North America and Africa

NORTH AMERICA (AND AFRICA): INTRO TO THE FIRE AND THE FLOOD

OVERVIEW

  • Topic Outline:

    • Fire and Social Organization

    • The Cherokee

    • The Seminole

    • Flood Myths

    • The Tlingit

    • Comparison: The Yoruba

    • Themes

    • Writing Assignment

QUESTIONS TO DIRECT NEXT FEW WEEKS

  • Survival and Social Cohesion:

    • What does it take for people to survive? What are the struggles?

    • What does it take for people to live together in a society?

    • Examines both practical and philosophical notions.

    • What happens when there is a violation or disruption in that order?

    • How is that problem imagined or personified across cultures?

    • How do different cultures conceive of dangers, and why are those similar or different?

    • How do concepts of the divine/supernatural impact human societal interactions?

KEY TERMS

  • Cherokee / Tsalagi: An indigenous people of the southeastern United States.

  • Matrilineal: Describing a society in which lineage is traced through the maternal line.

  • Animism: The belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a spiritual essence.

  • Kinship: Social relationships that form an important part of the lives of individuals in societies.

  • Water Spider: A character in Cherokee mythology associated with fire.

  • Buzzard: A character in Cherokee folklore.

  • Kanáti and Selu: Key figures in Cherokee myths (the Lucky Hunter and Corn).

  • The Wild Boy: A character associated with hunting and survival myths.

  • Dunbar’s Number: The theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships, typically around 150.

  • Betty Mae Tiger Jumper: A notable Seminole leader and author.

  • Seminole: A group of Native Americans originally from Florida.

  • Sofkee: A traditional Seminole corn drink.

  • Corn Lady: A mythological figure associated with sweet corn.

  • Panther: An animal frequently seen in Native American myths.

  • Rabbit / Br’er Rabbit: Trickster figures in folklore.

  • Tlingit: Indigenous people from the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

  • Raven: A central character in Tlingit mythology and regarded as a culture hero.

  • Culture Hero: A character that is notable for their adventures and contributions to society.

  • Yoruba: An ethnic group from West Africa with a rich cultural history.

  • Olodumare: The supreme deity in Yoruba religion.

  • Obatala/ Oduduwa: Deities in Yoruba mythology associated with creation.

  • Olokun: A deity representing the sea in Yoruba belief.

BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST

  • Recognition of diverse groups sharing similar myths based on geographic location.

  • Paleo-Indians: First peoples in North America, present 16,000-20,000 years ago.

  • Historical overview includes periods of tool development leading to agricultural practices.

  • Woodland Period: Spanning from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE, characterized by complex societies.

  • Three Sisters Agriculture: The cultivation of maize, beans, and squash together, highlighting agricultural practices.

MOUNDS NEAR US!

  • Description of significant archaeological sites:

    • Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park

    • Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park

CHEROKEE (TSALAGI)

  • Geographic Distribution: Primarily in Appalachian mountains (NC, SC, GA, TN).

  • Social Structure: Confederacy of towns presenting an egalitarian society with matrilineal kinship systems.

  • Kinship Definition: Refers to the networks of relationships central to social organization.

  • Sovereign Nations: Identity as separate entities within North Carolina and Oklahoma, showcasing regional differences in mythology.

  • Traditional Myths/Legends: Narratives surrounding the Trail of Tears that contribute to cultural identity, e.g., creator myths that involve emotional elements like tears transforming into corn beads.

  • Oral Tradition: Importance of oral transmission of myths and history.

  • Syllabary: Developed by Sequoyah in 1821, a writing system for the Cherokee language allowing for record-keeping and communication.

IMPACT OF LANGUAGE ON EXPERIENCE

  • Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Suggests that language influences thought; thus, a loss of language may lead to diminished cultural and perceptual experiences of the world.

NATURE OF THE WORLD

  • Worldview: Presents Earth as an island floating atop water, supported by the sky vault (rock).

  • Cosmological Structure: Three realms: Upper World, World (Earth), Lower World.

  • Spiritual Entities:

    • Great Spirit Unetlanvhi: Central deity.

    • Spirits and people coexisting in a vibrant spiritual ecology.

  • Animism: Characterizes beliefs attributed to natural phenomena and inanimate objects as having consciousness/spirits.

  • Cultural Narratives: Animals like the water-beetle play crucial roles in the genesis myths, exploring themes of creation.

    • Animals like the buzzard showcase adaptations to the environment, highlighting ecological connections.

MYTH OF BROTHER AND SISTER

  • A key narrative where animals and plants are tested for survival traits.

    • Narrative Elements: Only Brother and Sister exist; through a sequence of events (Brother hitting Sister with a fish) they give rise to diversity in life forms.

  • Council of Animals: Stipulates the increase in human population leads to diseases, introducing themes of ecological balance and human existence hardships.

  • Medicinal Plants: Discussed in context to their roles in healing, guided by sets such as plant elder Setzer's research on Cherokee medicinal practices.

ETIOLOGY IN HUNTING AND CORN

  • Key Figures in Myths:

    • Kanáti (The Lucky Hunter) and Selu (Corn) exemplify hunter-gatherer symbiosis with agriculture.

    • Their son befriends The Wild Boy, representing an intersection of cultural and mythical narratives.

  • The narrative involves following Kanáti and Selu's guidance where corn is produced through ritual acts, including the aftermath of hunting a divine entity.

WATER SPIDER AND FIRE MYTH

  • Cultural Symbolism:

    • Fire is a precious resource, requiring ingenuity to claim it. In one story, animals attempt to retrieve fire but face failures.

  • Role of Water Spider:

    • A pivotal figure representing wisdom and resourcefulness; effectively succeeds where others fail by fashioning a vessel to carry fire.

CONNECTIONS TO VALUES/ BELIEFS

  • Cultural Values:

    • Concepts of animism highlight connections between beings and nature, emphasizing egalitarianism in social structures.

  • Dunbar's Number: Explores theoretical limits of social relationships, drawing from primatology studies on neocortex size and its implications for community sizes.

  • Intersection of hunting and agriculture is a recurrent theme in Cherokee mythology.

SEMINOLES - SIMANOLI

  • Origin: Emerging from Creek and Muskogee bands around the 18th century as a response to conflict, demonstrating matrilineal structures.

  • Historical Regions: Presence in Oklahoma and the Everglades, emphasizing adaptability and survival.

  • Mythical Narratives:

    • Betty Mae Tiger Jumper describes creation myths involving divine interactions among animals and environments, showcasing animistic beliefs.

  • Corn Lady Narrative: Illustrates themes of nurture, growth, and return to community, culminating in the Green Corn dance—a significant purification ritual.

  • Rabbit and Fire: Depicts a revered knowledge of fire passed through cultural narrative, with themes of sharing and environmental stewardship represented through trickster tales.

THE TLINGIT

  • Geography: Located in the Pacific Northwest region, dating back to approximately 8,000 BCE.

  • Cultural Identity: Known as the “People of the Tides,” characterized by matrilineal structures and animistic beliefs.

  • Cultural Hero:

    • Raven serves as a notable figure, reflecting complex interactions with the environment, often associated with elements of creation and destruction.

RAVEN (YÉIL) MYTHOLOGY

  • Cosmic Interventions:

    • In tales, Raven retrieves fire, floods the Earth, and interacts with forces that shape existence.

  • Transformation Stories: Transforms beings and landscape, presenting an interplay between life, death, and rebirth in Tlingit narratives.

COMPARISON: YORUBA

  • Overview: Yoruba people from West Africa, prominently structured around oral narratives with significant cultural developments by the 8th century CE.

  • Religion: Orisha-Ifá exemplifies Yoruba spirituality and divination, incorporating a pantheon of deities and ancestor veneration.

ANIMISM AND ENVIRONMENT

  • Focus on interconnectedness between life forms and the environment, promoting sustainability and harmony.

  • Cultural Beliefs: Emphasizes bodily and sensory understanding as vital to grasping complex spiritual truths.

CREATION AND DESTRUCTION IN YORUBA MYTHS

  • Deity Hierarchy:

    • Olódùmarè as the creator in the sky and Olókun governing the waters below.

    • Engagement of deities in shaping the world and humanity, fraught with conflicts leading to narratives of destruction and recreation.

  • Crisis Narrative: Flood prompted by Olókun's anger illustrates the consequences of divine frustrations on humanity.

CULTURAL CONNECTION

  • Water symbolized as life-giving and dangerous, highlighting the delicate balance maintained by traditional practices and beliefs.

  • Ritualistic behaviors developed to honor water spirits and prevent divine wrath, underscoring the community's relationship with nature.

THEMES

  • Prominent Themes:

    • Creation and destruction

    • Etiology

    • Charter myth

    • Divine council dynamics

    • Discovery and importance of fire

    • Interdependence of environment and human life

    • Animal symbolism

    • Balance and connectedness in social structures and environmental interactions

    • Core principles of egalitarianism and animism in cultural narratives.

IN-CLASS WRITING ACTIVITY

  • Students prompted to choose themes/topics from explored myths and write analytical paragraphs utilizing specific examples to substantiate their interpretations.

  • Suggested themes include:

    • Art, Agriculture, Animal representation, Death, Friendship, Justice, Nature, Tragedy, etc.