for Song of Sedna. 7. Learn a few Eskimo words to teach to the class. 8. Song: Baby Beluga |
Whale of a Tale |
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Background This story is a wonderful Eskimo story from the Seward Peninsula. According to the Storyteller's Sourcebook, there are two main motifs in this story: D1181.1 (magic needles) and X1723.4 (lies about swallowing). The story can also be found in Cothran (Magic). Cothran used an English pun for her title (McDonald, Twenty). Variations include the boy entering through a smoke hole or ventilator. Another motif, implicitly known, deals wit the explosion of the boy. "Sody Sallyratus" is similar in that the bear in that story explodes after eating too much. One of Jack Tales is similar in the stomach motif, in that Jack tricks the giant into cutting into his stomach (thereby killing him) by pretending to have a magic stomach which Jack pretends to cut open, allowing food and milk to spill out. Other similar tales may be found using MacDonald's Storyteller's Sourcebook. For suggested lessons and activities, please click here. Citations: MacDonald, Margaret Read. Twenty Tellable Tales. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1986. |
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Comments to: debbi@csonline.net Deborah M. Angiolieri Library Media Specialist United States of America Address, main page: www.oocities.org/Athens/Agora/8623 Addrees, this page: www.oocities.org/Athens/Agora/8623/native.html c. 1998 to present |
