Monday, March 27, 2017

Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories, Part A

For Monday's reading notes during week 10, I decided to go with the Blackfoot tribe's stories as translated by George Bird Grinnell in 1915. I chose this group of stories because I have never been told any Blackfoot stories, to my knowledge. From reading part A of these stories, I liked the character of the Old Man. The Old Man helps people as Napi and gets himself into a lot of trouble as the Old Man. Because of this, I plan on using the character of the Old Man for my storytelling on Wednesday.

To me, it seems as if the Old Man should be wise and all-knowing, but he still gets himself into trouble by doing juvenile things. Some of the characteristics that lead me to believe this are: 1. He can talk to animals, 2. He seems to have some power over the plants and animals and, 3. He is sometimes generous with his possessions. It is also the way that he talks that makes me believe this too. When he talks to the animals, plants, or inanimate objects, he talks to them as if he has the power to change them.

Other characters who interested me were Thunder and Sun. In the story, "How the Thunder Pipe Came," Thunder seemed similar to that of a god. Thunder took what he wanted and was only afraid of the Ravens. Sun could see everything and as far as I could tell was not afraid of anything. I'm definitely thinking of using these two characters, but I'm not sure as to how I will use them yet. Of the two, Sun seems the wiser and I suppose I could make him Thunder's father? Or I could possibly make them brothers, with Thunder being the younger brother who is still immature. Either way, I'm sure Tuesday's reading will help me in my dilemma.







Bibliography: Blackfoot Stories by George Bird Grinnell

Image: The Thunder Man

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