Week 10 Extra Reading Diary: Native American Fairy Tales

Image Information: Imagining of sleep spirits controlling dreams. Source: Wikipedia

The Boy Who Snared the Sun (1, 2, and 3):

 Extremely cold night. Old man’s tent and two children. No killing small animals. Tells story of the time of the dormouse, a time when even large numbers of great numbers couldn’t kill a mouse. Time when there were more animals than men. A time before people ate animal flesh, but were vegetarians. Before Indians had corn. No fire to cook with—only one in the whole world guarded by two witches. Coyote eventually stole some fire. Animals ruled the earth in their own way. Only two humans left. The girl cared for her brother who was a dwarf and less strong than her. Eventually came a day that she decided to teach him to fend for himself.

Decided he needed a new coat so he killed some snow birds. Went off on his own to find other people. Got tired and fell asleep in the open. His new coat shrunk in the sun. Decided to get revenge on the sun. Forced his sister to make him a noose out of her hair and caught the sun a it rose the next morning.

The animals grew very confused when the sun did not rise. None of them could think of a way to free the sun. The dormouse was originally the size of the mountain, but when he chewed the noose on the sun, it burned most of him away until it was the size it is today.

How the Summer Came (1, 2, and 3):

Longing for the end of winter. Whole world was silent and white, with only the evergreens for color. There was a time when there was no summer. Came to believe a man was a mage because his arrow always hit the mark. He was able to to change himself into a fisher and was on friendly terms with the other animals who helped him whenever he needed it.

Had a wife and son he loved dearly. Well provided for, but life is hard because of the eternal winter. Ceiling of our world is the floor of another world. Boy convinced his father to go find summer for the good of all the earth. Went up the mountain to get advice from a manito giant.

Was told he’d be able to reach the top of the mountain, but not guaranteed to come down. Try to crack the sky open to let the warmth in. He spent too much time in the upper world and the crack got closed. Fisher remained in the sky as a constellation.

The Fairy Bride (1 and 2):

Beautiful girl that was loved by all but had a bad habit of walking all alone by herself in the woods (in the dark). Some might say she was a dreamer, but she thought she heard fairies. Little men in the woods unseen except for far off fishermen. Was told of a land of summer where no one wept or suffered sorrow. She sought it desperately. Spirits of sleep. Sought the land also in her sleep—happy land. Wishes could give her wings. Sang a song to the merry little men and they echoed it back to her.

Was to be married off to a hunter even though she had just promised that nothing would die in the happy land. She rebelled against the union. She ran away. Became a fairy bride instead.