Native%20American%20Literature

1
Native American Literature
2
(No Transcript)
3
Historical Cultural Context

• Our American identity as we know it is a product
  of our past. Our class will focus on literature
  which reveals how we arrived at our society and
  culture today.
• We study Native American literature out of a
  respect for the indigenous cultures who were here
  before the European explorers as well as a
  respect for their cultural and literary influence
  throughout the years.

4

• Indigenous Americans inhabited this continent
  before anyone else. They endured many invasions
  from the Spaniards for the following primary
  reasons
• 1. land
• 2. gold
• 3. crops
• (all of which were plentiful)

5
Storytelling Oral Tradition

• Long before European explorers came to North
  America, Native Americans had a rich literary
  tradition of their own. Their stories, histories,
  and legends were shared and preserved through
  oral tradition. The storyteller is one whose
  spirit is indispensable to the people.

6

• The Native Americans spoke hundreds of languages
  and lived in incredibly diverse societies with
  varied mythological beliefs.
• Despite their differences, their cultures and
  literary traditions had the following common
  elements

• Lack of a written language
• They believed in the power of words and they
  relied on memory, rather than writing to preserve
  their texts
• Thus, these stories are not defined by the
  boundaries of written language there are no
  ending pages and they are not contained within a
  limited, concrete, physical source.

7

• These stories belong to the collective people/the
  tribe
• The storyteller is very important to culture and
  is one of the most honored and respected members
  of the tribe/society
• There is no known original author

8

• These oral stories include the following types of
  texts
• Cultural information (beliefs about social order
  and appropriate behavior)
• Historical accounts including migrations how
  people got to where they are
• Lessons describe how and why things are the way
  they are
• Creation stories and the origins of societies
  (beliefs about the nature of the physical world)

9

• While oral stories are meant to be passed
  down through generations verbally, it is
  important to remember that written transcripts
  are not exactly representative of the oral
  performance. But a translation/ transcription of
  the stories is the closest we can come to sharing
  the Native American culture and tradition.

10
Some Dominant Themes Motifs

• Relationships between humans and animals
• Respect and reverence for mother earth and nature
• Connection to the spiritual world and the
  presence of an invisible power that is the source
  of life and good for humans
• Animal and human roles are interchangeable
• Cyclical patterns renewal and continuance

11

• Plants are thought to be alive, their juice is
  their blood, and they grow. The same is true of
  trees. All things die, therefore all things have
  life. Because all things have life, gifts have to
  be given to all things.
• - William Ralganal Benson Pomo
• This rock did not come here by itself. This tree
  did not come here by itself. There is one who
  made all this, Who shows us everything.
• - Yuki