Religious Symbolism In Crow Brings The Daylight

The religious symbolism that occurs in both the speeches of Native American leaders and in the Creation and Trickster myths are centered on the use of nature to represent different messages throughout the story. In the Creation and Tricksters myths, the main point of these stories was to teach a moral lesson or to give an explanation as to how the earth was created. One example of this, is the use of the crow in “Crow Brings the Daylight.” Which states “He had only obtained one ball of daylight from the people of the south, and it would need to rest for six months every year to regain its strength. During that six-month period, the darkness would return.” This tale was used to explain why there was 6 months of daylight. Additionally, the purpose of these stories were to teach what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Whereas, with the speeches of different Native American leaders, the purpose was to relay the message to unify the tribes to have a common purpose and to see the error in the ways of the white people. An example of this is shown in “Tecumseh's Speech to the Osages” which states “The white people are like poisonous serpents: when chilled, they are feeble and harmless; but invigorate them with warmth, and they sting their benefactors to death.” Again, the use of an animals as a symbol is used but this time to relate to

The puritans used the scriptures in the bible as a moral compass and to guide them in their quest for righteousness and their writing reflects these ideals. The Native American’s used their speeches and Creation and Trickster myths to accomplish similar goals. For both, the message that they were attempting to convey was a moral one and a guideline for the way they believed their people were supposed to live. Both used animals in their stories to symbolize the different messages they were trying to