The Age of Spirituality and Faith: Background Information on the American Indian Junior American Literature

Did you know…  According to archaeologists, the first American Indians arrived in the our country around 50,000 B.C. by the Bering Strait.  American Indians probably founded the town you were born in, but were likely to have been removed from it forcibly.  American Indian children were taken away to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their own languages or practicing their own religion.  American Indians were denied religious freedom until 1978.

American Indian Literature is comprised of a variety of interlocking categories…  Traditional: Either for ceremonial or popular purposes, these stories include creation myths, trickster stories, stories of transformation, and tales of a cultural hero or legend.  Genres: Poetry, short fiction, novel, drama, and autobiography (particularly with contemporary works).  Traditional and genre literature can overlap and use elements of the other category.  Political protest and social criticism also make their way into many aspects of American Indian literature, from poetry to autobiographies, to speeches, and more.

Traditional Creation Stories:  These stories explain how aspects of the world came to be.  They are told from memory and the ones we know were often written down by anthropologists studying the tribe.  Many involve a creator deity and a reshaping of a chaotic world, a world typically covered in water.

Creation Stories continued: Other similarities include the forming of male and female, the creation of animals, the creation of the environment, and the emergence of good and evil. A value is placed on a balance in life between nature, man, spirits, and divinities. These stories show a profound respect for nature. The spirit is not removed from nature but in it. Animals are also seen as sacred beings, not inferior to humans, but often superior.

Archetypes Many myths contain archetypes, or old imaginative patterns that have appeared in literature throughout the ages. We will notice a life-giving tree in one of the stories we read; this is an archetype of American Indian literature as is the trickster hero and more.

American Indian Poetry  Like all poetry, American Indian Poetry is filled with imagery and inspiration.  American Indian Poetry is rooted in a continuing oral and ceremonial tradition. It reflects the tribe’s desire to live in harmony with nature and each other.  Poems may address everyday activities.  American Indian poems may also show modern Indians interacting in society or address environmental concerns.

Closing Thoughts  Many colleges and universities currently have whole courses devoted to American Indian Literature. There are literally hundreds of American Indian poets, authors, playwrights, activists, and essayists.  Hopefully, your knowledge of the American Indian and the dispelling of the stereotypes surrounding this culture can be achieved, in part, through studying the literature of Native Americans.