Week 9 - Unit: Myths of the Cherokee

Reading Diary B:

The Terrapin's Escape from the Wolves
I liked this story so much that I included it in my Storybook.  A possum and a terrapin (basically a turtle) are retrieving persimmons when a wolf comes along and snatches them in the air and eats them.  The possum throws down a bone, which he reportedly always carried, and ended up choking the wolf.  After the wolf died, the terrapin went and cut the wolves' ears off to use for spoons.  When the other wolves learned of this, they abducted the terrapin.  They were trying to decide how to kill him, but the terrapin kept tricking the wolves; telling them that this way or that way would be impossible to kill him.  They then decided to throw him into the river.  Of course, the terrapin could swim so he swam away and escaped the wolves.

The Crane and the Hummingbird
This is another good story.  The hummingbird and the crane were both in love with a beautiful woman.  The woman liked the hummingbird because it was gorgeous like she was.  But the crane was so persistent she challenged them both.  She said she would marry whomever could fly around the world the fastest.  While the hummingbird was gone in a shot, he tired quickly and needed to rest for the night.  The crane, on the other hand, could fly all night.  And he did.  This is how he won the race because he could fly all night he always passed the hummingbird. However, the woman refused to marry something as clumsy as the crane and therefore remained single.

Bibliography:
Reading Unit:  The Myths of the Cherokee.  Web Source: Myths of the Cherokee
Image: Endangered Species.  Web Source: Endangered Species
Story: The Terrapin's Escape from the Wolves
Story: The Crane and the Hummingbird

Reading Diary A:

The First Fire
I've read this story several times now and I think it's one of my favorites (out of all the units thus far).  It tells of a tree catching fire and a myriad of animals working together trying to figure out how to retrieve the fire.  As each animals attempts to get the fire, something occurs that changes the animal's appearance.  So, this story tells of how the animal came to look the way that it does.  The Owl, the spider, the snake, etc.

The Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine
Ok, this is another great story.  It's about this group of boys who seem to always be getting into trouble.  They have a sort of treehouse that they like to hang out in.  One day, they decide to play a trick on their mothers by placing stones in the soup pot.  When the moms discover what the boys have done, they decide to teach the boys a lesson and tell them that the stones shall be their dinner.  The boys, upset and hungry, return to the treehouse, hold hands in a circle and begin to chant.  Before they know it, they're rising into the air.  When the mothers realize the boys are still not home, they head to their treehouse and see them floating away.  Six of the boys floated away and became the constellation, but one boy was grabbed from the sky by his mother.  He hit the ground so hard that he sunk into it.  The mother cried over the earth here and her tears created a pine sprout to grow.  In Cherokee, the constellation is called Anitsutsa ... which you say like anichuja (Ani-makes it plural and achuja is boy) Anitsutsa - The Boys.  GREAT STORY!!

Endangered Species - ISIS World Wildlife

Bibliography:
Reading Unit:  The Myths of the Cherokee.  Web Source: Myths of the Cherokee
Story: The First Fire
Image: Endangered Species.  Web Source: Endangered Species
Story: The Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine