Thursday, March 29, 2018

Week 10 Reading B: Native American Marriage Tales

- I wonder how the wife who did not bear the man any children felt- did he scorn her? I imagine since that is the defining feature of these wives that this is an important quality in this society
-So this guy just abandons his wives and child for this mysterious woman. Where did her child come from? Was he worried about the father of that child?
-It is interesting that these people are willing to be killed and eaten by their own kind, and then revived. But again, I have to wonder what happened to the man's original family. Were they just abandoned by their father?
-I wonder if the people remember being killed once they have had their bones tossed in the water and they are revived. It would not be fun to be killed and it would be hard to not resent someone for killing you, even if you volunteered for the job and did so for the good of the group
-So the hunter's people just accept him back because his new wife pulls a bunch of food from underneath her arm? I would think they would have some questions, but maybe the deer people are seen as an elevated people and to join them is like joining a religious group and you cannot say no
-It is cool how much respect the story gives to the deer. It treats the species as their own people and the way hunting is described is how I think nature was supposed to be used. We see animals as mindless beings, but Native Americans viewed them almost as equals, and made up endless tales about them and gave them spirits and respect. Its beautiful and it also makes for great stories. I still hate that the guy left his family, he should have at least let them know he was not dead

This story is part of the Native American Marriage Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

1 comment:

  1. Hi Marielle,

    I decided to read this post because I am really interested in discovering new ways to take reading notes. I really like your method actually. I also read this story, so it was easy to compare the two methods. I typically give a brief description of the story and then I write how I can change it. But your method poses questions that you can focus on when you rewrite the story. I think I am going to try this next week!

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