Essay: Nature in Native American Fairy Tales

This week I read the American Indian Fairy Tales unit, another in a long line of fairy tale units from different cultures. What stood out to me about this unit and its stories is the large role nature and the environment play. Right off the bat, the first story Iagoo the storyteller relates to the children is about winter and its harbinger the fierce North Wind (Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind). It also describes the warm summer land of the South Wind. Natural phenomena are given life in these stories; they have emotions, thoughts, desires, and actions. In Native American cultures, nature is not something that just happens around human beings, independent of our actions. Nature and humanity have a long-standing relationship with actions and reactions from both parties, and this idea is very prevalent in the Native American fairy tales. The characters literally interact with agents of the environment and these interactions can have negative or positive consequences.

Another story features nature prominently but in a different way, The Little Boy and the Little Girl in the Clouds. In this tale, Iagoo tells the children about a time when "all animals and men lived on friendly terms." The scene he sets in a valley sound like a paradise.

    This valley was a lovely place to live in; never was such a playground      anywhere on earth. It was like a great green carpet stretching for miles      and miles, and when the wind blew upon the long grass it was like            looking at the waves of the sea. Flowers of all colors bloomed in the        beautiful valley, berries grew thick on the bushes, and birds filled the        summer air with their songs.

The illustration that goes along with the story, shown below, certainly captures the beauty described in the quote. I haven't seen many places that I would consider to have natural beauty like this. Landscapes today are obscured by houses and skyscrapers and telephone wires. 

The beautiful valley
Illustrated by John Rae

Perhaps the reason Native American cultures appreciate nature more than modern American culture is because they can remember a time when the environment was harsh and hostile. In How Summer Came, the world is trapped in an eternal winter. I speculate that this could be a story about an ice age. If a people had a cultural, first-hand memory of what it was like to live in such a hard environment, they might be more appreciative of the much tamer environment we have now. Regardless of how it came to be, the fairy tales in this unit illustrate the greater bond and respect Native American cultures share with nature.

Week 9 Storytelling: The Musician's Bride

Mary lived a double life. On the outside, she acted exactly as her parents wished. She never wore short skirts or jean shorts. All of her tops had sleeves and their necklines could never be described with the word "plunging." She never wore makeup and most of her wardrobe was pink. She was their perfect little girl-- on the outside, at least.

On the inside, Mary was an old soul. She dreamed of a life that was full of meaning and passion and, most importantly, close to nature. The closest things to natural beauty in Mary's neighborhood were the small, bright green lawns surrounding the suburban houses whose blades of grass were so chemically enhanced they looked fake. In fact, hardy anything in her life felt like it was real. All the trees were small and neatly trimmed so that they hardly rustled in a breeze less leaves fall off and tarnish the yard. Everything was held neatly in place, extensively polished, and always of the highest synthetic quality.

Creative free spirit
(Pixaby.com)

This included the music everyone listened to, the newest cookie-cutter pop hits. Mary dreamed of music that made you feel more than the desire to tap your foot. She dreamed of songs that touched your soul and inspired you to feel what they songwriter felt and think deeply. She dreamed of bare feet on real grass, bare skin in cool (non-chlorinated) water, and nights spent looking up at the stars without a care in the world. Mary dreamed of being free.

When her parents thought she was diligently studying, she was really in her room daydreaming. Mary imagined someone coming to save her and taking her somewhere she could live out her fantasies. Ideally, he would be a musician, a man who could express emotions through strings of notes and thoughtful lyrics. He would let her be who she wanted to be and accept whoever that was-- someone completely different from anyone she had ever met.

Mary loved her family and friends, but they just didn't understand her. They noticed her rather melancholy, dreamy disposition, but they assumed it was just a phase she would grow out of. They wanted her to marry as soon as possible after high school, hopefully being engaged before graduation to a young man from a respectable family and with a promising future-- maybe a future accountant or state senator. Mary, of course, would stay at home, taking care of the household and, eventually, the children. The thought of being trapped in such a life made her yearn even harder after the life she much preferred.

One evening in the summer, Mary didn't come down from her room when she was called to dinner. Upon finding her room vacant, her mother checked the whole house but could find no sign of her. In a panic, she rushed to the neighbor's house and asked if they had seen anything. Mr. Johnson appeared rather weary, and wouldn't look Mary's mother in the eye. Eventually, he told her what he had seen: a young boy in torn jeans and band t-shirt throwing rocks at Mary's window. When she opened it, he played her a song on his acoustic guitar while she watched avidly as if entranced. After the last note was played, they spoke only for a moment before Mary made her way down the side of the house using tied up bed sheets. The two of them raced into the boy's old red Camaro and took off down the road in a flash.

As Mary's distraught mother hurried back to her house to inform her husband and, no doubt, call the police, Mr. Johnson couldn't help thinking that he'd never seen Mary look happier than she did in the passenger seat of that poor musician's car.

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Author's Note: This story is based on a tale called The Fairy Bride from American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). In "The Fairy Bride," a young girl named Neen-i-zu dreams of a land where there is no pain or suffering and everyone is happy all the time. She believes this land lies just beyond the trees of an enchanted forest that no one has ever entered, inhabited by little trickster creatures called Puk-Wudjies. She spends all day in her secret place, staring at the forest and internally begging the inhabitants of the other world (fairies) to admit her. Her mother, however, is concerned about her daughter's behavior and wishes that she would settle down and marry a local hunter. Distraught at being told she will wed this man she despises, she asks to be allowed to go to her secret place one last time on her wedding day, but she never returns. A man explains that he saw her being led into the forest by a fairy youth as if in a trance and she was never seen again.

As you can see, my story is quite different from the original. "The Musician's Bride" is set in modern times and is not about finding a magical paradise, but the overall idea is the same. Mary is a romantic who frequently dreams of being swept away to a fantasy world where she feels she will be incredibly happy. Though different in some ways, I feel like Mary and Neen-i-zu share the same kind of passionate free spirit.

Reading Diary B: American Indian Fairy Tales

Here are my favorites from the second half of the American Indian Fairy Tales unit:

The Boy Who Snared the Sun, Part 2: So far I've enjoyed this cute and intriguing tale. For one thing, the story mentions mastodons. I wonder if this was a part of the original story or if maybe this element was added by the author who compiled the stories. Obviously, the stories were translated into English, so it's possible that the traditional tale did tell of a giant creature like the mastodon and the translator or editor assumed this was the creature they were talking about. I also find it strange that there are only two people left in the whole world, a sister and a brother (who is a dwarf). What happened to their parents? What happened to everyone else in the world? How did humanity continue with just a brother and a sister? Hopefully these questions will be answered in the third part of the story.

The large mastodon
Illustrated by John Rae

The Boy Who Snared the Sun, Part 3: Well my questions about humanity were not answered, but I still liked this story. It was a bit sad that the Dormouse, who used to be the biggest animal in the world once the mastodon left, gave up his immense size while trying to cut the cord the boy used to snare the sun. It was a very selfless act to choose to lose his defining attribute so that everyone could reap the benefit of having the sun in the sky. This story does still leave many unanswered questions, though. What happened to the boy and his sister afterwards? Obviously human life in ancient North American didn't end. How did humans make their comeback? I wonder if the next stories will tell or if the answers are not in this group of stories but must be searched out in other places. My curiosity wants to be satisfied!

How the Summer Came, Part 1: I sympathize sooooo much with Morning Glory in this story! I much prefer summer over winter so I'm very tired of the winter weather. It always feels like the longest season of all. I had an epiphany while reading this story that the time when winter ruled the earth was probably the ice age! It's mind-blowing to think that there is a people who might actually have a consciousness that dates back to this far away point in human history. Not only that but they have a story about why they think the ice age finally ended, thanks to a man who could turn into an animal called a Marten. Another interesting thing about this story is that the marten man sacrifices himself to bring summer and, in fact, this animal is no longer found in the southern parts of North America (where the people who told this story likely would have lived). They now exist mostly in Canada (I found this out when I looked up what a marten is because I had never heard of it before).

The Fairy Bride, Part 2: This story reminds me a little bit of Pocahontas, the Disney movie. A parent of a free-spirited dreamer wants her to settle down and marry a man that is quite the opposite of her, very stern and concerned with killing (one is a hunter and the other a warrior). Even when you consider Grandmother Willow, The Fairy Bride involves more magic and magical creatures. The young maiden dreams of a world that is basically a paradise, where it's always summer and no one dies and everyone is always happy. The ending is kind of creepy, though. The hunter who spots her going into the enchanted forest says she looks like she is in a trance as she walks forward and then she disappears never to be seen again. Thankfully, this is something that she wanted and she has not been kidnapped like some girls in other stories have been. Although it is a bit creepy, it's actually a happy ending.

Reading Diary A: American Indian Fairy Tales

Here are my favorites from the first half of the American Indian Fairy Tales unit:

Iagoo the Storyteller: This is a great introduction into the other stories in the unit because it sets the tone so well. I can see everything the narrator is describing from the beautiful beads the children string on their necklaces to the bending bow and strong arrow to the children huddled around the fire in Iagoo's wigwam in the winter. I can hear the North Wind blowing against the walls of the wigwam and imagine the darkness in the surrounding forest. The overall impression I am getting makes me imagine that I am there with the children crowded by the fire hearing these stories just as real children once did on cold winter nights, learning about the rich storytelling tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. Really wonderful story.

Shen-ge-bis Fools the North Wind, Part 1: Another great introductory section, this time to the story about Shen-ge-bis and how he plans to outlast the harsh, freezing North Wind when he brings winter to the land. I love stories from other, older cultures that explain why things are the way the are or how things came to be the way they are. I especially love Sha-won-dasee, the South Wind who lives in a land (you guessed it, in the south) where it is perpetually summer. The description of this place is so enticing to me. I would move to this warm southern place in a heartbeat if I could. The good things (at least in my opinion) that Sha-won-dasee brings to the lands that he visits basically include everything that I adore about summer and Ka-bib-on-okka (the North Wind) embodies basically everything I despise about winter. This story intensifies my desire for the warm spring days that are supposed to be just days away this week!

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds, Part 1: I don't know what it is with me and the introductory sections of this unit, but I am loving them. The places they describe seem like paradises to me. In this story, the beautiful scenery is that of a valley at the beginning of time where man and animals were friends. The grass is a green carpet that stretches like soft carpet from one wall of the world to another, dotted by colorful flowers and cut across by a glittering river that all the animals come to in order to drink from it. So basically, I just want to live in all the places these stories are set in or mention. Now would be a good time to mention the gorgeous illustrations in this unit. Soft, tranquil water color illustrations perfectly capture the beauty of the settings as well as the overall feeling created in these stories. Just look at that picture down there! Wouldn't you want to live in that valley, too?

Beautiful valley from The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds
Illustrated by John Rae

The Child of the Evening Star, Part 1: I like this introductory section for a whole different reason than I liked the other ones. This story feels like a prototypical fairy tale. The heroine is beautiful but humble and is not concerned with outward beauty or riches. She has sisters who are also beautiful but who do not have as kind of hearts as she does (it also seems like a typical fairy tale convention for the "best" sister to be the youngest). The heroine turns away many eligible suitors because she doesn't like what she sees in their hearts and instead marries an old man, who is by far the most worthy. Compared to the previous stories, this one just seems like the most "fairy-tale-like." I predict that the couple will face a difficulty in the remaining parts of the story but will overcome them and live happily ever after.