Week 9: Reading Diary B: American Indian Fairy Tales

American Indian Fairy Tales:

How the Summer Came

Part 1:

·      Morning glory wanted spring to come

·      Froze over everything so hard

·      No birds, no water, just silence

·      Dreadful if the summer never came again

·      Old man told him to be patient and that the day would come

·      He points out the Fisher stars

·      Stretched out flat with an arrow in his tail also a furry little animal looking like

·      Iagoo continues to tell stories

·      There was a time when there was no summer

·      Until the fisher gave his life to bring summer down from the sky

·      How summer came:

·      Hunter named O-jeeg (the fisher) knew the woods so well

·      He hit everything he aimed for and nothing could ever stop him

·      Everyone thought he has magical powers that turned him into a little animal

·      This is why he was on such good terms with the animals

·      He could call on an animal and it would come

Part 2:

·      Wife and a son

·      His son promised to be just as good as his dad

·      They had plenty of food and kept warm but the winter was still hard times and the snow never melted

·      There was a world beyond that had summer and they day-dreamed about that

·      The son thought his dad was the one that could bring summer to the earth

·      The little boy would try to go hunting but it would be so cold that his fingers would freeze and he couldn’t hunt

·      Saw a squirrel that said he could give him good advice and not to shoot him

·      Talked about how miserable everyone is in the winter because it is hard to hunt and eat

·      If someone could bring the summer back, it would be a blessing

·      The animals know that the summer can come because the war-eagle saw once soured so high and saw a crack in the sky leading to the other land of the summer

·      The boy tries to convince his dad that can do anything to try to get summer to earth. 

·      He said even though it was very dangerous, he would still try because he was a manito and needed to put that to good purpose

·      Lynx talked about strong eyes to see into the sky

·      Climb the tallest mountain to break through the sky

Part 3:

·      Said bye to his family and set forth for his adventure

·      Came to a tent and found the giant manito with a big head and 3 eyes

·      Otter started laughing at his odd and awkward appearance like he always does

·      The Manito became mad and came after the otter that slipped away

·      They all stayed in his tent over night but only 2 of his eyes closed

·      Manito gave him advise to follow the north star and in 20 days they would reach the mountain

·      Told him they could climb up the mountain but maybe not get down

·      Picked up the otter and set forth

·      Got to the mountain and climbed up

·      Reached the very top and rested

·      Otter could jump the highest so he jumped and his head hit the sky

·      Sky was harder so he fell and slid all the way down the mountain

·      All of them tried and none succeeded until…

·      Wolverine made a dent then cracked it

·      Found the land full of color and life or summer

·      The warm air of summer came through the cracks and O-jeeg opened the bird cages to follow

·      Sky-dwellers came towards O-jeed but he turned himself into a fisher and ran at top speed

·      Nothing could stop him unless an arrow hit him on the tip of his tail

·      He was shot and told the others to continue

·      Feeling weak, he laid down on the floor of the sky (what the stars looked like)

·      This is the constellation to remember how the fisher sacrificed his life so his son and others could enjoy summer

[Source]