I took a road trip recently, during which I passed through the Navajo Nation. I was impressed by how much the people there have retained their culture and traditions. It struck me that in other places, classic myths and legends haven't seemed to retain as much importance. Is that true, or am I wrong about this?
Have native american legends survived better than others?
- Thread starter Vince
- Start date
Allie-Gator
Member
There is a tradition in the tribes for the elders to pass on the stories to the next generation. The youth also listen a bit better than non-Native people do. I'm sure you would be surprised at the amount of information we, as a people have forgot.
Great point Allie-Gator! You don't have to go far to see this in action. Much of our history is lost or taken for granted, or maybe a bit of both. I can remember being riveted to my chair listening to my grandfather tell the story of coming to America, and telling the story of his boat ride over and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. Tell that same story now, and the reaction would be big deal! Thank goodness for forums like this one! 
I have always been found of the native american legends. It is a good thing that the internet have allowed for the dissemination of them since before it was mainly passed on orally. It would be terrible if all the culture dies when there are no more people interested in passing the stories on.
Olsen
Member
I think it's true that the Native American mythology has survived better than many European mythologies. From what I've heard, the Navajo are one of the most culture-bound of the Native tribes. It's great that you can still find young Indians interested in the stories told by their grandparents.
Nadai
Active Member
I wouldn't agree entirely. In reservations children attend schools where they are taught their history and the tradition of their people, but for the Native Americans like me who weren't raised in reservations we tend to lose a great deal of our identity. I've heard it said that you can't have a future if you have no past; well I don't agree, but it would be lovely to have stories about my ancestors to pass along to my children. My grandmother, Cherokee, told me stories of being raised in a predominately white community and having to learn "white man's" history, it was something that she regretted especially since she didn't care for white people
White teachers taught children what they felt they needed to know to be prosperous in the white world. I wonder if any of you have ever heard of The Education of Little Tree. It's not just a story it's history, white people did their best to rid Native Americans of their cultures. As a matter of fact, if you've read Jefferson's Ardor, he mentions that Natives can be saved from savegry, but that blacks could not, which was why blacks were made slaves and Native Americans were sent to schools to learn to be white.
I disagree that Native American Legend has survived so well because it hasn't. So much of our culture was lost during resettlement and because our tradition was oral when elders died many stories died with them. When children were taken from their homes to be "educated" they lost the chance to learn a great deal of what their people had to teach them. There are things about my heritage that I will never know, but luckily there are books available that hold some records of our history. Unfortunately most of those books were written by ethnocentric white men. White man's history is from a white man's point of view. As Anthropologists, we try to break away from ehtnocentric views, but it is not always possible to completely disregard a lifetime of education and religion and adopt an entirely new view just for the sake of accuracy when documenting a group of people and their culture. People have a tendancy to impose their own thoughts on others or look at situations from a culturally-sculpted point of view.
White teachers taught children what they felt they needed to know to be prosperous in the white world. I wonder if any of you have ever heard of The Education of Little Tree. It's not just a story it's history, white people did their best to rid Native Americans of their cultures. As a matter of fact, if you've read Jefferson's Ardor, he mentions that Natives can be saved from savegry, but that blacks could not, which was why blacks were made slaves and Native Americans were sent to schools to learn to be white.I disagree that Native American Legend has survived so well because it hasn't. So much of our culture was lost during resettlement and because our tradition was oral when elders died many stories died with them. When children were taken from their homes to be "educated" they lost the chance to learn a great deal of what their people had to teach them. There are things about my heritage that I will never know, but luckily there are books available that hold some records of our history. Unfortunately most of those books were written by ethnocentric white men. White man's history is from a white man's point of view. As Anthropologists, we try to break away from ehtnocentric views, but it is not always possible to completely disregard a lifetime of education and religion and adopt an entirely new view just for the sake of accuracy when documenting a group of people and their culture. People have a tendancy to impose their own thoughts on others or look at situations from a culturally-sculpted point of view.