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