Native American Traditions

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Native American Traditions

• In Harmony with Nature

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• The first American literature was created by the
  first people to live in North America, the Native
  Americans
• Inhabited the land thousands of years before the
  first Europeans
• Didnt consider the land to be a single nation
• Belonged to more than 300 distinct groups
• Spoke more than 200 languages
• Lived a life connected with nature
• Had complex religious beliefs, sophisticated
  political systems, and strong social values

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• Native American literature was oral
• Passed down from generation to generation in the
  form of storytelling and performances
• Pictographs, knotted strings, and coded wampum
  belts aided in memorization
• All stories and songs were attributed to the
  Great Mystery
• The Great Mystery gave the words to the singer or
  storyteller
• Words possessed magic and power
• Could help the hunter capture game, influence the
  crops to grow, etc.
• Native Americans also believed the living could
  communicate with inanimate objects
• Example People could assume the form of animals
  and vice versa

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• There is an emphasis in Native American lit. on
  the importance of living in harmony with nature
• They believed humans had a kinship with animals,
  plants, the land, the heavenly bodies, and the
  elements
• They believed human beings did not have control
  over nature and was actually a part of nature
  that needed to maintain a proper relationship
  with the surroundings

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Types of Native American Lit

• Myth
• A traditional story, religious in nature, that
  explains a belief, ritual, or natural phenomenon
• Most myths contain archetypes
• Archetype a pattern that appears in literature
  across cultures and is repeated throughout the
  ages
• Can be a character, a plot, an image, a theme, or
  setting
• Creation myths
• Explain the beginning of the world

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Types of Native American Lit

• Ritual Songs and Chants
• Performed as part of ceremonies
• Hunting songs, love songs, spiritual songs, etc.
  
• Helped N.A. communicate with the Great Mystery

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Types of Native American Lit

• Tales of Heroes and Tricksters tell of people
  who transformed the world into its present state
• Animals act like humans
• Include magical transformations
• Explain natural phenomena
• The hero of a trickster tale can play several
  roles
• Cultural hero
• Clever deceiver
• Numbskull

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• The stories/works in our text are different from
  their original form
• They have been translated into English
• They would have been performed, not read
• They still, however, expose the reader to the
  beauty, wisdom, and humor of the literature

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• Native Americans and their traditions have not
  disappeared from this country
• Some cultures were lost due to disease and
  violence or European invasions
• Others did survive and change
• Forced religious conversions
• Forced relocation
• Forced education
• They still keep oral traditions alive by singing
  songs and telling stories
• Most of the new generation of writers deal with
  the problems of harmonizing the old and the new
• Reconciling old traditions w/ the new practices
• Mixing together mythology, oral history,
  personal reflections