STORYTELLING & FOLKLORE

•  Did you know that many early Native American groups did not have a written language? Think about all the history and stories that we preserve in our culture by writing them down in books. Of course, we have technology to use today as well, but in the early days the people had only their own voices. They used their voices to pass down their history through special stories and customs. This is called folklore.  Many of their stories were in the form of myths that explained mysteries of nature, or legends about past heroes of their culture. Elements of religion and magic are often included.  Even though they have modern methods available to them today, many tribes choose to continue the custom of storytelling and folklore as part of their cultural experience.

• Many Native American groups have a history of believing in spirits. They believe that the spirits, often in the form of animals found in nature, watch over them. However, they also see the ancient gods as tricksters. A trickster is a character who plays tricks and jokes on others, often causing trouble or inconvenience, but really meaning no terrible harm. Many of the traditional customs, ceremonies or celebrations use costumes of various animals and honor them in the hopes that they will save their tricks for someone else. Some ceremonies are done to help the tribe prepare for a special event, like a marriage, or a battle, or a hunt.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm your answers.

1)  If the only way you had to save your family history was by using your voice, what stories would you choose to tell?

2)  Why do you think many Native Americans continue storytelling even though other methods are available today?

3)  What is something in nature that might be fun to explain through a mythical story?

4)   What is a trickster?

5)  Why do you think many of the natives’ gods look like animals?