Reading Notes: Myths of the Cherokee, Part A

 Week 11

I've been reading a lot of other students stories on the rabbit trickster as it's a common theme through out many different cultures, so I was excited to read about something that included that. Diving in to the stories on "Myths of the Cherokee" by James Mooney, I was already so excited by the introduction in "How The World Was Made." It depicted beautiful imagery that lead into how they viewed the land, and ended it with a slight burst of fear.  It really showed the ways of the animals and how they discovered new land first, which was an interesting take. I also noticed the repetition of the number 7 which is typically related to a religious symbol. It was the start of a great conflict! 

In the story "The First Fire" It was interesting to see all the animals try to work together. It was obviously their first time seeing the fire and they all wanted to take part in brining it to the animals. Many of them got burned or were hurt by the smoke. The variety of animals and insects that are brought up in this story makes it so cool to see how these relationships form between them. The water spider really helped by bringing the coal back and they were able to use all elements of the earth! 

In "Origins of the Pleiades and the Pine", I immediately recognized the use of the number 7 again. It also had different connections to earth. The idea of mothers and earth and one of the kids being literally"grounded" to the point she loses her son creates such an intense image. I also liked that her tears were the reason new life sprouted up from the ground too that grows into something beautiful! 

"The Deluge" was somewhat scary to me personally. The idea of a man and a talking dog really freaked me out. I thought it would have the same affect as "Noah's arch" but it definitely did not. It did tie back to the bones and how the dog warned the man to live as if he was a mans best friend, but also gave the bones a way to "dance" again. 

(Source: Cherokee Stories)