Skip to main content

Native American Folklore


November is Native American Heritage Month. Libraries, Archives, and Museums across the United States take this month to pay tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans.


Native American cultures and tribes have wonderful myths, legends, fables, and folklore that have been passed down from generation to generation which can tell us about the peoples from whom these stories came. Although stories sometimes include multiple genres, generally speaking:
§  Myths are stories that try to explain how the natural world works and how we should treat each other. They often begin with allusions to “in times long ago before history as we know it was written…” One myth that most cultures, tribes, or groups of people have is their version of how our world came to be in existence.
§  Legends tend to recount stories about people and their actions or deeds. Legends usually try to teach a lesson, or have a “moral” to the tale as passed down from generation to generation and are embellishments of actual historical events and people (like Robin Hood or King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table).
§  Fables feature animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities. Aesop’s Fables is a well-known example.
§  Folklore explores oral history, proverbs, popular beliefs, rituals, customs, and traditions of a specific culture or group of people.
SLCC Libraries have a wide selection of books and electronic resources on Native American myths, legends, fables, and folklore. Be sure to check some of them out! And for more information about Native American Heritage Month, please visithttp://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/ which details the history behind this celebration and specific growing collaborative projects related to celebrating Native American Heritage.

Comments

  1. The Butterfly Nation

    A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day the small opening appeared and he sat and watched the butterfly as it struggled for several hours to force its body through the small hole. Then, it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared that it had gotten as far as it could.
    The man decided to help the butterfly, so he snipped of the remaining cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
    The man continued to watch the butterfly. He expected that at any moment the wings would expand and support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened!
    In fact the butterfly spent his whole life crawling around with swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening was the Creators way of forcing the fluid from the body up into the wings, so it would be ready for flight once freedom was achieved.
    Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If our Creator had allowed us to go through life without struggles, it would cripple us. We could not be as strong as we could have been.
    And- we would never fly!

    Cindy Morning Sky

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who is the artist of this painting?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SLCC Automotive Repairs

Click to enlarge. Attention: SLCC Students, staff and faculty! Many SLCC automotive programs need vehicles to work on in these areas: 30 point inspections Oil changes Tire rotation Engine repair Brake systems repair Automatic and transmission repairs Air conditioning repair Electrical troubleshooting & repair Suspension & steering system repair Auto-body repair and painting (on a very limited basis) Please be advised that any repairs are done at the discretion of the instructors due to the subject areas they are teaching.  Because we are using your vehicles for training purposes, we offer members of the College discounts on parts and labor. Parts are at our cost plus 15% and the service fee is $20 per hour based on industry time standards (if the industry assigns an hour for a repair, that's all you're charged for, regardless of how much time it takes the student). We can also offer these services to non-college personnel on a limited basis with...

SLCC All Access

Did you know you can access SLCC lab software for free from your own computing device?   Come learn how SLCC is supporting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) with All Access. The goal of All Access is to provide any time, any place, and any device access to college computing and lab software SLCC students, faculty and staff.  All Access works on almost any device from a PC or Mac, to tablets and smart phones.  With All Access you can use programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, AutoCAD, MatLab, Mathematica, MyITLab, NetBeans, and online Library Databases.  We also provide you with online storage space so you can save your files in the cloud and have access to them wherever you are.  Anyone is welcome to this session where we will cover the basics of All Access, give you some tips and tricks for getting the most out the system, and we’ll also have some people there to help get your computer set up.  When and where: ...

SLCC Alumnus and U.S. Diplomat to Speak at 2025 Commencement

Salt Lake Community College’s 2025 Commencement speaker Branigan Knowlton will share his perspectives drawn from a 12-year career as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. In serving his country, Knowlton has honed his foreign relations and diplomacy skills in Hong Kong, Mexico, Colombia and Italy. Knowlton is also a proud Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) alumnus (2002).     Knowlton currently serves at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Before reporting to the embassy, he was detailed to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport as part of the Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship program. In Bogotá, Knowlton worked for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and in Hermosillo, Mexico, he worked for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. His first assignment abroad was in Hong Kong, where he worked for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.     "I've actively sought opportunities that push me into the unfamiliar, even when ...