1. 1600-1800

2.  First permanent colony established in Jamestown in 1607  By 1733 English colonies stretched all along the Atlantic coast.  The meeting of two worlds:  Early writers described land and people  Concentrated on describing and trying to make sense out of their challenging new environment and the unfamiliar people they encountered.  Native Americans had well-established communities when Europeans arrived  People had been living in the Americas for tens of thousands of years, adapting to diverse environments, forming communities, establishing trading networks and building working cities.

3.  Writers chronicled Native American and European views of one another.  William Wood of Mass. Bay Colony wrote that Native Americans “took the first ship they saw for a walking island, the mast to be a tree, the sail white clouds.”  William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Plantation, described North America as “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men.”

4.  Were Wood and Bradford fair in their assessment of the landscape and population of North America?

5.  Native Americans  were culturally diverse (when Europeans arrived, there were more than 300 different Native American cultures in North America)  Strongly differing customs  200 different languages spoken

6.  One activity was common to all Native Americans: Storytelling  Native North American cultures did not have a written language  History, legends and myths were passed from generation to generation through oral tradition

7.  Literary Style  Rich and varied  Creation stories are found in every Native American culture  Other forms: legendary histories tracing the migration of peoples or the deeds of great leaders, fairy tales, lyrics, chants, children’s songs, healing songs and dream visions.

8.  Why is preservation through oral tradition more vulnerable to loss than preservation through written works?  How did the arrival of the Europeans affect the preservation of Native American literature?

9.  Much of the literature did not survive after so many Native Americans fell to European diseases.  Some groups lost 90% of their people, all of whom would have played a role in preserving the traditional stories  Surviving works showed that diverse Native American groups shared common themes in their spoken literature  Reverence for nature  Worship of many gods