The book that I decided to read was Night Flying Woman by Ignatia Broker. The tribal identity in the book was Oibwe from the White Earth Band. Ms. Broker started out the book from the present day in Minneapolis where she grew up. There wasn’t much culture to be seen, and the younger generations were getting too lost in the new world. Ms. Broker made sure to mention that she still taught her children the Ojibwe ways, and told them the stories that her grandmother had once told her. Throughout Ignatia Broker’s introductory chapter, we got a sense of the amount of respect she had for you great-great grandmother Oona, or Night Flying Woman.…
Black Elk speaks about his culture and how the traditional Sioux Indian’s way of life created interdependence between man and nature. Appreciating nature, giving thanks to mother earth and taking care of their own was what the Native American lived for, unlike the white man or “Wasichus” as Black Elk called them, who came to America looking to take control of the Sioux land, using all the natural resources while looking for their precious metal, gold. The Native American was about balance and only taking enough so there would be more for tomorrow. Appreciating earth and nature is where most of their religion and symbols came from. Respect for the cycle of the seasons and the animals’ lifevwas necessary in order to…
The Ojibwa myth, “Nanabush Creates the World”, greatly demonstrates many social values that are imperative to the culture as the story suggests itself. Firstly, there is the idea of looking out for young siblings. This idea also implies that the Ojibwa provide more power and responsibility to the elder sibling, which supposed the Ojibwa valued them more. Nanabush was known to be the elder brother who had the responsibility to avenge the death of his younger brother. He took the role of being the hero as well by defeating the evil Serpent people. In addition, the Ojibwa valued consequence for acts of wrongdoing in the form of equal punishment. Nanabush punishes the Serpent people for murdering his brother by taking revenge and murdering the Chief of all Serpents. In this particular case, a life would be taken if a life has been taken. Furthermore, the fact that Nanabush- a male- is the saviour suggests man have the utmost power; signifying a patriarchal society. It is man who defeats evil and creates a peaceful, new world for inhabitants to live in. The service for people with greater power is also an important value for the Ojibwa culture, with rewards given if the deed is done in succession. The muskrat’s determination toward finding earth from the Old World for Nanabush is the clear example. The animal died succeeding in his task and was revived because of his courageous act. Likewise, animals are of tremendous meaning because it was from their efforts that made it possible for Nanabush to create the world. Muskrats would be the animal of most value because it was he who delivered earth for…
The Aboriginal people’s inextricable connection to the Land and the natural world provides a link between the people and the Dreaming. This untieable connection dictates their way of life, their Laws, their beliefs, their values and the way in which they treat others individually. This connection has lived and grown within every Aboriginal of different tribes for 40 000 years and are known to have the longest cultural history in the world.…
The Iroquois, a Native American tribe, believe that the world was not actually created but that it already existed. There was a sky world and an ocean that laid below. The sky world was full of sky people, and among the sky people was a pregnant woman and her husband. While finding food one day the sky woman fell through a hole to the underworld taking the roots of the tree with her. A muskrat then brought the dirt to plant the tree on the turtle's back. She had her chikd, who was a girk. The daughter then got pregnant by a mysterious man when he laid two…
time. The Ojibway of this story believe in three main concepts which were: 1.) Gitichi Manito…
Some of the elements of the indigenous culture that are being maintained in the book are the story of the Golden Carp, healers and witchcraft, and the Indians burial ceremony.…
The creation stories “The World on a Turtle’s Back” of the Iroquois and “The Golden Chain” of the Yoruba help to define what they see as their place in the world and what they value most. Values of the Iroquois include nature, balance, and natural cycles. Key values of the Yoruba are diversity, nature, and productivity. Both the Iroquois and the Yoruba tell tales encompassing the importance of nature and its purpose; however, their views on the roles of people on Earth and on new ways of thinking differ from each other, distinguishing the two…
Throughout all forms of Native American tales and myths we see many values and aspects portrayed by the Native American people. In the myths that are read, the reader can easily pick off and single off values that the Native American people truly saw were thoroughly important in their time and society. The Native American people believed in many aspects which were usually considered important values for people to possess. The thing about Native American myths and tales that is found astonishing is the fact that these stories are most likely improbable but regardless of that, these stories still depict great human qualities that everyone should have. Native American myths capture the culture and values of the society in which it was produced with the morals involving love and friendship, the relationship between humans and animals and trust and loyalty.…
In the buffalo maiden we are introduced to a God that they call Wakan Tanka. He seems to be transcendent from the tribe. He isn't there himself to take the messages to the Sioux tribe. Wakan Tanka relayed his messages to the maiden to then in turn take them to the tribe. From this myth you can see how the Native Americans are animistic. They incorporate the Earth and nature in all that they do, " I offer this to the Earth, whence come all good gifts." This is showing their belief that not only do they need to make the god's happy, but they need to bless all the things they come in contact with on a daily basis. The Native Americans are seeking a sense of balance between the Gods and reality. If the God's aren't happy then the real world suffers. From this myth it can be seen that there is also a sense of rituals. The maiden goes in and drinks the rain water off the grass which has to be a ritual of some sort. Another ritual that seems to be shown is when the pipe is lit before the maiden starts speaking and after she delivers her message. The smoke also symbolized an offering to the God Wakan Tanka. It was something to give to him as respect so he would know how grateful they are to him. A lot of what the Indians do is solely based upon ritual.…
In the mid-nineteenth century a girl named Ni-bo-wi-se-gwe (Oona) was born in pitch darkness in the middle of the day when the sun and moon crossed paths. The book Night Flying Woman by Ignatia Broker is biography of Broker’s great-great-grandmother, Oona. It describes Oona’s life through what Broker has learned from her grandparents when they passed down the stories. In the book, one of the main themes is passing traditions on. I chose this theme because in the book, passing traditions on is major part of the characters’ culture. Passing traditions on is a practice that is important to many cultures and it effectively connects generations of people through experiences and stories.…
The creation story of the Cree Tribe shows us their belief about how all the animals and humans were created, and also how humans are guided to the right thing. Most beliefs and themes of creation myths can be found as the same from multiple religions and faiths.…
The Aboriginal people believe in myths but do not have faith in a creator. Instead, they believe in a spirit world, they say that after death there is another world beyond, they trust in ideas of reincarnation. The spirits are active in this world but they also live on in a world after death. The Aboriginals use rituals as a way of communicating between the two worlds. Communities or tribes gather to take part in dances, story telling, art making and other practices. They group for these rituals at sacred sites, these are places or areas that hold great significance for the Aborigines. These fascinating beliefs are very deep and complex views of how the cycle of life on our Earth occurs.…
Literature written by Native Americans within the colonial time demonstrated an interesting aspect of ways that these americans lived. They generally believed in spirituality, animal…
Introduction: As most of us know, Native American’s have a rich history of struggle and also triumph. Many modern Native American traditions reflect the story and struggle Native American’s experienced. These stories are filled with tradition closely tied to Mother Nature. I’m sure many of you have seen Native American art and objects, such as teepees, totem poles, and moccasins. These are articles that tied together Native American life. I’m going to share with you the meaning behind these symbols and traditions, and how they affect modern…