View source for Talk:HIST 131--Week 1 Questions/Comments

== Week 1 Reading ==

My first comment is regarding the importance of arrows, and potential parallels, in both of the readings.  In the first one, the "woman who fell from the sky" is literally impregnated by two arrows, the fertilization resulting in two twins, one evil, one good.  However, in the second reading about the origins of the different indian tribes, there are two different arrows present as well.  The white ones they shoot signifies peace and no intent to attack.  However, fired back and colored red means mal-intent, or a warning.  This leads me to question whether or not there is any connection between the white arrows, meaning peace and good intent (and thus relating to Teharonghayawago, the good twin) and the red one meaning danger and an unfriendly tribe if fired back (Tawiskaron, or the evil twin).

My second comment is how symbolic color is to the native americans.  all throughout the second origin myth, white and red especially are prevelant.  The first and second areas the created tribe settles is white, and the second is red.  the poles that are covered with yellow clay that becomes red by burning, the white eagle feather as a sign of peace, again the arrows of white and red, the blue bird that came every day to the town, the red rat that emerged etc....   and especially the use of dual color ("His bones.... on one side red, on the other blue") and their hearts being partially red and white towards the end.
                                                                                             -Kathleen Dray





In both the “Iroquois Creation Story” and “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” there were twin brothers; one symbolizing evil and the other good.  As both of these stories parallel each other, they together also parallel the Christian origin of the earth.  In the Christian story, God is good, and the serpent is evil and although there are not two men, Eve does act in a man’s “role” when deciding to eat of the fruit and thereby change the entire course of human history.

Now back to the twin boys in the stories.  In the Iroquois story, the evil brother tried and succeeded to murder his mother by attempting to come out of her side, just as the evil brother did in the Seneca story by trying to come out of the mother’s armpit.  However, in both stories the good brother wins.

An interesting contrast lies between the Iroquois, Seneca, Christian origin, and the Creek origin.  In the Creek origin there is the dichotomy of good and evil, however they have three cardinal directions and three nations, as compared with the two main characters in the other stories.  One parallel that they do have with the Christian origin is that they have a similar “schedule.”  The lion would come every seventh day to kill the people, and the people would fast six days and prepare on the seventh.  This practice is an inverse of how God worked six days, and rested on the seventh.  (Although it could be argued that fasting is difficult and could be perceived as work.)

What is also interesting about the Creek origin are the color representations.  White is perceived as good and pure; why the color white?  Germans first printed this story in 1739, and before that, the story had been written down on animal skins many different times.  Is it possible that the people passing on the story, and finally the Germans used their skin color as bias and made white the pure color?  In addition, red which is a sign of evil?  Red, which is ironically enough a nickname for Native Americans?  Are they not called the “redskins?”  

Another bias based on skin color, whether it was inserted by translators or merely thrust upon Native Americans to believe themselves, is that lighter skin is better.  In “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” when the twins were first born, the grandmother automatically favored Djuskaha, perhaps because he was lighter in color, and hated Othagwenda who was born “of a reddish color.”

So:  there is a parallel between twin boys and the dichotomy of good and evil, the parallel between working six days and resting on the seventh, and a question of whether translators added their own prejudice into the story relating to a preference of color.

                                                                                                  - Taja L. Winston