Class 4/5

 This is my journal for class on April 5, 2022. For class today we read the myths of some native American tribes. Particularly tales involving tricksters, AKA coyote. What are trickers? A trickster is not a God but not a person. People are not allowed to make fun of them. It would be called a Jester in medieval times. A comedian nowadays. These stories are along the lines of Charlie’s talk. Before we started, I asked myself the question: why are we studying these specific cultures? The answer became apparent as we continued our investigation as a class. I like to ask myself questions even if they are obvious to help me stay on track. As Kip will say in a later class, these cultures help us investigate the world before written texts and even language! These are stories of a time before in some cases, like the Aboriginal dream time. We as a class want to understand what religion was like to primal people but can never go back to that understanding because we have written and oral language. 

Kip also brought us a bounty of food! Cookies and pastries, and ribbon candy. The latter which I found out was edible and tastes like you think it would. Like a melted candy cane. 

White River Sioux- Ectomy is a name for a spiderMan/Woman, in this case, it is a spiderman. Ectomy asks his wife to fry up two bison livers for him and Coyote and doesn't give her any food (well he says you can have the salad if there is leftover) Then he tells his wife don’t get molested by Coyote. “Byeeeee” She smells the livers and thinks they are so good so she convinces herself he will not miss a little bite. But before she notices one liver is gone and she thinks she might as well eat the other one. Enter Coyote, I did not like him in this tale. Coyote sees Ectomy’s wife and decides to help himself to her body. He doesn't have her consent??? It's unclear. Wifey decides to plan a prank on Coyote, good for her.  I guess Coyote has never been to Ectomy’s house before because she says, “We have the same thing every time for dinner, the guest's balls'' Coyote is so scared he is running off but by this time Ectomy is back to the house and sees Coyote runoff. Coyote is running and says something like “She won't get mine” Ecktomy thinks he's talking about the bison livers and says, “save me at least one!” Coyote thinks he's talking about his balls and says “no thank you” it has hilarious moments and some word choices that I am sure Kip edited out (and I’m thankful for that) 

Now I am going to tell the brief story of Big Eater from the Piqued. (They sound like a race in Star Trek- the Packalids) Big Eater sees a woman and pesters her to marry him. After years and years, she says to herself “I want a young man” maybe she also realized that he is full of hot air. She packed up her egg and mortar and kept them with her all this time. She runs away in a canoe, but Big Eater follows her. Even though she got a head start he catches up to her. She throws her egg, and mortar and the water turns into those things and she gains distance from him, but every time he catches up. Finally the third time he catches up to her she plucks a string of hair and it turns into a harpoon and lands straight in his chest. Big Eater dies. The tale ends with Never marry a Ghost Witch. 

I think Tegan pointed out that these stories all let us know that even though men think they are in charge, it shows that women are in charge. And I have to agree. These stories tell us to be kind to others and the case of Big Eater tells us to not be a windbag. In the other stories, Coyote steals the moon and the tale of Devils Tower tells us how things came about. Myths tell us about a time before time, a world where things were not as they are now. They explain why we should do what we do, and why we need to do what we do. I am thinking about my love of Greek mythology. Where does every book on Greek mythology start? With Chaos. Before there was the world we knew it was Chaos. Chaos gets with something else to start the ball rolling of life, who it is not important. In Mesopotamian mythology, the world starts in chaos as well. What does Marduk do? Dr. Gardner explained it, he kills Tiamat and then creates the world from her body. These stories are explaining why we need order- it is to keep the Kora. Order is the opposite of Chaos embodiment. Maybe through his understanding, we can feel what it was like for primal people to experience religion.