Native American Oral Tradition

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Native AmericanOral Tradition
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The Origins of Literature

• The origin of what we call American literature
  predates the arrival of Europeans in the
  Americas.
• Oral tradition is the foundation of literature
• Early rock carvings and petroglyphs are perhaps
  the first examples of written language

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Newspaper Rock (UT)
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Newspaper Rock (UT)
petroglyphs
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A Storyteller and His Art N. Scott Momaday

• We have no being beyond our stories.
• Our stories explain us, justify us, sustain us,
  humble us, and forgive us. And sometimes they
  injure and destroy us.
• Perhaps the greatest stories are those which
  disturb us, which shake us from our complacency,
  which threaten our well-being.

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Stories Storytelling

• Make no mistake, we are at risk in the presence
  of words.
• We are shaken and soothed in turn by stories.
• the central function of storytelling is to
  reflect the forces, within and without us, that
  govern our lives, both good and bad.
• Stories are pools of reflection in which we see
  ourselves through the prism of the imagination.
• -from A Storyteller and His Art
• N. Scott Momaday

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• The belief that words in themselves have the
  power to make things happen especially words in
  extraordinary combinationsis one of the
  distinguishing features of native American
  thought and it may be said that for the people
  who share this belief a connection exists between
  the sacred and the verbal, or to put it in more
  familiar terms, a connection between religion and
  poetry.
• - John Bierhorst, The Sacred Path

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The Oral Tradition

• Words are powerful
• Words are sacred
• Words are magical they can bring about physical
  change in the world

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The Oral Tradition

• Words must be spoken with great care
• The speaker must be careful, clear deliberate,
  for he will be taken at his word
• There is a connection between the sacred the
  verbal to be careless in the presence of words
  is to violate a fundamental morality

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Three Stories

• The Arrowmaker
• The Kiowa Brothers
• The Death of Chief Sitting Bear

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• The Arrowmaker
•   If an arrow is well made, it will have tooth
  marks upon it. That is how you know. The Kiowas
  made fine arrows and straightened them in their
  teeth. Then they drew them to the bow to see if
  they were straight. Once there was a man and his
  wife. They were alone at night in their tipi. By
  the light of the fire the man was making arrows.
  After a while he caught sight of something. There
  was a small opening in the tipi where two hides
  were sewn together. Someone was there on the
  outside, looking in. The man went on with his
  work, but he said to his wife Someone is
  standing outside. Do not be afraid. Let us talk
  easily, as of ordinary things. He took up an
  arrow and straightened it in his teeth then, as
  it was right for him to do, he drew it to the bow
  and took aim, first in this direction and then in
  that. And all the while he was talking, as if to
  his wife. But this is how he spoke I know that
  you are there on the outside, for I can feel your
  eyes upon me. If you are a Kiowa, you will
  understand what I am saying, and you will speak
  your name. But there was no answer, and the man
  went on in the same way, pointing the arrow all
  around. At last his aim fell upon the place where
  his enemy stood, and he let go of the string. The
  arrow went straight to the enemys heart. From
  The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday.
  University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
•  

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The Arrowmaker

• The Arrowmaker and his wife survive not because
  of the arrow but rather because of language and
  words.
• He is a man made of words his survival is
  contingent on his knowledge of language and his
  enemys lack of knowledge.
• The story illustrates the importance and power of
  language in the oral tradition.

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• The Kiowa Brothers
•  
• On a raid against the Utes, one of two brothers
  was captured. The other, alone and of his own
  will, stole into the Ute camp and tried to set
  his brother free, but he too was captured. The
  chief of the Utes had respect for the mans
  bravery, and he made a bargain with him. If he
  could carry his brother on his back and walk upon
  a row of greased buffalo heads without falling to
  the ground, both brothers would be given horses
  and allowed to return in safety to their home.
  The man bore his brother on his back and walked
  upon the heads of the buffalo and kept his
  footing. The Ute chief was true to his word, and
  the brothers returned to their own people on
  horseback.
•  
• From The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott
  Momaday. University of New Mexico Press, 1969.

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Kiowa Brothers

• The chief is true to his word even though he has
  nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing
  so.
• The chief fulfills his promise of freeing the
  brothers and giving the valuable commodity of
  horses to the brothers.
• The chief never for a moment considers or would
  consider going back on his word.

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• The Death of Sitting Bear
• Set-angya, or Sitting Bear, was chief of the
  Kaitsenko Society, the Crazy Dog or dog soldier
  organization of the Kiowa tribe. It was composed
  of ten men only, the ten most brave. They were
  the first and last security of the people. If
  they should die, everyone should die. Each one of
  them wore a long sash, so long it trailed the
  ground, and carried a sacred arrow. In the time
  of battle, each of these Kaitsenko warriors must,
  by means of his sacred arrow, fix his sash to the
  ground, and he must stand his ground to the
  death.
•  

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•  
• Set-angyas son was killed on a raid in Texas,
  and Set-angya went there and gathered up the
  bones of his son, and from then on he led a
  hunting horse that bore the bones of his son on
  its back. At night he placed the bones in a
  ceremonial tipi and invited all the people,
  saying, Come, come. My son is at home tonight.
  Come and visit him. Come and pay your respects.

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•  
• Set-angya was imprisoned at Fort Sill. Along
  with two other chiefs, White Bear and Big Tree,
  he was placed in the bed of a wagon, to be taken
  to the railroad, then sent to Fort Richardson to
  be tried for the raid on the Warren wagon train.
  As they were going along in the wagon on the
  grounds of the fort, Set-angya began to sing the
  song of the Kaitsenko. At this, the others became
  very upset, because that song was sacred. It
  could only be sung in the face of death. And when
  he had sung the song, he said to Set-tainte and
  Big Tree, You see that cottonwood on the side of
  the road ahead? By the time we reach that tree, I
  will be dead. He then pulled a knife, which he
  had somehow hidden about him, and he attacked the
  teamster, stabbed him in the leg. The guards,
  riding close beside the wagon, shot him dead. But
  he was true to his word.
•  
• Adapation of a story from The Ancient Child by
  N. Scott Momaday. New York Harper Perennial,
  1999.

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The Death of Sitting Bear

• By the time we reach that tree, I will be dead.
• But he was true to his word.
• The story illustrates the sacred nature of
  language.
• The Kaitsenko Society (Crazy Dogs or Dog
  Soldiers)

• Chief Sitting Bear

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Myths
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Myths

• The heart of the oral tradition is the story.
• Myths traditional stories passed down from
  generation to generation, which explain why the
  world is the way it is.
• They characteristically involve immortal beings
  and contain magic or the supernatural

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Myths

• Myths attempt to explain things such as
• Natural phenomenon
• The origin of humans
• The customs religious rights of a people
• Events beyond peoples control

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Myths

• Through myths and legends we can see social
  orders and daily life
• how families were organized
• how political structures operated
• how men caught fish
• how religious ceremonies felt to the people who
  took part
• how power was divided between men and women
• how food was prepared
• how honor in war was celebrated

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Myths

• Myths teach the values and ideals of a culture
  -what that culture holds as important.
• Myths are the stories that a culture uses to
  create coherence in its life, values, and
  symbols.

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Myths

• In myths a culture tells its story of origin and
  its understanding of the major issues of life and
  death.
• Myths are not stories in isolation they express
  a cultures whole lifeall that it is and all
  that it values.

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Myths

• Myths and legends are not told merely for
  enjoyment, education or amusement they are
  believed.
• They give concrete form to a set of beliefs and
  traditions that link people today to ancestors
  from centuries and millennia past.

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Legends and myths are unique in the way they are
told and the regions and landscapes in which they
are set. Yet there are some universal recurring
themes and images

• the sacred four directions North, South, East,
  West in various forms
• the children of the sun
• the twin brothers who bring culture
• worlds piled on top of each other
• primordial waters
• perpetual destruction and recreation
• powerful heroes and tricksters (Veeho, Rabbit,
  Coyote, Spider Man)

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Creation Myths

• Myths and legends of human creation and origin
  reflect in myriad ways a common belief that
  people are a living part of the natural world,
  brother and sister to the grain and the trees,
  the buffalo and the bear.

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Genesis The Christian Creation Myth

• God is the creator of mankind mankind is granted
  dominion/power over all other creatures on earth
• God created Adam (man) out of clay/earth

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Genesis The Christian Creation Myth

• God created Eve (woman) from Adam
• Adam Eve can have everything they want except
  fruit from the tree of knowledge (eating from
  this tree represents a desire to be God-like)
• It is Eves (womans) weakness that causes their
  expulsion from the Garden of Eden

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• In the beginning, when God created the
  universe, the earth was formless and desolate.
  The raging ocean that covered everything was
  engulfed in total darkness, and the power of God
  was moving over the water. Then God said, Let
  there be light and light appeared. God was
  pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the
  light from the darkness, and he named the light
  Day and the darkness Night. Evening passed
  and morning camethat was the first day.

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• Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden
  of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. He told
  him, You may eat the fruit of any tree in the
  garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of
  what is good and what is bad. You must not eat
  the fruit of that tree if you do, you will die
  the same day.
• The snake replied, Thats not true you will
  not die. God said that because he knows that when
  you eat it, you will be like God and know what is
  good and what is bad. The woman saw how
  beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit
  would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it
  would be to become wise. So she took some of the
  fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her
  husband, and he also ate it.

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• God asked, Did you eat the fruit that I told
  you not to eat? The man answered, The woman you
  put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it
  The Lord God asked the woman, Why did you do
  this? She replied, The snake tricked me into
  eating it.
• God said to the woman, I will increase your
  trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving
  birth. In spite of this, you will still have
  desire for your husband, yet you will be subject
  to him.

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The Power ofTHE WORD
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• Johns Gospel In the beginning was the Word
  (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word
  was God.
• And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling
  among us
• In Johns Gospel Jesus is the new Adam
• Genesis God creates the world by speaking And
  God said
• The spoken word or just words/language have the
  power to create (and thus destroy).

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Kiowa Origin Myth

• You know, everything had to begin, and this is
  how it was the Kiowas came one by one into the
  world through a hollow log. There were many more
  than now, but not all of them got out. There was
  a woman whose body was swollen up with child, and
  she got stuck in the log. After that, no one
  could get through, and that is why the Kiowas are
  a small tribe in number. They looked around and
  saw the world. It made them glad to see so many
  things. They called themselves Kwuda, coming
  out.
• From The Way to Rainy Mountain
• N. Scott Momaday

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from The World on the Turtles Back Iroquois
creation myth

• In the middle of the Sky-World there grew a
  Great Tree which was not like any of the trees
  that we know. It was tremendous it had grown
  there forever. It had enormous roots that spread
  out from the floor of the Sky-World. And on its
  branches there were many different kinds of
  leaves and different kinds of fruits and flowers.
  The tree was not supposed to be marked or
  mutilated by any of the beings who dwelt in the
  Sky-World. It was a sacred tree that stood at the
  center of the universe.
• (text, p 23)

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• The woman decided that she wanted some bark
  from one of the roots of the Great Treeperhaps
  as a food or as a medicine, we dont know. She
  told her husband this. He didnt like the idea.
  He knew it was wrong. But she insisted, and he
  gave in. So he dug a hole among the roots of this
  great sky tree, and he bared some of its roots.
  But the floor of the Sky-World wasnt very thick,
  and he broke a hole through it. He was terrified,
  for he had never expected to find empty space
  underneath the world

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• But his wife was filled with curiosity. He
  wouldnt get any of the roots for her, so she set
  out to do it herself. She bent over and she
  looked down, and she saw the ocean far belowShe
  fell through the holeAnd so she began to fall
  toward the great ocean far below

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from The World on the Turtles Back Iroquois
creation myth

• They the twins buried their mother. And from
  her grave grew the plant which the people still
  use. From her head grew the corn, the beans, and
  the squash our supporters, the three sisters.
  And from her heart grew the sacred tobacco, which
  the people still use in the ceremonies and by
  whose upward-floating smoke they send thanks.
  The women call her our mother, and they dance
  and sing in rituals so that the corn, the beans,
  and the squash may grow to feed the people.
• (text, p 26)

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Coyote and Buffalo - Okanogan

• Buffalo Bull gave Coyote a young cow, the
  youngest cow, and he said, Never kill her,
  Sink-ka-lip! Take good care of her and she will
  supply you with meat forever. When you get
  hungry, just slice off some choice fat with a
  flint knife. Then rub ashes on the wound and the
  cut will heal at onceBut after a while he became
  tired of eating fat, and he began to long for the
  sweet marrow-bones and the other good parts of
  the buffalo.

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• Buffalo Bull will never know, Coyote told
  himself, and he took his young cow down beside a
  creek and killed her
• Coyote had to return to his own country without
  a buffalo. That is why there never have been any
  buffalo along the Swah-netk-qhu.

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Devils Tower

• The Native American myth of the boy who turns
  into a bear is common among many tribes of the
  Great Plains.
• The myth explains the natural phenomenon of
  Devils Tower and of the Big Dipper.

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• Eight children were there at play, seven
  sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was
  struck dumb he trembled and began to run upon
  his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and
  his body was covered with fur. Directly there was
  a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were
  terrified they ran, and the bear after them

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• They came to the stump of a great tree, and the
  tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it,
  and as they did so it began to rise into the air.
  The bear came to kill them, but they were just
  beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and
  scored the bark all around with its claws. The
  seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they
  became the stars of the Big Dipper.

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Devils Tower, Wyoming
Lakota Mato Tipila, which means Bear Tower
http//www.nps.gov/archive/deto/home.htm
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• Their names for the monolith include Aloft on a
  Rock (Kiowa), Bear's House (Cheyenne, Crow),
  Bear's Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear's Lodge
  (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear's Lodge Butte (Lakota),
  Bear's Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock
  (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
• The name Devil's Tower probably originated in
  1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard
  Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted
  the name to mean Bad God's Tower. This was later
  shortened to the Devil's Tower.

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(No Transcript)
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http//www.sdnhm.org/exhibits/bears/teachersguide/
background.html
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Bad Women are Thrown Away - Kiowa

• Bad women are thrown away. Once there was a
  handsome young man. He was wild and reckless, and
  the chief talked to the wind about him. After
  that, the man went hunting. A great whirlwind
  passed by, and he was blind. The Kiowas have no
  need of a blind man they left him alone with his
  wife and child. The winter was coming and food
  was scarce. In four days the mans wife grew
  tired of caring for him. A herd of buffalo came
  near, and the man knew the sound. He asked his
  wife to hand him a bow and an arrow. You must
  tell me, he said when the buffalo are directly
  in front of me. And in that way he killed a
  bull, but his wife said that he had missed

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• He asked for another arrow and killed another
  bull, but again his wife said that he had missed.
  Now the man was a hunter, and he knew the sound
  an arrow makes when it strikes home, but he said
  nothing. Then his wife helped herself to the meat
  and ran away with her child. The man was blind
  he ate grass and kept himself alive. In seven
  days a band of Kiowas found him and took him to
  their camp. There in the firelight a woman was
  telling a story. She told of how her husband had
  been killed by enemy warriors. The blind man
  listened, and he knew her voice. That was a bad
  woman. At sunrise they threw her away.
• - from The Way to Rainy Mountain
• N. Scott Momaday

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Discussion Questions

• What supernatural or magical elements are
  contained in the myth?
• What does the myth reveal about the qualities the
  Kiowa value or disapprove in an individual?
• What does the myth reveal about an individuals
  relationship with the tribe as a whole?
• How does the role of language in this story
  (think of the wife) contrast with the role of
  language in the story of the Arrowmaker?

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The Buffalo with Horns of Steel - Kiowa

• There was a strange thing, a buffalo with horns
  of steel. One day a man came upon it in the
  plain, just there where once upon a time four
  trees stood close together. The man and the
  buffalo began to fight. The mans hunting horse
  was killed right away, and the man climbed one of
  the trees. The great bull lowered its head and
  began to strike the tree with its black metal
  horns, and soon the tree fell. But the man was
  quick, and he leaped to the safety of the second
  tree. Again the bull struck with its unnatural
  horns, and the tree soon splintered and fell. The
  man leaped to the third tree and all the while he
  shot arrows at the beast but the arrows glanced
  away like sparks from its dark hide. At last
  there remained only one tree and the man had only
  one arrow. He believed then that he would surely
  die

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But something spoke to him and said Each time
the buffalo prepares to charge, it spreads its
cloven hooves and strikes the ground. Only there,
in the cleft of the hoof is it vulnerable it is
there you must aim. The buffalo went away and
turned, spreading its hooves, and the man drew
the arrow to the bow. His aim was true and the
arrow struck deep into the soft flesh of the
hoof. The great bull shuddered and fell, and its
steel horns flashed once in the sun. from
The Way to Rainy Mountain N. Scott Momaday
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Discussion Questions

• How do we know this is a post-contact (with
  Europeans) story?
• What does the buffalos one weakness echo in
  Greek mythology?
• What might the buffalo with horns of steel
  represent?
• Given this symbolism, what message might this
  story communicate to the Kiowa people?

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The Horse that Died of Shame - Kiowa

• Once there was a man who owned a fine hunting
  horse. It was black and fast and afraid of
  nothing. When it was turned upon an enemy it
  charged in a straight line and struck at full
  speed the man need have no hand upon the rein.
  But, you know, that man knew fear. Once during a
  charge he turned the animal from its course. That
  was a bad thing. The hunting horse died of
  shame.
• - from The Way to Rainy Mountain
• N. Scott Momaday

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Why Buffalo Has A Hump from the Ojibwa and Seneca

• Buffalo have humps.
• They hang their heads low.
• And do you know why?
• A long time ago,
• Little Buffalo Calf liked to run and jump and
  play.
• Just like you do.

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• His father, The Buffalo Chief, said,
• You can run and play in the green grass.
• You can run by the stream.
• You can run near the big trees.
• You can run by the gray rocks.
• But do not run hear the brown grass.

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• One day Little Buffalo Calf asked,
• Father, the brown grass looks nice.
• May I play in the brown grass, please?
• No, said the Buffalo Chief.
• You must keep out of the brown grass.
• But why? asked Little Buffalo Calf.
• Because that is where the birds live, answered
• his father.

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• Little Buffalo Calf wished he could play in the
• brown grass.
• I do not think the birds will mind, he said to
  himself.
• When his father was not looking, Little Buffalo
  Calf ran in the brown grass. He trampled the
  birds nests under his heavy feet.
• The birds began to cry. You are a bad buffalo!
  said the birds. You have ruined our homes!
• Oh my! said little Buffalo Calf. He was sad.

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• Just then the Creator came. Little Buffalo Calf,
  you did not mind your father, the Creator said.
  And now the birds have no home. You must be
  taught a lesson.
• The Creator put a stick on Little Buffalo Calfs
  shoulders. And there a big hump grew.
• I am sorry, said Little Buffalo Calf.
• And he hung his head low with shame.
• Now all buffalo have humps.
• And they hang their heads low.

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Verbal Equations

• Songs, Spells, Prayers

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Verbal Equations

• Spells, prayers and songs that are
  characteristically brief, and contain patterns,
  repetition and formulas, all of which make them
  easier to remember.
• Verbal equations are recited at specific,
  significant times for an intended purpose (birth,
  marriage, travel, sickness, hunting, harvest
  time).
• Spell a set of directions
• Prayer a request
• Song a description

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Birth Infancy
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Lullaby

• Baby, sleep, sleep sleep
• Father has gone to find turtle shells
• He said he will come back tomorrow
• Baby, sleep, sleep, sleep
• - Creek

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Lullaby

• Baby swimming down the river
• Little driftwood legs,
• Little rabbit legs.
• - Kiowa

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Cradlesong

• sleep, little one, your father is bringing
• a spotted deer to be your pet,
• a rabbits ear to be your necklace,
• spotted bramble fruits to be your toys.
• - Mbya

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When the Child is Named

• The mother and the godmother stand on the
  housetop before dawn the godmother speaks
• My sun!
• My morning star!
• Help this child to become a man.
• I name him
• Rain-dew Falling!
• I name him
• Star Mountain!
• The mother throws a live coal the godmother
  throws sacred meal.
• - Tewa

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Growing Up
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A Song of the Girls Puberty Ceremony

• When the earth was made
• When the sky was made
• When my songs were first heard
• The holy mountain was standing toward me with
  life.
• At the center of the sky, the holy boy walks four
  ways with life.
• Just mine, my mountain became standing toward me
  with
• life.
• The dancers became standing toward me with life.
• When the sun goes down to the earth, where Mescal
  Mountain
• lies with its head toward the sunrise,
• Black spruce became standing up with me.
• - White Mountain Apache

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Love Songs Love Magic
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The Dream

• Last night I dreamed of you.
• I dreamed you were walking on the shore pebbles
• and I was walking with you.
• last night I dreamed of you.
• and as though I were awake,
• I dreamed that I followed you,
• that I wanted you like a young seal,
• that you were wanted by me
• the way a hunter
• wants a young seal
• that dives when it feels it is being followed.
• thats how you were wanted
• by me,
• who dreamed of you.
• - Ammassalik Eskimo

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Womans Song

• A loon
• I thought it was
• But it was
• My loves
• Splashing oar
• To Sault Ste. Marie
• He has departed
• My love
• Has gone on before me
• Never again
• Can I see him
• - Chippewa

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Song

• Early morning dawning green,
• Ahis the willow so green?
• In the green fields,
• You gave me your love.
• - Quechua

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Womans Prayer

• Ruda! Ruda!
• O you who dwell in the skies,
• Who love the rain-
• O you who dwell in the skies!
• Make it be that he will find all other
• women unattractive.
• Let him think of me,
• When the sun disappears in the west.
• -Anambe

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Against Sickness Evil
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Medicine Mans Prayer

• Listen, my dream!
• This you told me should be done.
• This you said should be the way.
• You said it would cure the sick.
• Help me now.
• Do not lie to me.
• Help me, Sun person.
• Help me to cure this sick man.
• - Blackfeet

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For the Hunter
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A Song of the Buffalo Dance

• One I have wounded, yonder he moves,
• Yonder he moves, bleeding at the mouth.
• One I have wounded, yonder he moves,
• Yonder he moves, with staggering steps.
• One I have wounded, yonder he moves,
• Yonder he falls, yonder he falls.
• - Omaha

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Prayer Before Killing the Eagle

• Do not think that I shall harm you.
• You will have a new body.
• Now turn your head to the north and lie
• flat!
• - Yokuts

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Words to Call Up Game

• Beast of the sea,
• Come and offer yourself in the dear early
  morning!
• Beast of the plain,
• Come and offer yourself in the dear early
  morning!
• - Iglulik Eskimo

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War and Death
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Prayer to the Deceased

• Naked you came from Earth the Mother. Naked you
  return to her. May a good wind be your road.
• - Omaha

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War Song

• clear the way
• in a sacred manner
• I come
• the earth
• is mine
• - Sioux

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The Moon and the Year

• The moon and the year
• Travel and pass away
• Also the day, also the wind.
• Also the flesh passes away
• To the place of its quietness.
• - Maya

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Crazy Dog Song

• I live, but I cannot live forever.
• Only the great earth lives forever,
• The great sun is the only living thing.
• - Kiowa

88
Song of the Kaitsenko

• The sun and the moon will live forever,
• but we Kaitsenko must die.
• - Kiowa

89
Dog Soldier