Extra Reading Diary: Alaska

Extra Reading Diary: Alaska

I have family that live in Alaska, so I thought it would be interesting to learn a little bit about the history of where they live. I'm interested in seeing how Alaskan people differ from the Great Plains indians that I read about in my other units for the week. I'm hoping to read something about polar bears too, if possible!

Eskimo Girl
Source: Myths And Legends of Alaska

The Raven Myth: Raven's Creation: My favorite part of this story was the shape-shifting raven. The raven mainly focused on creating animals that would have been relevant to the Alaskan people. Whereas other stories focus on buffalo or such, this author focuses on goats and caribou. I like the idea of a raven creator. I wonder how he was made? Is he a god? I think this could be an interesting topic to explore. 

The Raven Myth: Raven Creates the People: I was particularly intrigued by the little snippet in this story about mosquitos. I think it's funny that in this story mosquitos never bit men until they were told to do so (by man himself no less!). I like that the creator, in this case the raven, is wary of man. I think it's an interesting concept when the creator is a bit horrified of what he has made. Another concept that I like his how quickly the children grew up. Do they still have the mind of a child and the body of an adult? Or do they develop that quickly mentally as well?

Reading Diary B: Great Plains

Reading Diary B: Great Plains

This is a continuation of my Great Plains reading diary. I enjoyed the first part of this unit and I'm looking forward to the second part. I'm already interested in Why The Possum Plays Dead.

Why The Possum Plays Dead: I thought this was a clever story, explaining why possums play dead. I like stories that try to give an explanation for the way things work. I also liked that the story gave each of the animals personalities. Poor possum didn't get a wife in the end, but he did pick up a helpful survival instinct.

Possum
Source: Wikipedia Commons

Coyote and Snake: It was cool to see two animals who are usually depicted at tricksters go up against one another. In this story the snake triumphs. I like that snakes attack was subtle. I could see myself using this idea for my storytelling post this week. Pitting two clever people against each other is more interesting than a fool against someone clever. My only question is why did coyote get fatter? I assume it was swelling from the snake's venom.

Rabbit and Deer: I liked this series of stories, especially the How The Deer Got His Horns story. I like the concept of animals earning their particular physical features. It also gave a funny explanation why rabbits gnaw on bushes.

Reading Diary A: Great Plains

Reading Diary A: Great Plains

I chose this unit because I live where the Great Plains used to be. I think it's important to know the history of the land you live in. I'm also basing the werewolves in my novel off of Native American culture, so I'm hoping to get some ideas from these stories.

Indians + Tepee
Source: Wikipedia Commons

The Creation: I'm always a sucker for creation stories and this one was no exception. I liked the idea of the sun and moon being the parents of humans. This story also presented a creative take on how humans got to Earth and subsequently how animals (mainly the elk) helped them live here. The Native American people were so in tune with nature that it's no surprise they saw themselves working with animals in the beginning.

Sacred Legend: This is another take on the story of creation. In this story, in the beginning humans were in the water. This story is less about creation and more about how the people learned to survive. It takes the reader from the discovery of fire to the building of tepees. There isn't much personality to this story, but I like how it gave a more clinical view of history. This is essentially their science and how they understand the world. It was fairly simple, but it gave them an origin story.