Essay: What I Loved About the Pacific Northwest Unit

Some of the stories in the Pacific Northwest unit were about the same thing but just different accounts. For example, three stories were about the creation of the world told by three different tribes. Each one gave the credit of the creation to a different being. When reading through these stories, I thought if would be amusing to see people from the different tribes get together and try to hash out what really happened. These stories were so engrained in their culture and beliefs that it would be difficult for them to believe otherwise. They probably would have thought that the other tribes were crazy and shrug it off. The layout of these stories in this unit was convenient to compare the different storytelling styles and how the different tribes thought.

My favorites stories were the ones that tied in some kind of grand emotion. The First Totem Pole was about a chief who yearned for a dance of his own. He wanted it so badly that he went on a voyage to find one. An Indian's Vow to the Thunder Gods was about a new mother who loved her son so much that she didn't fulfill her promise to the gods. These tales were a nice contrast to the typical Native American story. When I think of Indian legends, I think of descriptions of events or stories that try to explain the world around the storytellers. This unit had several of these stories, which is completely necessary because this was an important reason why Native Americans told stories in the first place - to explain things that they didn't understand. It is nice, however, to read about these people being humans. They felt joy and pain, adventure and fright. I feel like these stories are the best when it comes to putting yourself in the world of the storyteller. Encompass yourself with emotion and nature. They sure do know how to tell a good story!

Where good stories live. UnTextbook.