Reading Diary A: Native American Hero Tales

Here are my favorites from the first half of the Native American Hero Tales unit:

The Jealous Uncle: This was a bit of a strange story but interesting. The motivation for "Unnatural Uncle" killing all his nephews is never really explained. He just seems like he's not right in the head. What I liked about the story, though, were the traditional storytelling features like the repetition of the boy going out with his uncle, the uncle's attempts to trap or kill the boy in various ways, and the ingenious ways the boy managed to escape. The other thing I really liked was the eagle village the boy floated away to, where they can don eagle skins and actually become eagles. I wish this kind of thing was possible in real life. I would become a lion or a wolf or even just a little bird so I could experience what it was like to fly.

Bluejay and His Companions: This story was funny because of the silly antics the characters get up to. The same kind of repetition seen in The Jealous Uncle appears in this story too. The group shows up somewhere, are challenged to some kind of competition, and usually prevail. This sometimes involve hitting other critters on the head with a bone. What a silly provision of a competition! And it all happened because they were mean to the widower Grouse with a lot of kids. The bullies learn their lesson from their journey and are much nicer to him afterwards. If only there were some kind of program like this in real life for groups of bullies that could change their attitudes toward the people they pick on. In case you were wondering, the picture below is of a grouse (I didn't know what it was when I first read the story either).

Grouse
(Wikipedia)

The Attack on the Giant Elf and the Great Eagle: This was an interesting adventure tale. It's got giant animals, epic battles, and epic feats (like walking across large areas of land in only four steps). Four is the number in this story that is often repeated. It usually takes four tries for someone to do something or get a result from their efforts. I liked the explanation for why eagles aren't giant anymore: because the hero hit the giant eagle babies on the head with a bone to keep them from growing. I like reading Native American tales that explain why things are the way they are so I really enjoyed this story and I hope there are more like it in the second half of the unit.