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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 (Index to # 1 samples) #1: Long Essay: learning, challenges, issues |
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Chelsea Brotherton
Lessons from the Native Americans: Historical Significance of Origin Stories
Origin stories of various cultures and places
serve as reminders of historical diversity. Native American origin stories
highlight the diversity within their culture, and these are mirrored by origin
stories from other cultures that point to cross-cultural similarities. Benjamin
Franklin reminds us of the tolerance of the Native Americans toward other
cultures, and the unfortunate abuse of that tolerance by the western man. These
stories help to show that those who fueled the culture wars, which still plague
American history books today, were not a diverse group. Through origin stories
we may learn that American history is broad, unattainable even, and that the
history of North America must tell the story of all those who inhabited the land
for it to do it justice.
The origin and creation stories of the Native Americans are wide and
varied, and are telling of the Indian culture. In the Iroquois Creation Story 1,
the Skypeople come to earth by way of Skywoman, who fell from the sky through a
hole: “Skywoman leaned over to look into the hole, lost her balance and fell
into the hole.” As she was falling, the animals of the water below scrambled to
help her, and created the earth upon a turtles back so she could land. The story
continues after the creation of the earth to tell about the origin of some
animals, earth’s features, and natural disasters. Here we see the difference
between creation and origin stories; creation stories are about the creation of
something large, such as the earth in this story, whereas the origin story is
about how something comes into being, such as a hurricane or a river. These
stories also all point to the Indians’ deep connection with nature, as the
animals come to help the Skywoman, and it is through her that “grew corn, beans
and squash,” the staple foods of the tribe. In other versions of this story, it
is either not certain how the Skywoman came to fall from the sky, or she is
thrown through the hole. It is significant that there are multiple versions of
this story, because it shows that there is no true version; differences in
belief are not ignored or punished in the Native American culture. Not only are
there multiple versions of this specific story, but in the Native American
culture there are multitudes of different creation and origin stories that
overlap and contradict each other, yet none of them are ‘wrong.’
Within western culture, one creation story reigns: Genesis. Genesis tells of the
creation of the world in 7 days, and also of the creation of man. Genesis has a
sublime edge to it, in the awe of the creation of the earth and its bounty, and
yet the wrath of the creator for those who disobey him: “And the Lord God said
unto the serpent, / Because thou hast done this, / Thou art cursed above all
cattle, and above every beast of the field; / upon thy belly shalt thou go, /
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” God in Genesis is an
all-powerful being, but he bestows his human and animal creations with free
will, for which he punishes them when they use it wrongly. This story has a lot
of similarities to the Native American origin stories, in that they are all very
focused on nature and the land. However, in this story there is one God, and
that is a strong deviation from the Indian stories which were godless or had
many gods. Through these two examples of creation stories we see the commonality
across cultures of creating explanations for our existence. While many
westerners stick with one story, the Native Americans have many a story to
explain their existence and the existence of the things around them. The need is
all the same though to place a purpose on the life of man, and a reason for his
being here; this is a universal human need.
While the Native Americans seem open to different interpretations of creation
and origin stories, it is not so with those who believe in Genesis. Benjamin
Franklin provides a unique perspective on Indian and western relations in the
late 1700s. Franklin gives an account, in Remarks Concerning the Savages of
North America, on the occasion in which a Swedish Minister talked to a group of
Indians about Genesis, telling them all about the creation of man and their
fall, and their redemption through God. The Indians were polite after the
telling of Genesis: “an Indian Orator stood up to thank him. What you have told
us, says he, is all very good.” This displays the Native American’s acceptance
of not only diverse creation stories within their own culture, but the
acceptance of stories outside of their norms. However, when the Indians told the
Minister of their own creation stories, he was not so kind: “The good
Missionary, disgusted with this idle Tale, said, What I delivered to you were
sacred Truths, but what you tell me is mere Fable, Fiction and Falsehood.” The
western man is not open to new views, and places his own view high above any
others, as if his view is concretely correct and always has been.
This western man’s view of holding his own value above others’ continues in the
story from John Smith. When John Smith and his company started to build their
town in Virginia, they had a difficult time and lost many lives in the process.
The Indians were good to them, bringing them more than enough food to sustain
them. When John Smith took a group of men out in search of trade, he found
Indians that were willing to trade with him. Unfortunately for the Indians,
Smith did not like the trade price: “But seeing by trade and courtesy there was
nothing to be had, he made bold to try such conclusions as necessity enforced,
though contrary to his commission. [He] let fly his muskets, ran his boat on
shore, whereat they all fled into the woods.” John Smith gave no thought to the
hospitality of the Indians when his own people were in great need, and merely
put his life and wants above those of the Indians. Even after this squabble, the
Indians still showed great care and hospitality and provided Smith and his men
with all sorts of provisions. Though John Smith calls the Indians savages, his
own actions call into question who is really the savage in this story.
Throughout these stories, we learn of the diversity of Native American culture,
and their subsequent acceptance of that diversity. This acceptance, through all
of these stories, extends past their own culture and into the western man’s. It
seems that the Indians were not the ones fighting to make theirs the dominant
culture, but rather to come to understand each equally. The western man,
however, seems to be the culprit in starting the ‘culture war,’ and demanding
that it be so. But through these diverse stories we get a much more rich history
than without them; western culture could use to take note of Native American
inclusiveness. The story of the Virginians cannot live in a vacuum, and neither
can the history of North America. The history of North America is not Virginian
history, or puritan history, or even Native American history. The history of
North America is a combination of all the history of every person who inhabited
its lands.
So, no, American literary culture cannot tell a single story. Rather, it must
tell a wide array of stories to capture the wealth of American history that
there is. To only teach the ‘dominant culture’ of America is to deprive
Americans of the incredible and fascinating abundance of information about other
cultures that still falls under the category of American history, and is equally
as important. Knowing this, we may try to learn all of the history of
America, but is that possible? It may never be possible to fully capture the
history of America, as you can never learn all of the stories, and too many
things were lost. But I think we’re taking good steps forward in this class
through learning about other cultures and the actual history of what happened in
our land’s past.
