Penobscot History: The Life and Traditions of the Red Man Joseph Nicolar wrote The Life and Traditions of the Red Man in 1892 as a summarization of his people and used their stories to educate others in the ways of their culture. Nicolar was a political leader and elder of the Penobscot tribe in Maine in the late 1800s. He collected the stories passed down from his ancestors and published them in a book for all to read.Like many other natives the Penobscots also had their own story of creation. This was one of the tales that composed Nicolar’s book, the story of Klose-kur-beh, the first man on earth or “the man from nothing” and the first mother's sacrifice. In the Penobscots creation story, the Great Being was something like God to them. It’s easy to try to compare the characters Klose-kur-beh and the first mother to the story of Adam and Eve. The first mother reminds of Eve as they are both thought to be the first women on earth and are viewed as the mother of …show more content…
The citizens of America at this time most likely still thought lowly of the natives and their cultures. They wanted the Indians to get rid of their reservations and become citizens which would open up the land they used for Americans to have. Perhaps Nicolar published his tribes stories at this time to try to get people to understand that the natives have their own culture and do not need to be integrated into American society as Christians. Maybe because the Penobscots story of creation has some similarities to the Christians, their religion and culture might have been taken more seriously or maybe even as an interpretation of the Christians own tale. Or it could have just been used to make the natives seem more human, that they had a past just like everyone else and they want to keep their roots and culture which was shown to be very dear to