I've never read enough Native American literature to remember anything from it. Furthermore, Native American literature encompasses a huge range of cultures and stories. So I went with the one I figured I'd be least familiar with -- Alaskan myths and legends. Opening the unit, I was actually very happy to see it include a story of Creation. I always love reading different explanations for the same concept.
Reading about the Raven, my biggest question comes from wondering how the backstory of the Raven. I definitely the see parallels to other religions with a god who creates everything. But very little is revealed of the Raven.
I also find it really interesting how many of these stories are so similar to other religious stories. Even the Alaskans had a Great Flood myth. One story that caught me off guard after all of the parallels was the story about the Raven's mother dying. The Creator had a creator? That might be an interesting area to spin off my own story from. The Creation of the creator of the Creator, I might call it.
Something I really appreciate about the myths and legends is that they are openly tailored to the area of the time of writing. The Flood might have had something to do with polar icecap melting. There are stories about seals and sea lions. It makes me stop for a moment to consider the fact that the Alaskan native probably knew little of other civilization. For they may have known, they were the entire world.
The biggest idea that I took away from reading about the Alaskans is that they directly took their environment when writing their stories. What was important to the Alaskan natives was important to the story. So if I am to retell one of these stories, I would want to utilize the environment of where the narrator of my story is located.
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Bibliography: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson
Image: illustration fro Judson's book
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