Most Reoccurring Motif In Native American Literature

Native American Literature The American Indians have countless stories passed down, and have been a pivotal part of the history of literature. Although most stories are passed down through oral tradition, we still have learned a lot about the American Indians from the stories they have told. The stories are all mainly based around, the creation of the world or animals. The Native Americans stories that were told, all had one of five things. The five things that all stories had incorporated into them in one way or another are: heroism, tricksters, mythology, symbolic landmarks, and oral tradition. The American Indians are still around today, but back in the pre-colonial times the Indians were much more prominent. But the Native Americans

“One recurring motif in Native American literature is that of the young man who undergoes ritual initiation and eventually accomplishes a heroic act” (Millisaw). In the stories told, heroism is very important, and is emphasized by the Indians in various stories. One popular story about heroism, is one told by the Algonquin. The story is about a village that is besieged by drought, and they call upon a man to go up the river and find all the water. This represents heroism because this man saved the village by ending the drought and bringing water back to the village. In various stories and films today, heroism is very prominent, in several superhero based forms of entertainment, heroism is the main

Myths usually have animals, or other entities have human characteristics. “The Native American or Indian peoples of North America do not share a single, unified body of mythology. The numerous different tribal groups each developed their own stories about the creation of the world, the appearance of the first people, the place of humans in the universe, and the lives and deeds of deities and heroes” (Linda Alchin). Although mythology is a very important part or American Indian storytelling, every tribe had their own version of the myths. The Blackfoot tribe, had a story explaining the Buffalo Dance, and how the popular dance was introduced to the tribe. Today, mythology is widely enjoyed genre of writing, and authors like Rick Riordan have written lots of stories based off some form of