Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths and Legends of Alaska

Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Raven from Wikimedia Commons

The Raven Myth: Raven's Creation

• I like how in Native American creation myths everything comes from natures. 
• It is interesting that it is Raven who made the vine and Raven is the first person the man met. 
• Raven must be somebody significant in Alaska, I like the reason why the reindeer have white bellies. 

The Raven Myth: Raven Creates the People

• I like that raven does not just shape everything and then leave man alone, he stays with man and shows him how to live in the world. 

The Raven Myth: The Skyland and the Sea

• This story has a nice root in real life. Everything that the raven describes really exists in the real world. 

The Raven Myth: Raven-Boy and the Sun

• This story is a little sad. I did not expect the story to turn so dark. 
• The image of reindeer with sharp teach is an amusing on.

The Flood

• It is interesting to see that the native american stories have something in common with christian myth. Both of them have a giant flood. 

The Origin of the Tides

• I like these myth, they all have nice imagery with them. I like to imagine the man opening a closing a hole as the tide washes in and washes out. 

Raven's Feast

• This is an interesting story because it deals with the traditions of the Alaskan people. 

Raven's Marriage

• This story makes good use of a repeated phrase. In this case it is "Who will marry me? I am a very nice man." 

Raven and the Seals

• Raven ate them all during two nights. He ate all the seals in front of the house." Wow, that is a lot of seals 

Raven and Marmot

• It was amusing that Raven wants to prove that he is not a carrion-eater by eating something that is not carrion. That only proves that he does not only eat carrion, not that he doesn't eat carrion. 

The Bringing of the Light by Raven

• This story does a good job of making the reader curious. The reader does not have any more clue where the light is than the Raven does. I prefer this approach to stories rather than stories where things are obvious to the readers but not to the characters. 

The Naming of the Birds

• It was interesting to hear about the different birds. I like that the author included a large variety of birds. 

How Raven Stole the Lake

• It is interesting to hear how things have changed.  For example in this story, it is the fact that crows used to be white.