Native American Literature

1. Native American Literature Historical Backgrounds Culture and Literature

2. The First Americans • The original native peoples belonged to more than 200 distinct groups who spoke more than 500 different languages. • While the native peoples developed agriculture and major trade and cities, Hammurabi was developing his laws, Rome was being established, Alexander the Great was off conquering, and Jesus Christ was born. • Names of these peoples such as Anishinabe, Dinė and Lakota meant “the people.”

3. Types of Literature • Creation Myths: Explain the beginning of the world • Archetypal patterns are followed, such as the life giving tree.

4. Creation Myths • Myths, like all literature, reflect a profound reality. As Mark Schorer says in William Black: The Politics of Vision, “Myth is fundamental, the dramatic representation of our deepest instinctual life, of a primary awareness of man in the universe, capable of many configurations. Upon which all particular opinions and attitudes depend” (29). • Myths are collective and communal; holding us together psychologically and spiritually.

5. Mythological/Archetypal Literary Criticism • Carl Jung first applied the term archetype to literature. He recognized that there were universal patterns in all stories regardless of culture or historical period. That a universal, primal, memory would be shared by all and they would be recreated in the myths, dreams, and in literature. • Joseph Campbell applied Jung’s theories to world literature and in A Hero With a Thousand Faces, refined the concept of the hero’s quest and journey. George Lucas used Campbell’s writings to formulate the Star Wars saga.

6. Additional Forms of Literature • Trickster Tales: Transformed the world into its present state. Also an archetypical character. • Ritual Songs/Chants: parts of religious ceremonies which define their relation- tionship with nature. To Native Americans, human beings do not dominate nature but must act to maintain a right relationship with the world around them.

7. Forms of Literature • Naturally performed orally in storytellings or theatre-like performances. • These performances were collected in the early 1900s and translated into English by anthropologists (culture researchers) or by a bilingual member of the tribe with the help of white editors. • While stories may differ from the originals, they still have the beauty, wisdom, and humor of Native American oral literature. Of course, we all know that the language you speak is part of who you are.

8. Themes of Native American Lit. • Living in harmony with the natural world • Kinship with animals, plants, the land, heavenly bodies (ancestors), and the elements • All of the above are seen as alive and aware as well as seen as a sacred whole • Humans are seen as a part of nature; they must maintain a right relationship with the world around them.

9. Native American Literature Today • Some cultures were lost due to disease and forced religion, relocation, and education • Many still survive today in cities, suburbs, and reservations • Literature is still sung, told, and written down in English, Native tongues, and a combination of languages. • Most literature is about harmonizing old and new practices and beliefs and creating a story for today’s world.

10. The Earth on the Turtle’s Back • Creation Myth: Iroquois explanation of how the world was created • The Iroquois are composed of 5 separate Native American peoples who united in the 14th century • This story also expresses harmony with nature • Notice the opposing forces in this myth • Pay close attention to the images created in this story