home

Hello and Welcome to our Wiki for Native American Readings!

Class Links: ExampleLink ExampleLinkTwo TessaAlden CarolineNørgreen EunYoungPark YingyingNg JerryLiang AndyLin BrianLi EllenMin MengxinWang CarsonWong HelenYang BradyKielgas @AustinRice Nicholas Lim FredChoi YoubinChoi DanielLee LiamRogers JoannaXue DillonChai JiHunYang JaeyoungJang Amanda Hua

Here are your directions:

Create a link from this page that is written in Camel Case and is your name. On your new page, put the answers to all the questions. You may go through them in whatever order you prefer. You can edit your responses at any time. Your responses have to be unique. Don't forget to save you work so that you don't loose anything!

Read the poems and stories collected here and then answer the questions below.

** 1. **** Select one poem of the four provided and write another poem mimicking the style and syntax of the first poem. You can change the topic and words, but the rhythm, number of syllables, sentence structure and poetic elements (such as repetition and figurative language) have to be mirrored in your poem. You may write on any topic you like. **

** 2. **** Select two poems (must be different than the one you picked for #1) and write two short paragraphs that compare and contrast the poems. Your paragraphs can focus on different elements of the poems, including subject, theme, tone, use of poetic devices such as repetition, imagery, and any progressions that you notice in the poems (for example, you might notice that the images get stronger in each line, or the detail gets more specific). Be sure that (a) you explain how the elements contribute to the message or feeling of the whole poem and (b) that you don’t just talk about one poem and then the other. You have to first talk about the comparisons (similarities) and then the contrasts (differences). So you have to think about the structure of your paragraphs before you write them. **

** 3. **** Read the short story called **** "The Navajo Origin Legend **** ". Answer the following questions: ** ** a. **** What did you like about the story? ** ** b. **** What did you dislike about the story? ** ** c. **** What was the image that was most powerful or interesting for you? ** ** d. **** The Native Americans who wrote this poem are similar to other pre-colonial societies in that they write about the materials of their everyday lives in their myths. Food, nature, and animals are some such materials. Identify all the specific materials that appear in the story that would be common in the everyday lives of the Native American culture. For each material that you identify, explain briefly what is happening to it in the story. ** ** e. **** What can you tell about the culture of this people based on the materials that appear in this story and they way that these objects are used? Do you notice any patterns in how these materials are depicted? **

** 4. The speaker in "I Have Killed a Deer" talks about death and killing in an unusual way. How would you describe the way he talks about death and killing? Why does he talk about it this way? Do you think he feels sorry for killing living things? What single line is a turning point in the message of this poem? What is the overall message of this poem, in a single short sentence? **

** THE SONG OF THE SKY LOOM **

O our Mother the Earth, O our Father the Sky, . . . weave for us a garment of brightness; May the warp be the white light of morning, May the weft be the red light of evening, May the fringes be the falling rain, May the border be the standing rainbow. Thus weave for us a garment of brightness That we may walk fittingly where birds sing, That we may walk fittingly where grass is green, O our Mother the Earth, O our father the Sky! // from the Tewa Indians //

** THE CORN GROWS UP **

The corn grows up. The waters of the dark clouds drop, drop. The rain descends. The waters from the corn leaves drop, drop. The rain descends. The waters from the plants drop, drop. The corn grows up. The waters of the dark mists drop, drop. // from the Navajo Indians //

** The Navajo Origin Legend **

On the morning of the twelfth day the people washed themselves well. The women dried themselves with yellow cornmeal; the men with white cornmeal. Soon after the ablutions were completed they heard the distant call of the approaching gods [the four Navajo gods: White Body, Blue Body, Yellow Body, and Black Body]. It was shouted, as before, four times—nearer and louder at each repetition—and, after the fourth call, the gods appeared. Blue Body and Black Body each carried a sacred buckskin. White Body carried two ears of corn, one yellow, one white, each covered at the end completely with grains. The gods laid one buckskin on the ground with the head to the west; on this they placed the two ears of corn, with their tips to the east, and over the corn they spread the other buckskin with its head to the east; under the white ear they put the feather of a white eagle, under the yellow ear the feather of a yellow eagle. Then they told the people to stand at a distance and allow the wind to enter. The white wind blew from the east, and the yellow wind blew from the west, between the skins. While the wind was blowing, eight of the Mirage People [mirages personified] came and walked around the objects on the ground four times, and as they walked the eagle feathers, whose tips protruded from between the buckskins, were seen to move. When the Mirage People had finished their walk the upper buckskin was lifted; the ears of corn had disappeared, a man and a woman lay there in their stead. The white ear of corn had been changed into a man, the yellow ear into a woman. It was the wind that gave them life. It is the wind that comes out of our mouths now that gives us life. When this ceases to blow we die. In the skin at the tips of our fingers we see the trail of the wind; it shows us where the wind blew when our ancestors were created. The pair thus created were First Man and First Woman (Atse Hastin and Atse Estsan). The gods directed the people to build an enclosure of brushwood for the pair. When the enclosure was finished, First Man and First Woman entered it, and the gods said to them: “Live together now as husband and wife.”


 * Hunting Song**

Comes the deer to my singing.

He, the blackbird, he am I, Bird beloved of the wild deer. Comes the deer to my singing.

From the Mountain Black From the summit, Down the trail, coming, coming now, Comes the deer to my singing.

Through the flower dewdrops Through the flowers, coming, coming now, Comes the deer to my singing. Through the pollen, flower pollen, Coming, coming now, Comes the deer to my singing.

Starting with his left forefoot, Stamping, turns the frightened deer, Comes the deer to my singing.

Quarry mine, blessed am I In the luck of the chase. Comes the deer to my singing.

Comes the deer to my singing, Comes the deer to my song, Comes the deer to my singing.

// from the Navajo Indians //

** I Have Killed the Deer **

I have killed deer. I have crushed the grasshopper And the plants he feeds upon. I have cut through the heart Of trees growing old and straight. I have taken fish from water And birds from the sky. In my life I have needed death So that my life can be. When I died I must give life To what has nourished me. The earth receives my body And gives it to the plants And to the caterpillars To the birds And to the coyotes Each in its own turn so that The circle of life is never broken. // from the Taos Pueblo Indians //