Week 9 Reading Diary: Mississippi Valley & The Great Lakes

This week, I'll be reading stories from the Mississippi Valley & Great Lakes folktales unit. I will go through, read the stories, and record notes about some of the most interesting ones for my reading diary, as I have done for a couple weeks now.

Creation
This story began with a description that seemed paradoxical:

THERE was a Creator of All Things. This Great Mystery understood all things. He had no eyes, yet he could see. He had no ears, yet he could hear. He had a body, but it could not be seen.

This description made me wonder about the creator and wonder where the story was going to go from here. I thought it was ironic how the story described the Great Mystery making tobacco to solve man's problem, because tobacco has actually created a lot of problems for mankind. The story didn't really describe the Great Mystery much more himself, but I interpreted him to be a spirit.

The Thunderers
I liked how this story described the way the family was formed between creatures that normal wouldn't be related, such as a bear, a beaver, and a sturgeon. Other than that, this story didn't have a lot of purpose, but I did find it pretty interesting.

Tobacco and Maple Sugar
This seemed like a cool adventure story from the start. A cave in a mountain and giant guarding the loot...what more could you want? The giant was ultimately turned into a grasshopper. The story about maple sugar wasn't as interesting or imaginative, but I still liked it.

Manabush and the Great Fish
I was a little confused at first if the Great Fish was an evil manido or not, but I think (?) he was. Manabush wanted to be swallowed by the Great Fish, and when the Great Fish did swallow him, he saw a lot of his people inside the Great Fish, which was pretty cool. Together, Manabush and his people were able to lure the Great Fish to the shore and basically use the fish as a free ride.

Why Deer Never Eat Men
It's funny to imagine a world where deer would be predators. Deer are just so gentle and skittish and cute-looking. When the deer pulled out ribs, I assumed that he was going to make antlers out of them, but instead he made tusks.

The Tiny Frog
...how could a tiny frog beat a panther in a fight? I'm not sure. I guess magic. I wish this story had explained the powers of the tiny frog more, but I still found the concept of this story intriguing.

Porcupine and the Two Sisters
For some reason, this story reminded me of Little House on the Prairie. I think there was one episode where they got stuck in the snow? Even though it's never a happy ending when two girls freeze to death, it was a little difficult to feel bad for the girls because they had basically tortured an animal for fun.

The Lone Lightning
There was a lot going on this story, but it was interesting to get this perspective on lighting. When the boy was in the tree, he should have been told to come down because it was dangerous, but instead he was encouraged to shoot arrows into the sky.