Primitivism, Oral Tradition, and

Native American Myths

A belief in the value of what is
simple and unsophisticated,
expressed as a philosophy of
life or through art or literature
A belief in the superiority of a
simple way of life close to
nature
A belief in the superiority of
nonindustrial society to that of
the present
The style of art of primitive
peoples or primitive artists

Oral Tradition: Myths & Legends

Literary Devices
Repetition
Enumeration
Incremental
development
Ritual beginnings
and endings
Use of archaic
language
Specific
structure
Terse style

Functions of Myth

Myths convey
Beliefs about nature of
physical world
Beliefs about social
order and appropriate
behavior
Beliefs about human
nature and the problem
of good and evil

Characteristics of Myths
Myths describe and relate to the
primal world
Beings are animal spirits in more or
less human form
Mythic age flows into age of
transformation (legends)
Characteristics of Legends
Culture hero or transformer
orders the world
Culture hero or transformer
turns animal people into
animals
Other beings become
landmarks
Flows into historical time (real
heroes)

Functions of Native American

Literature
Beliefs about nature of physical world
Beliefs about social order and appropriate
behavior
Beliefs about human nature and the
problem of good and evil
Beings are animals spirits in more or less
human form

Elements of Mythology
Myths explain things. They may be told for entertainment, but
they also teach cultural values. They often explain such important
matters as how human beings came into existence, or trivial
matters such as why rabbits have short tails.
Myths contain supernatural elements. They usually have gods or
goddesses or figures associated with divinities as characters.
These figures may be human, animals, or other living things, or
even inanimate beings.
Myths have dreamlike qualities. Mythic stories typically take place
in a timeless past, and they contain fantastic and symbolic
elements often connected with dreams. Like dreams, myths can
bring out human beings worst fears and dearest wishes.
Myths can be both serious and humorous. Though some myths,
such as dramatic stories of the Greeks, are serious, others
contain humorous elements as well.

Key Figures
Mythical & Cultural Heroes
Dramatize prototypical events and behaviors
Show how to do what is right and how we become the
people we are
Often of divine birth
Shape the world and gives it its character by theft of sun,
fire, or water
Myths are not concerned with original owners, only with
culture hero's acquisition of sacred objects

Trickster Heroes
Use cunning and trickery to achieve their
goals
Are often motivated by physical desires
(hunger, greed, sex)
Often give gifts to mankind
Can frequently transform in their physical
shape
According to S.E. Schlosser of Tricksters: Native American
Trickster Tales and other Trickster Folklore:
A Trickster is a mischievous or roguish figure in myth or folklore
who typically makes up for physical weakness with cunning and
subversive humor. The Trickster alternates between cleverness and
stupidity, kindness and cruelty, deceiver and deceived, breaker of taboos
and creator of culture.

Raven & Coyote

Kokopelli & Grandmother Spider

Common Themes
Formation of the world through struggle and robbery
(Pacific coast)
Movement from a sky world to a water world by means of a
fall
Earth-diver myth
a. flood that occurred after creation of the universe
b. recreation of the present world out of mud
brought
up from under the water by the earthdiver (muskrat
or waterbird)
Theft of fire
Emergence myths:
a. ascent of beings from under the surface of the earth to
its surface
b. ascent from a series of underworlds
Migration myths: accompany emergence myths

The Noble Savage

Main Definition: a primitive human as
characterized in literature, representing natural
goodness and simplicity when not encumbered by
civilization
Cultural Definition: Someone who belongs to an
uncivilized group or tribe and is considered to be,
consequently, more worthy than people who live
within civilization. Many writers and thinkers
through the centuries of Western civilization have
believed in the noble savage.

Images of The Noble Savage

Wintu Woman, 19th Century

"When we Indians kill meat, we
eat it all up. When we dig roots,
we make little holes. When we
build houses, we make little
holes. When we burn grass for
grasshoppers, we don't ruin
things. We shake down acorns
and pine nuts. We don't chop
down the trees. We only use
dead wood. But the white people
plow up the ground, pull down
the trees, kill everything. ... the
White people pay no
attention. ...How can the spirit
of the earth like the White
man? ... everywhere the White
man has touched it, it is sore."

Mourning Dove Salish

1888-1936
...... everything
on the earth has a
purpose, every
disease an herb to
cure it, and every
person a mission.
This is the Indian
theory of
existence.

Pocahontas
Historians agree that
Captain John Smith was the
savior of the Jamestown
Colony. Since Pocahontas
saved Smith's life,
therefore she is responsible
the survival of the colony.

"[She] was the first

Christian of that [Indian]
nation and the first
Virginian who ever spake
English."
- Captain John Smith

The Age of Faith

The North: Puritans

In 1620, a hundred or so English men and
women settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts,
fleeing from religious persecution.
An example of such persecution:
One Englishman who had written a pamphlet to
reform the Church of England was put in jail, fined,
whipped, had the top of his ears cut off, his forehead
burned with a hot iron, and his nose slit.

DIVINE MISSION

John Winthrop
We shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes
of all people are upon us; so that if we shall
deal falsely with our God in this work we
have undertaken and so cause him to
withdraw his present help from us, we shall
be made a story and a by-word through all
the world.
Bay Colony

Three Puritan Principles

They wished to have their feelings
changed through Gods grace. They
wanted to be cleansed of envy, vanity, and
lust.
They valued plainnesssimplicity,
especially in church.
They saw their bringing Christianity to
America as a divine mission.

Puritan Writing
Histories

William Bradford

Poetry

Anne Bradstreet
Edward Taylor

Sermons

Jonathan Edwards
Edward Taylor

The Purpose of Literature is

To Edify (instruct or improve)

Puritan Books
The Bay Psalm Book (1640)
Translations of the Bibles Psalms; first book
published in America.

The New England Primer (1690)

Spelling and reading book.

The Day of Doom (1662)

By Michael Wigglesworth; Simple poem
about Judgment day. First Best Seller.

Styles
Ornate (decorated)
Psalm 23 (King James Version)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he
leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth
my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his names sake. Yea, though I
walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me

Styles
Plain
Psalm 23 (Bay Psalm Book)
The lord to me a shepherd is.
want therefore shall not I.
He in the folds of tender grass,
doth cause me down to lie.
To waters calm me gently leads,
restore my path does he.
Yea though in valley of deaths shade
I walk, none ill Ill fear;
Because thou art with me, thy rod
and staff my comfort are.

The End of Puritanism

No longer need for theocracy.
Puritans became guilty of religious
persecution themselves.
Salem Witch Trials
1740s-A revitalization of Puritanism called
the Great Awakening