Cynthia Slye
SLIS 5440 Storytelling
Dr. Elizabeth Figa-Instructor
August 3, 2002
This is a collection of North American Indian tales and stories to be used with the third
grade Native American Indian unit. The unit will not only meet the state objectives but
will promote the “right choice” program adopted by our school.
The purpose of this project is to use Native American Indian tales to show how
unselfish acts of the “undesirable” can change the lives of many. The power of choice
plays a definite role in each of these stories.
This project will enhance the existing unit by stimulating critical thinking skills. The
books in this collection are a combination of fiction and non-fiction stories. I like the
combination of the two to show that real people ,like themselves, can be used to
empower a nation of people and it does not always exist in the world of make-believe.
Students will analyze character behaviors, study the various plots to determine
similarities and differences and look for symbolism within and amongst the stories.
I used my school’s library WEBPac system to locate most of my resources. I typed in
keywords and then a list of titles were given. I discovered that my library is well stocked
with Native American Indian literature. I used the internet search engine, Ask Jeeves, and
the Irving Public Library. Amazon.com and National Museum of the American Indian
website were used for the pictures of characters and for the book cover’s jacket.
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Ten Story Collection
Click to see Bibliographic Citation and Synopsis
A Picture Book of
Sacajawea
Pocahontas, Princess of
the River Tribes
The Legend of the
Indian Paintbrush
Star Boy
Sequoyah’s Gift
Knots on a Counting
Rope
The Legend of the
Bluebonnet
The Girl Who Loved
Wild Horses
Squanto and the First
Thanksgiving
The Rough-Face Girl
Click to see Story Analysis
Adley, A. David. A Picture Book of
Sacajawea. New York: Holiday House, 2000.
Click to return to
story collection
A Shoshone native American Indian girl
is taken from her tribe and held
captive by the hostile Hidatsa tribe.
Just as she learns the ways of her
new surroundings she is sold to a
white trapper, Charbonneau.
Sacajawea and her newborn baby
travel with explorers, Lewis and
Clark, on a journey to discover a
route to the Pacific Ocean.
Sacajawea plays a vital role as
interpreter for Lewis and Clark. She
eventually unites with her brother.
The United States gives much credit
to Sacajawea’s service and the
success of the expedition of Lewis
and Clark.
Archambault, John and Bill Martin Jr. Knots on a
Counting Rope. New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1987
Click to return to
story collection
A young boy loves his
grandfather and the story
he tells of his birth and
name. His name is BoyStrength-of-Blue-Horses.
The boy is blind from
birth and his grandfather
guides him with much
words and wisdom. The
boy discovers inner
strength and value.
Bolognese, Don and Elaine Raphael.
Pocahontas, Princess of the River Tribes.
New York: Scholastic Inc.,1993.
Click to return to
story collection
Pocahontas is a princess daughter
of the great chief, Powhatan.
Pocahontas is a bright brave girl
who desires to see the faces of
the white men and the tall ships
spoken by her people. She is
fascinated by their voices and
appearances. She does not allow
the Chief to harm the captured
leader. John Smith and she
become friends and she helps the
white men survive the long
winter.
DePaola, Tomie. The Legend of the
Bluebonnet. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons,
1983.
Click to return to
story collection
A drought has brought death
and famine to the
Comanche tribe. A young
girl holds her most loved
possession, a warrior doll,
and dreams of her family
who died from the famine.
She waits for the return of
the Shayman to here the
words of the Great Spirits.
The Great Spirits have
spoken and the small girl
knows what she must do.
DePaola, Tomie. The Legend of the Indian
Paintbrush. New York: G.P. Putnam’s
Sons.1988.
Click to return to
story collection
A small boy, Little Gopher, carves
beautiful wood toy warriors and
paints stones with berries. He is
unique from other boys. A Dream
Vision is given and speaks of the
boy’s powerful gift and shows him
how his People will remember his
paintings forever. He returns to his
People and paints pictures of the
tribe’s hunts and great deeds. Yet on
the white buckskin given to him by
the Dream Vision, he paints a
special gift that will stay with his
People forever.
Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Wild
Horses. New York: Bradbury Press, 1978.
Click to return to
story collection
A girl loves horses. She understands
horses unlike any others of her
tribe. She sleeps with the horses
and a terrible clash of thunder
awakens her and she leaps upon a
horse and rides. She rides with the
winds of the storm. She is lost from
her tribe. She meets a beautiful,
spotted stallion and she decides to
live with the horses. Her family
eventually finds her but does not
prevent her from running with the
wild horses.
Goble, Paul. Star Boy. New York: Bradbury
Press, 1983.
Click to return to
story collection
A young lady loves the morning star and
finds him one morning on her long walk.
He takes her to live in the sky world with
his mother, the moon, and father, the
Sun. The girl has a baby and calls him,
Star Boy. She loves her new home and
child until one day she disobeys the
Sun’s command and is able to see into
her old world below. She now longs to
be with her original family. She and her
son return to earth and Star Boy’s mother
dies from loneliness for morning star.
Star Boy is now scarred and ugly and is
not accepted in his world. To gain the
love of a beautiful chief’s daughter he
searches for Sky World. He longs to be
made new.
Kessel, K. Joyce. Squanto and the First
Thanksgiving. Minnesota: Carolrhoda Book,
1983.
Click to return to
story collection
Squanto, A Patuxet Indian, is a friendly
Indian boy who hunts wild animals. He
is captured by Englishmen and sold as a
slave. Squanto learns the white man
ways and works very hard. His master
sees his sadness for his family and sets
Squanto free. He returns to his own only
to be captured again and sold as a slave
in Spain to Catholic monks. The monks
teach Squanto The Christian Faith and
help him back to America. He finds no
village or family and lives with the
neighboring tribe. He discovers Pilgrims
living close by and begins to teach them
survival skills.
Klausner, Janet. Sequoyah’s Gift. New York:
Harper Collins, 1993.
Click to return to
story collection
Sequoyah, a Cherokee leader,
believes the Cherokee language
bonds his tribe and he works to
create a writing system, A
Cherokee Alphabet, sot that the
messages of his people will be
preserved for all times. He
encounters many hardships,
unbelief amongst his family and
people, yet Sequoyah succeeds.
He holds on to hope and
patience and creates the
powerful gift of literacy.
Martin, Rafe. The Rough-Face Girl. New
York: G.P.Putnam’s Sons, 1992.
Click to return to
story collection
In a village stands a great wigwam. Inside
the wigwam supposedly lives a
handsome, Invisible Being with his sister.
His sister is the only one who has ever
seen this rich and powerful being.
Women of the village want to marry him
but the only one who shall marry him is
the one that can see him. Three sisters
live in the village with their poor father
and younger scarred face, burnt, sister.
The two beautifully dressed sisters are
convinced one of them will marry The
Invisible Being. But they cannot describe
him no matter how hard they try. It is the
younger sister that sees him everywhere
she goes. It is she that receives the
treasure that her sisters so long to have.
The stories I chose are about individuals or groups of people that appear
weak and/or ugly but are truly strong and beautiful. The stories share common
character traits. Each character or group in these stories are unselfish and kind to
others. Most people in their communities do not believe in them but they
overcome doubt, haunting and abuse to accomplish mighty deeds. I call this idea
the “Principle of the Package”. The package that is beautifully wrapped and most
desirable does not always contain the most valuable treasure. The package that is
tattered, torn and wrapped hurriedly often contains the riches treasures.
Squanto and Sacajawea experience similar circumstances such as slavery, abuse
of white man and lost of family, but never once did they want revenge or refuse to
assist. Each leads and helps the white men, the same people who sold them and
mistreated them. Sacajawea travels with her newborn son, appears weak, but she
is definitely not weak. She is strong and perseveres all the while showing
courage. Squanto just like Sacajawea endures separation, sorrow and loneliness.
In the end they both witness great satisfaction. One for leading a successful and
valuable expedition and the other for teaching survival skills to a starving dying
community.
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Sequoyah also perseveres. He was not sold to slavery but he loses his
family’s trust and confidence. His loss is caused by his drive and obsession
in creating a writing system for his Cherokee Nation. People could not
understand his odd behavior and isolation. They felt he was lazy. Little
Gopher in The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush also is ridiculed and believed
to be odd for his love of painting and drawing. He is not like the other
warrior boys in his tribe. Both of these characters have creative talents and
when free to create beautiful results occur. Sequoyah designs the Cherokee
Alphabet and Little Gopher paints his tribe’s stories and brings the Indian
paintbrush, the sunset, to his People.
She-Who-Is-Alone in The Legend of the Bluebonnet and the family
of the girl who loved wild horses made heart wrenching sacrifices for the
sake of their families and tribes. She-Who-Is-Alone gives her doll, her most
valued possession, to the Great Spirits and ends the tribe’s famine. The girl
who loved wild horses’ family sacrifices their daughter, their most valued
possession, to satisfy her desire to run with the horses. Each knew their loss
is great but the love for their own family and people far exceeds their own
desires.
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Blindness is not easy to accept but with the love and support of his
grandfather, Boy-Strength-of-the-Blue Horses in Knots on a Counting Rope overcomes
his weakness and sees with his heart. He walks in darkness but the light in his heart is
brighter than any others in his tribe. It takes the belief of his grandfather to ‘open his
eyes’. The Rough-Face girl and Star Boy are like Boy-Strength-of-the-Blue Horses.
They are not blind but they are physically scarred. Each have scars and ugly markings
that cause them to walk in darkness. Living in the darkness of doubt and taunting of
ridicule. Yet, the belief and love of a beautiful, caring being, much like grandfather,
provides the light needed to find their inner and outward beauty.
Pocahontas is the last character to consider and she ,in appearance, is different
then all these characters. She is a beautiful princess and is well liked by her tribe. She
does not follow the ‘principle of the package’ but the white men in this story do. They
are weak and vulnerable strangers in the new land. Pocahontas sees the white men and
longs to learn about them. She is instrumental in saving the captive white man from
being killed by her tribe and father, the Chief. The white men survive the long winter
because of Pocahontas’ care and support. They befriend Pocahontas and give her gifts
and knowledge of their homeland, England. Even though Pocahontas is beautiful
outward she proves to have a beautiful character as well. Beautiful packages can house
beautiful treasures.
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In The Legend of the Bluebonnet the girl’s doll symbolizes her
lost family. The doll gives her the love and comfort she so desires
from her family. In sacrificing her doll, she gains the love of her entire
people and she is honored. She now belongs. In The Girl Who Loved
Wild Horses the horse symbolizes family and freedom. The girl wants
to run and live with the horses making her spirit wild and free. She
sees them as her family. The girl’s true parents let her go because she
symbolizes their desire to run wild and free amongst their distant
relatives.
In Knots on a Counting Rope the knots on the rope symbolize
sight. Every time the grandfather shares the boy’s story, of his birth
and name, the boy’s eyes are opened further to see his strength and
power to overcome darkness. The grandfather knows that his love will
always surround his grandson and the counting rope will forever
remind the boy that he can see through the darkness.
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Star Boy and The Rough-Face Girl’s scars and ugliness
symbolize shunning of others. People could not see past the scars
and accept them for the beautiful spirits they are. I believe many
people have scars and feel shunned and not accepted. Hopefully
when reading these stories they can find acceptance in their inner
beauty and strength just as Star Boy and Rough-Face Girl does.
Sequoyah’s Cherokee alphabet symbolizes the preservation
of the language, customs and history of his tribe. He wanted more
than anything for the Cherokee nation to hold strong to their
language and to share it with their children and children's children.
Sequoyah’s persecutions and tribulations paid off when he saw the
Cherokee people reading and writing in their native language.
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In all the stories I collected the plot follows similar sequential
events. The main characters (protagonists) are immediately faced with
obstacles(antagonistic forces.) Some of the characters became slaves
while others had physical attributes that brought scars and isolation. These
obstacles and physical appearance bring hardship and heartache. This is
typical in story narratives.
As time moves on the characters discover inner strength and
love. This is found by either guiding and helping others or by others
believing and providing support. In the non-fiction stories and one of the
fiction stories the main characters are influenced by actual humans. In the
other five fiction stories the characters are influenced by Great Spirits.
The characters discover their special and unique strengths and they use
their founded strength for the greater good.
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Before all of the stories’ climax the characters face a tough
decision and challenging obstacle. Once they tackle the decision and
hurdle the obstacle they find comfort and great satisfaction. Victory is
accomplished. Not always shown extrinsically but definitely
intrinsically.
The undesirable are now the desirable and all benefit because
of the choices they made. The Underdog Prevails!!
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I believe this project will greatly enhance my Native
American Indian unit. The students will have a greater
appreciation of Native American’ tales and will understand
character traits in a deeper way. The TEK and TAKS objectives
state that the student is expected to analyze characters and
recognize a story’s plot especially in culturally diverse texts. I
believe the students will meet and far exceed these objectives.
This collective unit of study will stimulate critical
thinking and promote important values. I am looking forward to
teaching this unit in the fall. I plan to document the student’s
progress and reactions. I hope that students will see the value
and importance of all people and to respect everyone regardless
of their race, sex, culture and appearance.
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In addition, I want them to understand that our actions can result
in mighty and wonderful deeds, but it can also result in terrible and
destructive deeds. I want them to know that if they feel they are the
‘Underdog’ they should not despair. Just like the characters in the stories
they too can be a powerful instrument and Prevail!
Additional
Resources:
National Museum of the
American Indian-
Software Program:
Kidspiration
Students will use this
program to create graphic
http://www.nmai.si.edu.
organizers displaying
http://cherokeehistory.com character traits and plot
analysis.
Biographies of Notable
Extension:
American IndiansI would like to find tales
www.infoplease.com/spot/ from other cultures that
aihmbioaz.html
show this same theme and
include them for
enrichment work.