Week 11 Story
Before there were people on the earth, it was made out of completely water. There was a eagle who flew over all of the earth for millions of years. He finally got tired of flying and decided to petition to the old man in the sky to create safe place to land. The old man in the sky saw that his creation was exhausted so decided to create land where the eagle rest on. The land came up out of the ocean at once and the eagle laid to rest. When he woke up, he asked the old man in the sky to create a friend for him to be with, as he was getting lonely. The old man in the sky was hurt that the eagle needed a friend other than him but had compassion on the eagle and created coyote to roam around the earth. The eagle and the coyote became best friends and did everything together. The eagle would fly above the coyote as he ran through the lands. The old man in the sky was hurt by the way the eagle and the coyote became friends. In a jealous rage, he created hunger so that neither the eagle or the coyote could live without eating. The coyote needed more than just the plants he was eating so one day, in a fit of hunger, he accidentally ate his eagle friend. The eagle died then but his remains became the ret of the earth, his feathers turning into trees, his bones becoming people. The old man in the sky decided after this to create the rest of the living things so that he would never be left out again.
Authors Note:
This week, I read the great plains unit. The whole first part of this unit was tales of creation. I think that these were cool to read because they were so far out of normalcy that they were super creative. I realized that it would be really interesting to write my own story of creation. Even though a lot of it is illogical, I took a lot from the stories in the great plains. For instance, a lot of the stories named eagles and coyotes as their first living creatures on earth. Also, there was a story in which eagles feathers turned into trees so I added that as well.
Hi Morgan!
ReplyDeleteI love how you've introduced the old man as a fallible, human type of creator; that's one of my favorite aspects to a lot of the Native American creation stories. I also really enjoyed the idea that all people spring from the bones of the first eagle, that's a wonderful and beautiful idea. One thing I wasn't sure of was whether "ret" was supposed to be "rest of the earth," or if that's a term from the Great Plains stories I didn't encounter.
This was delightful! Thanks!
Hey Morgan, I like how you have synthesized a number of different stories to create this origin story. I am also fascinated by origin stories. I think it’s such an awe inspiring question to imagine where we came from, it’s hard not to be interested. I think origin stories also often reveal much about a cultures values. I wonder how someone studying “the culture” your story came from might interpret it in that light. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHi Morgan! I think you did a great job recreating this story and making sure to stick to the original intentions of Native American culture. In this unit, I have noticed a pattern of animals and their significance, especially the eagle. I like how the story ended with a jealous feat turned into good when the eagle’s remains became the rest of the earth. Great job!
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