Folklore of the First Nations

In a way, folklore is much like a living species. A story begins and spreads, changing ad adapting as its introduced to new environments, until many years later there are many different stories all derived from the same tale. Also much like living creatures, when stories arise in isolated areas they remain contained away from others and evelop in thier own unique way that is completely different from those of other areas. This is the case with the folklore of the Native American people, which arose in North America and remained entirerly self contained and separate from European stories until the 15th century. 

One major difference between the folklore of the Native American people and that of Europe is that the Native American folklore was not, strictly speaking, folklore. Going by our definitions earlier in the semester, it falls under the umbrella of myths due to its focus on creation stories and mythological entities held to be real. It may actually even be considered religion, as the populations of Native Americans on reservations still practice their cultures, which includes the performing the practices and telling the stories included in these myths.

Another particular  feature of note was the recurring use of the number four. Whether used to describe the number of beings or as a size comparison, many things come in fours or are four times as large or small as something else. This is a result  of Native American beliefs regarding four as a highly important number. Within select cultures of native Americans, there were four ages of man, four corners of the world, four winds, four seasons, and four cardinal directions, each with an associated color, bird, and sometimes even gender. This also shows up in the earth symbols of certain tribes, such as the Dakota, Lenape Algonquin, and Sioux.

One last major difference is the nature of the cultures involved. All folklore carries with it a particular timeless quality, in which details are delibaratly sparse and thus do not pin down a story in any particular region or time. Native American stories, on the other hand, are directly connected to the cutlures in which they originate. The dances and songs they mention in stories are practiced by particular tribes, making them specific to particular peoples.

I greatly enjoyed reading the Native American stories, as it provided an interesting glimpse into a culture often ignored or minimalized by most popular media. My favorite of the tales we read was How Mosquitos Came to Be. I read the story once before when I was in elementary school, though that version was different. In the one I read when I was young, the blood-drinking giant was formed from stone and immune to all weapons When the elders met to discuss how to kill him, a child tending the fire watched how one of the stones in the pit cracked from the heat and suggested a way to kill the monster. A hunter lured him to fall into a pit, where they lit a fire to break him apart, and with his dying breath he combined his body and the smoke to creat mosquitos and feed on blood forever. I do not know whether or not this story was from a different tribe's interpretation or a mangled version altered by publishers and retellings, but i findd it to be interesting nonetheless.