Week 11 Reading Notes: British North America Part A

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Creation of light. Source.

An old chief owned every bit of light, fire, and water and refused to share it. The animal people of the time gathered outside the old chief's tepee and began to try to create their own light by singing and dancing. Because of this, light began to show but the old chief banished the light again. However, after the animals sang more, the old chief became distracted at the noise level until he accidentally summoned light. Since then, people have had access to light.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote. Source.

Grizzly Bear did not like that nighttime was very short and wanted to make it night all the time. Coyote fought against this idea as people need light. They each began to sing a song. Grizzly Bear sang about how it would always be darkness, and Coyote sang about how it would always be light. The louder song then controlled whether it was light or dark. However, they both got tired and decided to make half the time light and half the time dark. This is how the cycle of day and night was made.
Later on, Grizzly Bear wanted very long winters while Coyote knew all-time winter would hurt people. Instead, Grizzly bear decided to want as many moons of winter as feathers in a Blue Grouse tail. Coyote suggested that they instead do half the number of feathers, but Grizzly Bear did not want this. Coyote suggested they instead do half the number of feathers in Flicker's tail to determine the number of moons in winter. Grizzly Bear agreed because he thought Flicker had a lot of tail feathers. This is how the seasons were made.

Origin of Light and Fire. Source.

Sea Gull owned all the light in the world, and Raven wanted to share light with the people. Ravel tricked Sea Gull into releasing the light. Raven used the light to find out where the fire was and trade for it so the people could have fire.

Retelling Ideas:

Combine all three stories above. Coyote and Raven notice that the people struggle with endless darkness and winter, and decide to bring them light, fire, and spring. Coyote and Raven decide to work together. Raven can flow around the world to find fire but it's hidden to only the smoke can be detected. Light needs to come first so Raven can see the smoke. Coyote has the neighbor Old Chief who has hoarded add the light. The two assemble the animals to sing and dance so the Old Chief is distracted and accidentally releases the light. Raven can then find the fire. Some animals such as the Grizzly Bear don't like that winter and darkness is no longer endless and tries to bring them back. Coyote has endurance and competes with Grizzly bear for the day and night cycle to begin. Grizzly Bear still wants to make as many moons as in the feathers of a bird. Raven flies and spots the Flicker and together Grizzly bear is tricked so there are only six moons of winter in a year. The people are happier.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Photo of Raven by Greg Schechter. Source.