Styles Brainstorm: Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest

Memaloose Islands. Wikipedia Commons.

Topic:
I have decided to focus on Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest. There are several different ways to organize the many stories associated with this area. I could either choose stories based on which Native American tribe they originated from, which geographic areas they are associated with (ocean or forest), cultural significance (marriage or death), or historical significance (origin of the Earth or wars between tribes). I have not narrowed it down yet. The two stories that I have enjoyed recently are about marriage and culture. The Memaloose Islands and The Woman Who Married the Merman both involve strange conceptions and the choices of women. I think this theme would be interesting to study considering woman, at least in other parts of the world, did not have much voice at this time.

Bibliography:
The Memaloose Islands. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katharine Berry Judson. 1910.
The Woman Who Married the Merman. Sacred Text Archive. Coos Texts. Leo J. Frachtenberg. 1913.

Possible Styles:

A Woman's Diary
Since the two stories I chose closely follow women and their choices, I feel like telling these stories from their perspective would be very natural and just. I would probably even write them with an emphasis on love.  This would be the most comfortable for me, since most of the stories I enjoy and spend time on are sappy, love tales. The women in these stories would be blinded by love and make not-so-great decisions because they are not thinking straight.

Campfire Stories
I feel like the "campfire" style has been used a lot in this class, so this might not be my number one choice. It would, however, fit perfectly with the Native American story-telling ambiance. I have always pictured tribe leaders passing on ancient stories in this way. Everyone is gathered around a fire and the teller uses props and creative voices to explain the world around them. I feel like this would read very well but would not necessarily capture the perspective of the characters in the story.

Modern Twist
My friend Jeremy is Native American and very active with local festivals and ceremonies. I was thinking that a possible style could be him telling me these stories. I don't think he knows any legends from the Pacific Northwest, but I could get a little creative to merge this part of the style. I'm a little embarrassed to compare Twilight to this style, but it reminds me of when Jacob tells Bella about the old tribe legends. This setting is very popular today and would read well in a storybook format.

Compare and Contrast
This style might be a little bit more difficult, but I think it would be neat to compare the same stories told by different researchers. Surely a lot of the facts from the stories overlap, but some compilers may tell them slightly differently. This would be a more analytical approach to the subject. I could compare dates of publication and author's backgrounds (checking for any bias associated with writing style).Memaloose Islands. Wikipedia Commons.