Essay for Week 9: Assessing the British North American Unit

Assessing the British North America Unit

(Me and my friend Taylor posing with a local Native American tribe during Commencement 2013)

I just had to asses this week’s reading unit on British North America Native American stories! I love Native American stories so much. You’ll see that throughout all my comments on this week and next week’s readings. They are so full of life and have points or morals to every story they tell. Each character in these stories has a personified spirit where as they usually would not exist. They all have a personality and the stories generally explain a phenomenon of the world! Like why the Loon has red eyes or how the moon was created. My favorite stories were the creation stories in the beginning of the unit (Creation of the World, How the Earth Was Formed, and Creation of the Earth). I know my understanding of the creation of the world is a combination of evolution and Genesis, but I admire so much the imagination of the Native Americans. I didn’t have any least favorite stories. They all were so good! I did not need any extra background information. I had just enough knowledge and already knew a fair amount about Native American culture to read this week. I think I chose this unit because British North America seemed like a combination of American ideas and Native American ideas. I was wrong, it was just Native American, but that’s why I chose it! My goals in this class are to enjoy the readings and so this unit fit in perfectly! I had no complaints. I learned so much about how Native Americans explain things. There is a spiritual reason with a story behind literally everything in their surroundings. It was incredible to me. I also learned that they did not just interact with their surroundings, but also use it to explain their lives. Such a symbiotic relationship. This was my favorite reading week so far and I can’t say enough about its wonderfulness!

Storytelling for Week 9: The Mandrill and His Bum

The Mandrill and His Bum

(Mandrill)

ONCE Mandrill reigned as the ruler of all the land. Many times a day animals would come to him for his seemingly infinite wisdom and ruling thumb. What the animals did not know, however, is that Mandrill was very selfish and misguided everyone that came to see him just so he could get a laugh for himself. Mandrill loved the power that came with his title of ruler. He abused it in every way he could. He spent his days perched on his bum in his golden throne and making life hard for everyone else.

Monkey came to Mandrill and asked why his stomach hurt after he ingested anything with milk. Mandrill knew that it was just a simple case of lactose intolerance, but he told Monkey that his stomach was hurting because all he could ingest were bananas. Monkey believed Mandrill and vowed to never eat anything but bananas for the rest of eternity. Mandrill cackled.

Giraffe came to Mandrill and told him of the difficulty he had in reaching the leaves of the trees for nourishment. Mandrill knew that Giraffe simply needed to just eat grass for that was within his reach. Instead, Mandrill told Giraffe to keep stretching and stretching his neck until the leaves were in his reach. Giraffe vowed to stretch his neck until he could not stretch anymore. Mandrill cackled.

Alligator came to Mandrill and asked why he was so cold all the time. Mandrill knew Alligator was always cold because he was a cold blooded reptile and that was just how he worked. Mandrill told Alligator, however, that if he wanted to get warm he just had to lay in the sun with his mouth wide open. Alligator took his advice and is still determined to this day to get warm by holding his mouth agape. Mandrill cackled.

One day, traveling Coyote watched the Mandrill sit on his throne and give the horrible advice to all the animals. He thought it peculiar that these animals so willingly do as they were suggested by this Mandrill creature. As he continued to watch, Coyote realized that Mandrill was being a horrid creature and tricking all the animals. He decided to do something about it.

Coyote went to Monkey, Giraffe, and Alligator along with all the other animals and told them of his observations. The animals were outraged and vowed to get revenge on their tyrant ruler.

When Mandrill slept in his tall tree one night, the animals decided to line the throne's seat with blueberries in hopes that Mandrill would sit on them and squish them all come morning. This would stain his bum blue, thus making Mandrill the laughing stock of all the land. Mandrill would not be the one laughing upon sunrise.

The next morning, Mandrill sleepily swung to his throne over the land and plopped right down in the chair without thinking twice. When his bum hit the seat, a gigantic squishing sound erupted and Mandrill froze in his place. His eyes widened as he watched his subjects trickle from the forest line in a booming cloud of laughter. Mandrill leaped into the air and looked at his now completely blue bum in shock.

Mandrill no longer ruled the land after this incident. He now is known for his blue bum and is often the laughing stock of all the animals upon glimpsing his rear end.

Author's Note: This story is based off of the British North America Unit but no single story in particular. I really love the personification of animals in general throughout Native American stories. I also love how each story explains at least one phenomena of the world. So I decided to combine my two favorite aspects of Native American stories into this original tale about the blue bottom of a Mandrill! I hope you enjoyed it :)

Bibliography: Judson, Myth and Legends of British North America, 1917.
 

Week 9 Reading Diary: British North America

British North America

Creation of the Earth

I already know that Native American culture uses spirits to animate nearly everything they refer to. I think that's incredible. This story is no different, I love how spirit-less entities suddenly have this awesome personality within Native American tales. This creation story was definitely my favorite of the unit.

Raven and Moon Woman

I've never actually heard of the sun being created from the moon. I've always heard of the dependency of the moon on the sun, especially for its light. That's really cool that Native Americans see it differently.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote

Haha I couldn't help but think of Russia the whole time it was being the annoying Grizzly Bear...don't tell Putin I said that. Coyotes are usually the bad guys in tales, but I guess they mean something different to Native Americans. It would make sense because they live on the land with them and go after similar prey...maybe they worked together.

Turtle and Thunder

I freaking love these stories. Turtles are my favorite reptiles in the world. That's such a good story of how turtles hide in the water when a thunder storm comes. Native American stories are literally the best thing ever.

Coyote and the Salmon

Hahaha aww! Poor coyote! He wasn't trying cause harm, he just wanted food and a party! Fish get eaten. That's life. Coyote is still a good guy to me! He was badly tricked though, almost starving to death. Those fish deserve to be eaten. I do wonder what phenomena this story is trying to explain though.

Wolverine and the Geese

Lol this one is so silly. It shows how the Native Americans interact with nature. That's awesome, they flowed so well with the story, it didn't make the plot skip a beat to have them there. Wolverines are really bad I guess. I loved that it described why a Loon has red eyes and why Mocking Jays talk so much!

Coyote and Fox 

Ohmahgaw. So much detail for such a simple and random story! This one had to have been for entertainment as well as an explanation of phenomena. Which in this case was the silver in a black fox's coat. Poor coyote again though...

Wolverine and Rock

I don't understand this one, either. I am not that informed on strange phenomena other than the basic stuff! Wolverines have coats so this doesn't explain anything, but Rock is stubborn. As all rocks tend to be. This story could have been describing that?