Week 10 Storytelling: With Brave Wings She Flies

In Nome, Alaska lived a young girl named Stella and her extremely over-protective father. They lived in a very small log cabin, just big enough for the two of them. It had two cozy bedrooms, decorated with animal hides and other ornaments. There was also a kitchen where they ate all their meals together, almost always consisting of meat the girl's father would kill. He loved to hunt, fish and basically anything outdoors. I think this is how Stella established her love to wander. She often set out at dawn when the sun was rising and didn't return until evening. Stella would explore the river banks, trudge through the snow and explore everything Alaska had to offer. Her father knew she was a brave soul, but often worried about her when she was away. He knew he couldn't stop her from being independent, so he let her do her own thing during the days. There was only one consistent rule for her: always be back at sunset for dinner.

Over time, Stella started feeling more and more disconnected with her life. She felt alone and not like the other girls. She had an urge to be free and have the ability to explore new things. Stella even started to notice changes in her body and mind that she worried a lot about. Her senses were more precise than ever before. She could pick out the sound of the fish jumping out of the rushing river, and sense a wolf's presence from almost a mile away.

At supper one evening, Stella said to her father, "I know there's more to this life than what I've seen. I just wish I knew what it was."

"You're still so young, Stell. Don't think too much," he replied.

Just a few days later, Stella's father sat at the kitchen table, waiting for his daughter to come through the rusting front door. It was later than she normally arrived, so he began to panic. After waiting a few grueling, stressful hours, hoping and praying for her arrival, he set out to find her. He searched all of her favorite spots... the river, the biggest snowbanks, and of course her favorite spruce tree. She was nowhere to be found. He was frantic, devastated and extremely hopeful she would turn up. "Maybe she just needed some time to herself. She will be back," he thought.

The days quickly turned into months and there was still no sign of her. Every day after supper, he sat in his rocking chair on the front porch, looking into the distance hoping one day he would see her heading home. He had so much hope in his eyes, but he couldn't help but shed a tear seeing her empty chair next to his. One night, just as the sun was setting, he noticed a shiny white owl sitting on the arm of her rocking chair. It was without a doubt the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. A little startled, he tried to remain calm so he wouldn't scare it away. As he admired its beauty, he couldn't help but notice the eyes looked strikingly like Stella's big, dark brown brown eyes. In that exact moment, he knew.

"I've missed you so much, Stella," he said.

(Photo from: Alaskan Legends by Katharine Berry Judson)

Bibliography: Alaskan Legends by Katharine Berry Judson

Author's Note: I read the Alaskan Legends by Katharine Berry Judson this week and I knew right away I wanted to write a story with Alaska as the setting. In the story The Raven Myth, Raven's Creation, a raven turns into a man, which inspired me to write about a human changing into animal form. When originally I thought of this idea, I didn't plan on it being a type of bird as the transformation, but as my ideas started to morph, I thought an owl would be perfectly suited for Stella's independence and curiosity. I believed a girl living with just one other family member, in an area with a very small population would be reasonable for a story like this because if it were in a normal, modern day town, people would think it was ridiculous that the man actually believed his daughter was the owl. My favorite part about this story is the moment when the father knows without a doubt that the owl is her daughter, just because of one simple look into her eyes. I think it shows a lot about the bond between a father and his daughter, no matter how far-fetched it may seem. I wanted to end the story with a feeling of peace, not just the feeling of grief Stella's father felt upon her disappearance.

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part B

I like how most of the stories within this unit are about animals. I also find the outfits and furs the people are wearing very interesting. The imagery within the stories help me have a really vivid picture in my mind as I read. The chief's daughter is my favorite character within this story and I would like to write a story about a chief's daughter in my future. She is trapped in a marriage she is not happy with and is desperate to be rescued. 

The Chilkat Blanket is a blanket hand woven that told of the chief's daughter's life and courtship. All of the people in the tribe learned how to weave this type of blanket. 

In the story The First Woman, a young man marries the only woman on Earth. Then two men pulled the women into two parts and then made wooden body parts to complete them, making two women. This story was a little confusing to me because it is clearly fictional, but a lot of these Alaskan legends talk about there not being many women on Earth yet. 

Photo from: Alaskan Legends- Origin of the Chilkat Blanket

Bibliography: Alaskan Legends by Katharine Berry Judson

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part A

I think this story was interesting because the characters are referred to as man and Raven. I think it is interesting that he isn't given an actual name. This story takes place before there were people on Earth. The first man encounters a black Raven who transforms into a man. I want to write a story about an animal that can transform into a human whenever it pleases. I like how Raven is constantly making things and helping people throughout the story. Eventually, he turned a man into a bear and he didn't like it. Then, he turned back into a man, but used the bear hide to make another white bear. According to this story, this is how white bears were brought onto Earth. Raven showed the man all kinds of animals he didn't know about. He even introduced him to all kinds of sea creatures. Raven has the ability to take people places with his mind. He is never satisfied with the way things are and continuously contributes to making the Earth better. This was the first story I had read that was placed in Alaska and I really liked it. I would definitely read another story from Alaska in the future. 

(Photo from: Alaskan Legends by Katharine Judson)

Bibliography: Alaskan Legends by Katharine Berry Judson

Storytelling Week 9: Iagoo's Adventure

The wide-eyed, shivering children gathered around the crackling fire, warming their hands in the smoke. They sat on logs, bundled up with hats, scarves and parkas waiting for Iagoo to share another story. They looked forward to these winter nights, listening to the tales of their role model and trying to be just like him. As they huddled together, he approached. He stood tall with a broad chest and his head always held high. He thunderously cleared his throat and began his story.

I dove into the river, feeling the cold water surround me like a cape. I love being in the water. I felt so free to move however I wanted. My favorite thing to do was let the current take me downstream where the best fishing was. Sometimes I sat on the edge of the river fishing into the water, but every once in a while I liked to catch catfish with my bare hands. The trick to catching catfish, kids, is to be aggressive. You have to push your hand into the fish's mouth until you can grab it through it's gills on the other side. Don't be afraid, their teeth are small and just feel like scratches from sandpaper. On this day, I had caught a few large catfish and brought them to shore to bring home for dinner. I took a deep breath of fresh air and crashed under the water, going deeper to find the best selection. Suddenly, I felt a piercing pain in my hand. My eyes flew open because of the pain. I looked down and there was a piece of debris shoved through my thumb, poking through to the other side. I flailed my body, wanting to rush up to get a breath of air before taking a better look at the damage. To my surprise, I was stuck! In a frenzy, I knew I was going to have to improvise. I couldn't drown because of a little thumb injury. I whipped out my pocket knife and got down to business. I ran the blade all around my thumb as quickly as I could before I broke free. I rushed to the surface for a breath of air and dove back down to look for my detached thumb. Feeling around for it, I cut it loose from a piece of metal piercing through it and swam to shore, holding onto my wounded hand. It was gushing bright red blood all over as I struggled to run toward my hut. When I got there, I felt weak from all the blood loss, but I wanted to save my finger. I grabbed a needle and thread and sewed it back on.

Iagoo pulled his fur-lined glove off of his hand and held it up for everyone to see. The kids jaws dropped as they saw his gnarly thumb, full of scars. 

Iagoo ended his story telling the children that they are strong and capable. He told them to be brave and never panic in times of crisis. The key is to remain clam and trust your instincts because the body is strong and tough. No matter how big or small you are, you can persevere through any challenge or hardship with the right mindset.

(Photo From: Flickr)

Author's Note: This story is based off of the character Iagoo from the American Indian Fairy Tales book I read by W.T. Larned. The book consists of Native American legends, so I thought the kids sitting around a fire with fur outfits would be accurate. The character Iagoo is bold and brave, much like I represented him in my recreation of the tale. In the original stories, the children look up to him because of all the vibrant stories he shared, so I thought I would make my story for this week based off of him. I made up the story he told to the children, although it is based off of a true story that happened to one of my friends. Barehanded fishing for catfish is a real thing called noodling and after hearing the story of my friend, I decided to change it up enough to fit into a story that would be accurate for the character Iagoo. I set the scene of the story by explaining setting with vivid detail from a narrator's point of view, and then continued with the story being told from Iagoo's point of view. I think the story is shocking, yet believable and not too far-fetched.

Bibliography: American Indian Fairy Tales told by W.T. Larned

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part B

In this portion of the story, I really liked the character names Morning Glory and Eagle Feather. I think American Indian names are really cool since they have a lot of symbolization. In this story, the animals outnumbered the men by a lot. A boy learns to use a bow and arrow to shoot birds to make a winter coat to survive in the cold. He strutted around showing off his coat, but there were no other people around. He realized that the only people he knew existed were himself and his sister. He comes up with a plan to catch the Sun with a noose. Sure enough, he caught the Sun with a noose made out of his sister's hair. The story ends with the Dormouse being tricked into freeing the Sun by the Coyote telling him he was the best fit for the job. While he was eating through the noose to set the Sun free, he was burned so much he went from being the biggest animal around to not much bigger than a mouse.

(Photo From: American Indian Fairy Tales illustrated by John Rae)

Bibliography: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part A

Iagoo is a very interesting character to me because he is so wise and knows so much. I think it would be fun to write a story about a character like him who is able to see the future or know what's going to happen next. I really like how the children love him so much. I think children have great intuition so he must be a great man if they love him so much. Iagoo told stories to them that answered so many of their questions and entertained them all winter long. I think it would also make a great story to write one of my stories for this class told in the winter sitting around a fire, just like Iagoo did with the children. I appreciated the imagery in this portion of the story because I could really picture what the kids looked like as they listen to Iagoo, wide-eyed, trying to stay warm by the crackling fire.
Iagoo tells the story of Shin-ge-bis and all of his power. My favorite part of his character is how he's always laughing and his spirits are always up.

(Photo From: American Indian Fairy Tales illustrated by John Rae)

Bilbiography:

American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Out of this whole list, the dimension that stood out to me most is doing the minimum/pushing yourself to go farther. I always strive to go the extra mile in everything I'm involved in and never be complacent. I want to be the hardest worker in the room at all times and never be satisfied with only doing the bare minimum. One dimension I need to work on is being willing to try new things instead of staying in my comfort zone. I have an open mind and like to try new things, but I also tend to stick with what I know and what I'm used to. Another dimension I'm really good at is getting things done ahead of time and not procrastinating. Any time I have some free time, I like to get ahead in my classes and I'm always extremely aware of when assignments are due and when my quizzes and tests are. I stay on top of my school work and I'm extremely organized.

(Photo from: Flickr)

Week 8 Reflection

So far this semester I have enjoyed being able to read and write stories. It had been fun being able to read books that aren't just regular textbooks filled with information for class. Writing stories has definitely been challenging and time consuming because it is something new that I've never had to do for a class before. It definitely isn't easy for me to use my imagination to come up with a new version of a story I have already read. There have definitely been a couple stories I wouldn't have chosen to read if I knew what they were like ahead of time, but I also enjoyed the biblical stories I have read, as well as Homer's Iliad. I think I have done a good job with taking notes like a writer would, but there are definitely a lot of improvements I can make as well. I definitely need to start taking more detailed notes in the next couple weeks and pick out specific characters and locations that stand out to me so it makes writing my story an easier process.

(Photo from: Pexels)