1. The sun still rises in the same sky
Write about what you think this phrase means

2. NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE
Oral Literature: Myths and legends

3. Functions of the Myths The purpose was to show:
Beliefs about the nature of physical world
Beliefs about social order and appropriate behavior
Beliefs about human nature and the problem of good and evil
Preservation and communication spiritual beliefs

4. Characteristics of N.A. Myths
Major role in the stories is often played by animals
Ordinary people, animals and places were divinities
Often include spiritual outlook based on the Four Directions
The early myths led into native legends
All were originally oral stories passed down for many generations

5. Features of Native Literature
Stories teach lessons, often spiritual, and are part of their histories
They stories reflect an inclusive view of the natural world
They generally use powerful metaphors
Use archetypes– a pattern of story of a type of character that is used often in different stories over the ages

6. Features (cont.)
The stories and legends often have ritual beginnings and endings
Progress and change are shown as cyclical, not linear as many western thinking normally follows
Many of the stories have a “trickster” character (often a raven or spider)
Often uses repetition of elements

7. Common themes Movement from a sky world to a water world
Fortunate fall –creation story
Earth-diver myth usually involving an earth made from mud or a flood after the universe is created
Theft of fire
Emergence myth– movement of beings from under the surface to the surface of the earth

8. Native American Poems More properly called "songs"
Created for tribal occasions such as initiation rites, healings ceremonies, and planting or hunting rituals
used to pass on tribal history, standards of ethical conduct, and religious beliefs
Economy of language was also common
Commonly-used parallelisms and repetitions of similar or contrasting phrases often create the effect of "rhyming thoughts

9. N.A. Poems (cont.) The songs may be grouped as 1) songs of healing
2) songs of growth or germination
3) songs of vision and dream
4) songs of death.

10. A Papago song about an eagle
The eagle sings:
The sun's rays
Lie along my wings
and stretch beyond their tips.
A grey little whirlwind
Is trying to catch me.
Across my path
It keeps whirling.

11. The poem has excellent images and suggests the eagle's lofty and majestic presence, but is that all the poem means?
According to Dr. Ruth Underhill, the translator, a Papago would explain the poem in the following manner: "[He would] visualize the eagle with all his peculiarities. Thus his power is asserted, and being what he is, the superior of man, he will cleanse man from impurities, free him from disease, and ward off death"

12. In-Class Writing Assignment
Write a creation style myth about how something in nature was created.
You can select any topic you wish.
Examples:
why the sun turns colors as it sets
how some places turned cold and snowy and others not