#Native American myths

[doc-avalon]

Just like our grandparents assured us, the way they traveled on foot to get to school was more challenging than the route the Fellowship had to take in their effort to get the One Ring to Mordor.

They also complain of the mental torture they had to endure memorizing the whole of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; no doubt that is a bit of an exaggeration as the whole epic poem would take something like four hours or more to read aloud in its entirety.

However, they did, back long in the long ago, make school children learn sections of it by heart.  

Perhaps that is why The Song of Hiawatha, America’s entry in the list of national epic poems, is now, if not forgotten, at least little thought of, almost enough to be so.

That’s a shame because it’s a great read that deserves a comeback.

The epic poem has Wadsworth recounting Native American myths and Legends in a way that does them right.

Sure it’s from his white Anglo-Saxon perspective, but it is taken from genuine Native American sources.

After all the Norse myths are only still around because some Christian monks thought to write some of them down.

Anyway H. W. L, was a genius and makes it work.

I’m just saying consider giving The Song of Hiawatha a chance.

[frigidreads]

We look at the cannibal dwarves referenced in Atlantis the Lost Continent by Charles Hyne and look at the Peryton, the eagle deer hybrid with a man's shadow supposedly from Atlantis.

[mamaangiwine]

One thing that truly sucks about "Cryptozoologists" (as someone who is very into cryptozoology) is that they will use Native American myths as a reference of proof for their unverifiable speculation, and then when actual Ndns say "Hey, no, that doesn't quite add up. It doesn't match our perception of this entity...you know, our entity." they will have the audacity to simply shrug their shoulders and say that either:

1) Natives probably just didn't completely understand what we were looking at or

2) That we are simply interpreting our own myths incorrectly.

Like, let that sink in.

Ndns are being told on the daily by kevlar-wearing-gun-toting-edge-lords that we don't understand our own myths or were too "primitive" to grasp the "complexities" of our own entities.

[rightwriter]

Indigenous Storytelling

A lot of the stuff I've posted so far is pretty white western-centric views of telling stories. The whole article is very informative! An excerpt: "Many of the main characters in Plains Indian mythology never end. Not only are they immortal and indestructible—where they may be killed in one story and are right back at it in another—they also age with the listener. Coyote stories for children have childlike morals; for teens Coyote is a much rougher character; and, for elders only, grandpa Coyote is smart, and his stories are deep and filled with complicated plots and plans."

[wild-raven-and-crow]

Raven Brought Fire to the First Nations

Raven or Crow is remembered for bringing the First Nations fire. That first bird's courage and altruism still smolders in the hearts of its children.

Flames gave their voices depth, and flames painted elegant feathers in ash-velvet black, though the deep blue sky still shimmers in their wings, and the fire of the sun still burns in their eyes.

This is my watercolor of "The Rainbow Crow". The video I posted yesterday "Crow: The Legend" retells the ancient tale.

[progressivemillennial]

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! May this be a time of gratitude, joy, and love for you and yours.

I would also suggest making this a time to acknowledge the National Day of Mourning by honoring, remembering, and learning about the death and suffering of indigenous Americans due to settler colonialism and its present-day effects.

Again, I hope everyone has much to be thankful for in these holiday times. I also hope these times can serve as an opportunity to take a clear-eyed look at American history and challenge the myths that serve as the foundation for many Amercians' understanding of our past and present.

[laurasimonsdaughter]

I got a copy of Erdoes and Ortiz's American Indian Myths and Legends (1984) for Christmas and it is fascinating to me how various Native American tales portray romance between humans and non-humans. Especially compared to the European takes on that motif, which usually center on the relationship being doomed from the start, because humans belong only with humans. But this does not seem to be the default in the Native American tales in this collection!

There was one story which did portray the relationship as doomed (Tolowim woman and butterfly man, Maidu) and one where a human woman was taken against her will and gladly rescued by her husband (The stolen wife, Tewa). But there is also a tale where a wife is willingly taken by a great buffalo and when her human husband steals her back and kills White Buffalo Chief, she mourns him so that her jealous husband kills her (Apache chief punishes his wife, Tiwa).

That last tale, while tragic, already goes out of its way to show that the woman was happy with the powerful buffalo, and there are four stories in the collection that make a point of ending in happiness:

The industrious daughter who wouldn't marry (Cochiti)

A beautiful young woman who is a master at making beautiful garments spurns all her human suitors, until it is widely known that she doesn't care for young men. Coyote hears of this and goes to court her, dressed in his finest clothes. He does not offer her any gifts, but he dances very well and he brings a branch of blackcurrants, which are her favourite. She is pleased with him, so she takes him home, sleeps with him, and gives birth to two little coyotes. Her parents are dismayed and the other people turn away from her, but Coyote brings her to his home under the ground. There he has all kinds of clothes just as fine as the ones she makes, and she lives there happily with him ever after.

The Serpent of the Sea (Zuni)

The beautiful daughter of the priest-chief of the village Home of the Eagles cannot abide dust or dirt. Every day she spends almost all her time bathing in the sacred spring of the Serpent of the Sea and this angers him. He changes himself into a beautiful baby boy and she finds him and takes him home to care for him. As soon as she falls asleep the Serpent takes his true form again, coiling himself all around the maiden and all around the room. In the morning the whole household panics, but the girl’s father understands what happened and begs the Serpent to let his daughter return to her family once more, even though she now belongs to him. The Serpent moves enough to release her, finally waking her. She is very frightened, but after four days of ceremonies she bids her family goodbye and goes with the Serpent. As they travel the Serpent takes the shape of a beautiful young man, and speaks in a kinder and kinder voice, until she dares to look at him. Startled she asks him where the terrifying creature has gone. He explains that he is the serpent, but that he loves her, and that if she will consent to come and stay with him they will live and love each other forever in the Waters of the World. The maiden goes with him, forgetting her sadness and forgetting her family, and lived with him ever after.

The man who married the moon (Isleta Pueblo)

The great leader, weaver, and medicine man Nah-chu-rú-chu (the bluish light of dawn) got tired of all the young women trying to win his affection. He proclaimed that he would marry the girl who could grind corn meal so fine that it would stick to his pearl water dipper. The only woman who could do it was the Moon, who was an Isleta maiden before she went to live into the sky. He marries her and loves his moon-wife above all things. Two sisters, the Yellow Corn Maiden, are so jealous that they persuade the moon to admire her reflection in the water of the well, and push her in to drown her. The chief mourns so deeply that it no longer rains and all the crops begin dying, until they bring him a mysterious flower from a mound in the forest where his wife disappeared. He performs a sacred ritual and the moon is brought back to life. The corn maidens are changed into helpful, gentle snakes as punishment, and the moon lives happily with her husband.

The woman who married a merman (Coos)

A girl who refuses all her suitors and goes swimming in the creek every day becomes pregnant without understanding how. She gives birth to a baby that always cries unless it is left outside, where someone brings it seal meat to eat. The young mother watches over her baby and at night is approached by a man who says he is her husband and promises she will be safe if she goes with him. The merman takes his wife and child to the bottom of the sea, where many people lived. Her husband was one of the five sons of the village chief and the couple lived there happy and satisfied. She goes to her relatives once to get arrows for her little boy to play with, and once to visit her brothers. The second time they see her shoulders are turning dark and scaly like those of a sea serpent. She never returned again, but sea serpents came into their harbour, and every summer and winter they would send a whale ashore, a gift to their kinsmen above the sea.

Erdoes and Ortiz even draw a parallel between the tale of the Serpent of the Sea and Beauty and the Beast, but I rather love the girl running off with the Coyote and "the woman who married a merman" is such a lovely counterpoint to the selkie and mermaid stories I grew up with. I'm really happy with this book~

[neechees]

There's a lot of bigoted, very specifically racist movies where white people are like "lets remake/rewrite x movie!" Like i don't know how to tell you that if you tried to do that, the rewritten version would be completely different & unrecognizable because it's central plot/themes/etc rely on racism at their core

[bestiarium]

The Weewillmekq [Algonquin mythology; Native American mythology]

This creature, which originates from myths of the Native American Algonquin people in Canada, is a bit of an enigma. It is usually described as a small worm – about 2 – 3 inches or 5 – 8 cm long – inhabiting forested areas and found on dry wood. Though sometimes a Weewillmekq resides in rivers, in which case the creature is about as large as an adult horse and has forked horns on its head (sometimes it also has burning eyes like flames). Often, however, they are said to be snails rather than worms and the Passamaquoddy people even associate them with alligators. Regardless of what form the creature takes, it is always a powerful and mysterious supernatural being wielding potent magic.

In one particular anecdote, the Weewillmekq have the ability to attract lightning. More importantly, they can take on the form of a human being and – presumably – walk among us.

An Algonquin legend called ‘the dance of old age’ tells of an attractive young Wabanaki man whose beauty was matched by his bravery and hunting skills. He caught the eye of a girl in the village, who asked him to marry her. Though she was a beautiful woman, the man was busy preparing for a great hunt and couldn’t resort to such emotional theatrics. And so he turned her down. Unbeknownst to him, the girl was experienced in magic and cursed him for wounding her pride. She spoke: “you may go now, but you shall never return like you went”. Nothing happened and the young man left, neither fearing nor caring about her curse. Time passed, and one day in mid-winter, when the boy was out in the forest with his brother, the girl’s magic struck him, breaking his mind and rendering him insane.

The young man’s older brother understood what had happened. Now desperate to save his brother, he went to find a river and started chanting a song to summon a Weewillmekq. “What do you want from me?” asked the monster. The man replied “I wish to restore my brother’s sanity”. “That which you ask of me, I shall grant you, provided you are not afraid.” But the man was incredibly brave and said “I am not scared of anything”. “Not even of me?” asked the horned creature. “No, not of you, not even of Mitche-hant.” (small note: Mitche-hant is a dangerous creature associated with evil. He is compared with the Christian devil). And so the creature agreed to grant the man his wish, but on one condition: he had to prove his bravery by grabbing the Weewillmekq by his horns and scrape residue off them with his knife. Though the monster was terrifying, the man complied and did as he was told. The Weewillmekq then gave him instructions to mix half of the horn scrapings in a cup of water and make his brother drink it. This would heal his mind. The other half should be mixed with the drink of the girl who cast the curse: this would be her punishment.

Again, the man did as instructed, and the mixture healed his brother. The two went back to their village, where they found that a large party was going on. People were dancing and having fun, and the spellcaster was among them. The younger brother sought her out and offered her the drink with the horn scrapings in it. She was merry and tired from dancing, and so did not notice who he was. Without thinking she took the cup and drank it.

The spell took effect immediately: with every turn the girl took while dancing, the aged one year. Starting out as a young girl, she soon became 50 when reaching the other end of the room. When she reached her starting point, she was 100 years old and dropped dead on the floor.

Source: Leland, C. G., 1884, The Algonquin Legends of New England: Myths and Folk Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Tribes, S. Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 379 pp, pages 324-333. (image source : ‘Oral Stories, Dreams and Experiences’ by Jeremy Dennis. You can support the artist or look at his other works on Native American mythology at jeremynative.com)

[nickysfacts]

The Mayans were obsessed with corn!🌽

🌽🌽🌽

[troythecatfish]

[salvadorbonaparte]

I just remembered how my friend’s dad told me with a serious face that my tribe is full of cannibals and that there were savages hiding in the woods we lived near. Like wtf. I didn’t know how to respond

Build a time machine, kill Christopher Columbus

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Geraint Smith: 

“Around the month of December; is known to Hopi as "Kya'muya", the time of rest, reflection and renewal, the time when the earth purifies itself and prepares for a new cycle of life. The Wuchim, men's society, pray and sing in hopes of snow and rain for not only a healthy life for humans, but all living things. It is believed the earths crust gets thin and fragile, therefore all is quiet and calm. Families are told to be gentle with the earth and stay in their homes. This is a time of stories; folktales, myths, legends and sharing of ancient teachings and wisdom”.

[Scott Horton]

[the-omega-artist]

concepts for a new character you’ll never see again HAHAHAAA

[ancientorigins]

Many civilizations from all over the planet have creation myths as part of their culture and traditions. Perhaps the most ‘creative’ of the creation myths include primal eggs, remains of giants, a spider grandmother, and a spitting decapitated head!

[wild-raven-and-crow]

If you reblog this, consider adding a comment as to why... was it the respect for native traditions? The amazing voice actors?? The beauty of the animation??? The appreciation of corvids as a symbol of grace of spirit... or somewhat-selfish asshats that try really hard to make their friends happy????? Anyway, just give a little boost to this show I like.

This short film is amazing!!! Crow: The Legend is about 20 minutes, and is a retelling of how crow brought fire to the Native Americans. Crow or raven bringing fire or being a major part of creation is central to many Native Americans' belief systems. This short film modernizes the tale of The Rainbow Crow.

Starring John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and Liza Koshy. Created by the director of Madagascar and the Emmy-winning animated films Invasion! and Asteroids! Executive produced by Baobab Studios, Get Lifted, and Native Americans in Philanthropy.