Because the tales were shorter for the Cherokee Myths unit, I decided to
take notes on a few of my favorite:
How the World Was Made: I greatly enjoyed the imagery that
this story entails. The description of the Great Buzzard flapping his wings and
creating the valleys and mountains was creative. I enjoy the description of how
the world came to be in the perspective of the Cherokee and explains why the
Cherokee country is full of mountains. The explanation of how the panther and
owl can see through the night, The end states that the woman was to only have
one child in a year and it has been so ever since. It makes me wonder if it is
still part of Cherokee tradition for woman to only have one child within a
year. (what about twins?)
Journey to the Sunrise: The analogy of the sun being a human
form but so bright that you could not make out the shape was very interesting.
I thought it so creative that the door opened and closed and that was the
presence or absence of light. The Sun walked across an archway which is why the
sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine: I found it so amusing
that the mother made the boys eat rocks instead of corn since they liked playing
with the rocks so much. They flee from their mothers in anger and six of them
become the Pleiades in the sky while the one under the earth became the Pine
tree. The story explains that the pine is the same nature of the stars and
holds itself in the same bright light. This represents the seven boys.
The Origin of Strawberries: I have actually heard this tale
before and was delighted to see it again. She was only intrigued with the new
fruit, the strawberries, and her desire for her husband grew with every bite. I
think it is also saying that we sometimes need a reminder of what great things
we truly have. The strawberries were the reminder to the woman of how much she
really did desire her husband. She only realized it when she looked back to the
west to see him behind her.
How the Rabbit Stole the Otter’s Coat: The first paragraph
had me drawing connections from the animals to people. “ Some wore long fur and
others short, some had brown, others black or yellow and they were always
disputing about their good looks” I love how the story explains the otter
jumped in the river to escape the fire and has lived in the water ever since.
The rabbit tried to pretend he was the otter and in the end he was discovered
and run out of town by the bear. It goes to show that you can not pretend to be
something you are not. I also wondered if the bear pulled the rabbit’s tail off
and that is why rabbits do not have tails anymore.
Why the Possum’s Tail is Bare: The bear did pull off the
rabbit’s tail and now we see in this story that he, again, becomes jealous of
the possum who has the most beautiful tail of all the animals. The trickster
rabbit sends the cricket to cut off all the hair from the possum’s tail. It was
funny to hear the explanation of when a possum is stunned it rolls to the grown
and grins. I could visualize it in my mind.
The Deer and the Rabbit: I love how the beginning starts
with the contest to see who gets the horns. I obviously know the deer ends up
with horns, as a rabbit does not have any, but was interested to hear the story
of how the deer wins them. The rabbit tries to cheat and in the end is served
his punishment. Since he was so fond of cutting down bushes he could do it for
a living, and so he does to this day. I love the Cherokee stories that have an
explanation for why things are the way they are.
Why the Deer’s Teeth are Blunt: The trickster rabbit is back
at it again trying to get revenge on the deer for winning the antlers. Much
like in the Possum tale, the rabbit tricks the deer into letting him shave his
teeth to make them sharper, but he actually dulls them out so he can not bite
anything but grass and leaves.
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The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals: I thought it
interesting that the animals and birds were separated. I always considered
birds as animals but it seems the Cherokee tales distinguish them apart; not as
equals. It later explains that the birds are two footed vs the four footed
animals. The first small animal became the bat and has his wings and four feet.
The next became the flying squirrel. It explains why these two animals have
wings but four feet.
The Race Between the Crane and Hummingbird: I felt bad for
the poor Crane. He wins the race by taking his journey nice and slow, but in
the end he still does not get to marry the woman because she would never marry
a bird so ugly. I am not sure what message this Cherokee tale has. I was
expecting the Crane to win and for the message to be that you can not judge a
book by its cover and underestimate anyone. But in the end, the crane still
does not get what he wants.
The Owl Gets Married/The Huhu Gets Married: these two tales
were very similar in the idea that a woman needs to find a suitable husband who
can hunt and is a hard worker. In both cases the men turn into an owl or a huhu
and do not provide for their wives. Since they are lazy, they do not get the
hand of the woman in marriage.
The Uktena and the Ulûñsû'tï: The imagery used to describe the Uketna
in this tale was great. I really got a sense of the massive size and ugliness
of the giant snake through the use of similes. The importance of the 7th
spot from the head becomes apparent because that is where his heart and life
are and the only way to kill it. The crystal he guards is what the Cherokee
people seek. Its greatest use is for prophecy, yet everybody is afraid of it. I
think it tries to show that the gift of knowing the future and holding all this
power is a scary one, and something not to be taken lightly.
The Red Man and the Uktena: The hunter saves the life of The Red Man of
the Lightening as he is getting strangled by a Uktena. In return, the Red Man
gives him medicine and the scale of the Uktena so that the hunter may have game
to catch everyday from now on. If you help someone, they will in turn help you
back
The Rattlesnake’s Vengeance: I loved this story as the wife kills the
rattlesnake and in turn the wife must die as a sacrifice. One for one. And
because the husband obliged, he and his people will always be spared of death
by singing the song the rattlesnake teaches him. The song is still part of
Cherokee culture.
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