A couple of links and a couple of questions. Both have to do with Native American storytelling, and both may give you something to think about as you write your final exams on how Native peoples adapt their traditional forms of cultural expression to survive in a mass society with commercialized media.
First, the links: Go to Kathleen Nichols' website Native American Oral Tales and Songs. Follow her links and read her introduction to Native American origin tales and the Hopi creation story (which you will find by scrolling down to the bottom of the page). What kind of a creature is Spider Woman? What does she tell us about human nature? About the Hopi people? Then go back to Dr. Nichols' homepage and follow the link to her "Introduction to Native American Tricksters." Read about Coyote. How is he different from Spider Woman? How is he the same? What does Coyote tell us about human nature?
In the Pacific Northwest, Raven is a trickster god very much like Coyote. The online enclyclopedia Wikipedia has a good summary overview of the Raven stories. Multimedia artist Larry McNeil of Boise State University in Idaho is of Tlingit heritage, and he works Raven into his art. Read his story of how -- and why -- Raven stole the sun so the people could have light. Surf around his website and look at some of his photos and drawings of Raven. Then decide if McNeil is kind of a trickster himself.
Now, a couple of questions.
1. Most peoples have trickster stories. Bugs Bunny is a direct descendent of a trickster Rabbit in West African and southeastern American Indian tales. And he isn't the only one. How many trickster figures can you name in modern American popular culture? What is their appeal?
2. Here's a link to a story about a Navajo Indian and a public relations officer from NASA. It isn't a traditional story. In fact, it appears to originate with late-night TV show host Johnny Carson. But it's remindful of the old stories about Rabbit, Coyote and Raven. What in us does a trickster story appeal to?
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