Week 11 Reading: Myths and Legends of the Great Planes (Reading A)

Taken From: "Sacred Legend" 

READING A:

1. The Creation
• Deals with tribes
• Osages lived in the sky
• Mother: Moon 
• Father: Sun
• Osages were told they had to go live on earth
• The earth was covered in water 
• Asked the Elk for help 
• Elk called to help from the winds, which took the water upward
2. Sacred Legend
• Again, the people start in the water 
• We could not see, but when we first came up we saw daylight 
• kind of sounds like us in the womb
• Found, land Lived next to a big body of water
• Hunted deer with clubs
• Didn't know what to do so found stone and chipped it into arrows and knives
• Eventually made fire, then learned to make a pot to cook 
• Learned to make hides from their kills to cover things up and wear 
• Basically described the origin of many Native American traditions 
• Corn, hide clothing, arrows, axe, canoes 
3. The Legend of the Peace Pipes
• Made out of the feathers of the owl, woodpecker, imperial eagle and other things 
• Made for keeping peach within the tribe 
• When the peace pipes were made, 7 others were made by keeping peace within the tribe
• each band had its own pipe
4. A Tradition of the Calumet
• The Mysterious one, the voice in the sky that the elders talk to, eventually combines the chiefs and warriors of each tribe into a council 
• they smoked the pipe and there were peace and understanding amongst the many tribes
5. The Sacred Pole
• Seems to be the creation story of the first totem pole
• it was made from a "wonderful" tree that would burst into flames 
• They cut it town, talked to it like a human, dressed it, and said if they need anything or meet someone bad they bring their prayers to the pole, must bring gifts tot he pole 
6. The Buffalo and the Grizzly Bear
• Both of them fought each other, kind of for no reason 
• at the end grizzly, who started it, said let's be friend because we are similar in disagreement and fights 
7. The Eagle's Revenge
• Eagle eating dead deer? odd
• hunter found him and shot at the eagle 
• Chief said to get the eagle to have an eagle dance 
• A mysterious man comes during the dance and kills people with singing and saying hi
• later realized it was the eagle's brother 
8. Unktomi and the Bad Songs
• Unktomi tricked geese, duck and swan into a hut
• killed them as he sang to them to keep their eyes closed
• Got away, but a mink ended up stealing the meat while Unktomi slept 
9. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies
• Sun: Lord of life
• Moon: Old Woman Who Never Dies 
• 6 kids, three sons, three daughters that live in the sky 
• Day, Sun, Night, Morning Star, The Striped Gourd, Evening Star 
• Manages the seasons and what the animals do, so directs what humans eat 
10. Legend of the Corn
• Arikara was the first to find corn, showed it to the Omahas 
• Found it by seeing an odd buffalo that stood and ate the corn for days, though it was controlled by a power 
• thought the plant was special too
• corn, so they took it and harvested it previously 
11. Tradition of the Finding of Horses
• Ponca vs. Padouca 
• Padouca had horses, Ponca did not
• Ponca knew the horses were coming because of the smell "Kawa"
• the wind told us kawa are coming 
• Padouca eventually taught them how to ride horses 
• Then they fought each other more 
12. The Ghost's Resentment
• Dakota died, parents made a lodge for him on a bluff
• other people in the village went to steal from the lodge to make clothes out of the skin
• young boy thought it was rude and followed them to scare them to death
• he scared them and they never bothered that grave again 
13. Three Ghost Stories
• Must keep funeral lights lit so that the spirits do not have to walk in the dark
• Spirits wander the roads of the milky way
• not suicide, they are no future life and they hover over their grave 
• To walk the Ghost Road, one must tattoo their forehead or wrists or they are not allowed in, sent back to earth unsettled 
• people sitting around the fire, found human bones at the foot of a tree from a guy singing? 

Judson, Katherine B. “Great Plains: Coyote and Snake.” Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook, 1913, mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/great-plains-coyote-and-snake.html.