Oral Literature

1. Oral Literature Read “The Sun Still Rises in the Same Sky” on pg. 23, and write down four generalizations about American Indian oral tradition.

2. Oral Tradition • Native American and ancient European classics are both rooted in the oral tradition • Was and continues to be defining element of Native American cultures • Mid-1800s, European-American editors and translators began copying and translating Native American literature into writing to preserve the culture; until this point, was assumed Native Americans had no literature

3. Oral Traditions • Before Columbus arrived in 1492, there were thousands of narratives, ceremonies, songs, and speeches performed by Native Americans categories are as follows: • Creation stories • Trickster/hero stories • Chants • Ceremonies • Rituals

4. Oral Tradition • Most oral genres of literature (whether spoken or sung) were considered the common property of a group rather than an individual author • Traditional Native American conceptions of identity= communal and inclusive • Audience listening to an oral performance was considered to be a part of the performance; their active response shaped the telling of the tale

5. Key Elements of Oral Literature • Native American cultures use stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information about the natural world (The Sun Still Rises) • Creation myths also convey these lessons, while focusing and preserving spiritual beliefs about nature and of the physical world, social order and appropriate behavior, human nature and problem of good and evil

6. Oral Tradition • The early myths led into native legends • All were originally oral stories passed down for many generations • The stories and legends often have ritual beginnings and endings • Progress and change are shown as cyclical, not linear as western thinking normally follows (The Sun Still Rises)

7. Common Myth Themes • Movement from a sky world to a water world • Fortunate fall –creation story • Earth-diver myth usually involving an earth made from mud or a flood after the universe is created • Theft of fire • Emergence myth– movement of beings from under the surface to the surface of the earth

8. Key Elements of Oral Literature • American Indian oral literature also reflects a more inclusive, eco-centric view of the natural world than the one typically seen in Western-European literature (The Sun Still Rises) • Native American universe is not dominated by humans; animals and humans are often interchangeable in myths and folk tales; all viewed as divinities • Opposes GCB (established order)

9. Key Elements of Oral Literature • American Indian oral literature shows a keen awareness of the power of metaphor (The Sun Still Rises) • Words are as powerful and alive as the human being who speaks them; oratory is a highly respected and developed literary form

10. Key Elements of Oral Literature • Archetypes: a pattern of story or a type of character that is used often in different stories over the ages • The Trickster: archetypal figure in many oral stories used to explain and challenge the Euro-American invasion of the land; often represented as a Coyote • Repetition: device used but often the lines repeated contain different/ changing meanings; used to create expectation

11. Read With 5 O'clock • Compare: “The Sky Tree” to “The Earth Only”—Compare and Contrast these Creation Myths using a Vinn Diagram (p. 24-25) • Read “Coyote Finishes His Work.” On the back of your Vinn Diagram, write three sets of conflicting characteristics that make the coyote a Trickster

12. In-Class Writing Assignment Write a creation style myth about how something in nature was created. You can select any topic you wish. Examples: • why the sun turns colors as it sets • how some places turned cold and snowy and others not