Overview
Lesson 1: Stories as History and Tradition
Lesson 2: Historical Landscape
Lesson 3: Tribal Groups and the Reservation Experience
Lesson 4: Historical Figures and their Impact
Lesson 5: Stories of Today
Extending the lesson/References
Any and all parts of the storytelling/arts lessons can be used in other class activities. Reading, writing, oral literature, drama.
Books containing stories of American Indians are useful in understanding many aspects of the culture: how lessons are learned, how history is passed down, etc.
During regular reading periods, choose a book that contains Indian stories and reference previous learning about storytelling.
In writing segments, repeat the activity of students writing their own Creation stories.
Websites
Kalapuya Creation Story:
HYPERLINK “http://archaeologychannel.com/” http://archaeologychannel.com/
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
HYPERLINK “http://www.grandronde.org/” http://www.grandronde.org/
Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians
HYPERLINK “http://ctsi.nsn.us/” http://ctsi.nsn.us/
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
HYPERLINK “http://www.ctclusi.org/” http://www.ctclusi.org/
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians
HYPERLINK “http://www.cowcreek.com/” http://www.cowcreek.com/
Coquille Indian Tribe
HYPERLINK “http://www.coquilletribe.org/” http://www.coquilletribe.org/
Photos
Courtesy of the Komemma Cultural Protection Association of Yoncalla, OR and private collections of the Fearn and Stutzman families.
Attachments
Otter and Sea Urchin
The Story of Martha Sands
The Story of Crow Lady
OTTER AND THE SEA URCHIN
Wul-hyat, Otter, was hungry. He had eaten all the mussels, crab and fish he could find. Still, he looked for more food.
“What a beautiful flower that is,” he said as he approached the shore.
Sure enough, growing on the shore was a large purple flower with long petals and a fragrance that filled the air.
“I will swim quietly and then jump on the shore and eat that flower. It must be as good as it is beautiful,” thought Wul-hyat.
And so he swam very quietly and just as he reached the sandy shore, he gave a huge leap that put him right beside the beautiful purple flower.
Suddenly Coyote appeared. “You are looking hungry, Wul-hyat. Are you going to eat my purple flowers?”
“Oh, the flowers are yours?” said Wul-hyat. “Share them with me and I will pay you many dentalia for them.”
Coyote thought about it and said, “Bring me five dentalia and you can have one purple flower for yourself.”
So Wul-hyat dove into the ocean looking for the dentalia. He was gone a very long time and at last found five dentalia. When he went back onto the shore, Coyote was nowhere to be found.
“Oh,” he said “I will take the purple flower, then, and Coyote will not know the difference.”
So he picked the flower and ate it. And he ate another one and another one. The flowers were so delicious, Wul-hyat ate all of them that he could find.
“Wul-hyat!!!! What are you doing?” screamed Coyote as he ran from behind a log where he was sleeping.
“Oh,” said Wul-hyat, “I only ate one very small flower.”
“But they’re all gone,” said Coyote. “The flowers were my special flowers I use to make medicine. Now there are none.”
Wul-hyat, who is very clever, had an idea. He ran as fast as he could over the next mountain and there he found more of the purple flowers. He picked five of them and came back to Coyote. “Here are five purple flowers and I will pay you the five dentalia,” said Wul-hyat.
“That will do no good,” said Coyote. “Only the flowers that grow here are for the medicine. So now I have none.”
Coyote was so angry he took the flowers from Wul-hyat and he took the dentalia and rolled them all up in his hands. When he opened his hand, the purple flower was a small round ball with the dentalia stuck into the sides. He threw all of them into the ocean and said, “There, now you can have all these worthless purple flowers you want. But if you like them, you will have to work for them each time.”
And so it is, the Otter dives to get the purple flowers and works to take off the spines that were once the dentalia. We now call those flowers of the sea. Sea Urchin and that’s what Wul-hyat eats.
THE STORY OF MARTHA SANDS
From Wisdom of the Elders Radio Series 3, Program 7
Martha Sands was an Indian woman who was removed to the Grand Ronde reservation. This is one person’s story of her accomplishment.
“Many Kalapuya were rounded up by the U.S. Army then marched to the Grand Ronde region from a site called Table Rock, a journey made 265 miles north in the winter time. They kept the men together and they kept the women together. And the women were treated a little bit better, although it was abhorrent treatment by any standard. The children were left to the women to take care of. And all that you might have is that prayer, you know. That’s all. That’s your meat. Your food is that prayer. And some faith in the God. And they were tested.
And so enter Martha Sands. Martha Sands knew that our people would be dying from this trip from exposure and from lack of sustenance. And she would hunt and gather for that whole journey. And she would come down and disperse the food amongst the women and the children and then they would give it to the men. And I’ve heard that she would hide in beaver dams.
How could she do this to sustain so many people? And I thought, well, she had to have that prayer. She had to be shown some. ‘Course she’s walking the earth like that and knowing that the earth will provide in a good way, you know.
Every year we celebrate that. We bow our heads by having our children walk from the elementary school to the Community Center. It’s just a mile. But when they get up there then we tell them why; what that was about.
And they have this bust of Martha (in the Spirit Mountain Casino) and she’s weaving a basket. And her granddaughter is also weaving, looking on, attentive and learning how to weave the baskets.
And the bust does portray that she was a teacher. So Martha Sands has taught me about perseverance. If she was focusing on hate and something to avenge and hurt the dominant culture, she wouldn’t have been able to help her people. She’s a hero to me because without her we wouldn’t have all the people that we have today.”
Michael Reibach, Grand Ronde Elder
.
THE STORY OF CROW LADY
Once there was a beautiful bird. She had feathers of yellow, red, green, blue and gold. She would fly through the forest and everyone would say,
“There goes CROW LADY.”
She was beautiful and she knew it. She thought she was too beautiful to do any work. And she got into a bad habit. She started stealing food from other animals.
She flew to the forest and landed in a tree above the village of the GRIZZLY BEARS.
They had baskets and baskets of berries. She loved berries but she would never pick them. She’d get her feathers stained. So she’d fly down and steal a basket of berries and take them up into the tree and eat them. Then she’d clean her beak and fluff her feathers because she was so beautiful.
If she was still hungry she’d fly up the river and over the mountain where there was a big lake right by the village of the BEAVERS.
They had baskets of roots that they’d dug up and steamed and peeled. She loved roots but she’d never dig them. She’d get dirty and she was too beautiful for that. So she’d fly down and grab a basket of roots, take them up into the tree and eat them. Then she’d clean her beak and fluff her feathers because she was so beautiful.
If she was still hungry, she’d fly over the mountains until she came to the ocean and out over the rocks to the village of the SEA LIONS.
They had baskets and baskets of fish. She loved to eat fish but she’d never go fishing because she’d get sandy and wet and dirty. So she’d fly down and steal a basket of fish and take it upon a rock and eat them. Then she’d clean her beak and fluff her feathers because she was so beautiful.
It wasn’t long before all the animals were tired of her. They wondered what to do. They finally decided to ask the advice of the wisest person in the forest and his name is COYOTE.
They all said to that wise person, “What can we do? We work hard for our food and someone always steals it from us and her name is CROW LADY”
She steals berries from the GRIZZLY BEARS
And roots from the BEAVERS
And fish from the SEA LIONS
“What can we do?” they all asked.
That wise old man said, “I have a plan.”
So they all sneaked down very quietly until they came to the village of the GRIZZLY BEARS.
They found a basket and put huckleberries inside. Then they put sticky pitch on the outside of the basket and put that basket right in the center of the village. Then they all went to hide behind the trees.
Sure enough, flying through the forest so beautiful with all her colorful feathers, came CROW LADY.
She landed in a tree and saw the basket of berries. She was a little hungry so she flew down, grabbed the basket and took it up to a tree.
But when she tried to take her claws off the basket, they were stuck. And she was pulling and pulling and losing her balance in the tree.
All the animals rushed to the tree and started shaking it. That bird lost her balance and fell out of the tree right into a puddle of mud.
The animals rushed up to her and started rolling her in the mud. Then someone lit a fire in the smokehouse and tossed her in. The fire got hotter and smokier and finally she blew right out the top of the smokehouse.
She landed on the ground. “Oooh, I’ve hurt my leg. Oooh, my feathers are all smoky. Why did you do this? Why, why, why?” she said.
Then all of the animals said, “This is your punishment for stealing food. Your feathers will always be flat and smoky. You will always steal from people and animals. . No one will like you.”
And that’s why she looks like she does today.
But if you hold one of her feathers up to the sunlight, you will see rainbows of many colors because that’s what her feathers used to look like.
And that’s her story.
A Komemma Kalapuya story from the Fearn family
