Week 10 Storytelling: The Girl Who Caught a Star

There once was a lonely girl who thought she would never find love. The only comfort she found was when she got to spend some time outside at nights. She would frequently go hiking, and one day she traveled a little too far to make it back before nightfall. She found that the stars and the night sky gave her a break from her loneliness. They made her feel like she belonged somewhere, and that the night sky was her true home.  After this discovery she would do anything and everything to make it outside at least for ten minutes each night.  While she was out in the darkness she made friends with some of the animals. They seemed to just love her. She liked to think of herself as a modern snow white because she felt so connected to them. This gave her even more comfort while she basked in the night’s glory. She finally had everything she thought she needed, and she felt loved.

Some nights the girl would think that her life would be perfect if only she could just be a part of the night sky. She wished desperately to have something concrete to hold from it. She would confide this all to a little fox that had taken a liking to sitting with her. Each night she would think about how much better off she would be if she could float up and become one with the sky. She knew that this would never happen, of course.

Sleeping Under the Stars
By Ed Ogle

It had been some time, and the girl was getting a little upset that she could not be more connected with the one thing she loved so dearly. On this particular night she was very down. Even her little fox could not bring her comfort. Right when she was about to give up all hope of ever being close to the night sky, something strange started to happen. It looked as if a star was coming closer to her. Not as much as a shooting star, but like it was gracefully just floating towards her. It kept getting closer and closer. The girl thought it must be a trick of the eye. Starts don’t just float towards the earth! This was certainly nothing normal.

After watching this occurance for about fifteen minutes the star was still getting closer. In fact it was almost right on top of her. The girl decided to be brave, and reached out towards the star to see if she could possibly catch it! If so it would really be a dream come true. The star would bring her everything she had wished for, and would mean she would always be close to the night sky. When she reached out her hand actually touched it! She had caught a star! It was little, and not hot. It was still lit, and so beautiful. This truly was a miracle. Now whenever the girl feels like a day is just dragging on she pulls out her star, and it reminds her of her true love, and how they can now be together forever.

Author’s Note: This story came from the Tejas Caddoan tribe. In the original an indian woman wanders into the desert and does not make it back before night. She falls in love with a star, and wants to be with it so badly that she contemplates killing herself to be there.  A witch instead turns her into a tree so that she can always see her star when it is out. The star then falls and lands white blossoms on the tree, so they will be together forever. In my story I wanted to modernize it a little bit, and have a girl fall in love with the night sky in general. I liked the idea of her having a piece of it to take with her, instead of being turned into something that stays outside. I also included the animals to kind of take the place of the witch, and to help comfort her a little bit.

Bibliography: The Maiden WhoLoved a Star from When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

Week 10 Reading Diary Continued: The Girl Who Loved the Stars

In the second half of the Tejas reading I really loved the story of The Maiden Who Loved a Star. The original story tells of a forbidden love, but I liked the take they had on it. If I were to put my own twist on this story I would like to set it in a modern day. I would have a girl who loved the stars, and loved to sit outside at night in the mountains to look at them. She would dream of belonging in the sky, but knew she could not. She would be able to talk to animals, and would have a fox friend. This friend would tell her that she was needed here on earth, but since she could talk to animals maybe she would be able to talk to the sky as well. For the next week she would sit out She would keep having these dreams, and feel like she wanted to have a piece of the sky or a piece of a star. The last night in the week I would have her sitting under the sky with her fox, and the sky would start to twinkle. It would not be the twinkle of the stars like normal, but something different. The twinkling would seem to get closer and closer, until it looked so close she could grab it. Turns out they sky had sent her a star to keep forever. She never felt lonely again. She would finally feel like she belonged to the sky, and it to her. 

Stars From Wikipedia

Reading Diary Week 10: How the Islands Came to Be

This week I chose to read the Tejas Nature Stories from the Caddoan tribes. A lot of them focused on nature, and explained why certain things happened, or why certain aspects of nature were the way they are. I really liked the story about how the islands off the Gulf of Mexico got to be there. In my version of the story I would like to extend it to a time where people learned to swim out to the islands, and started terrorizing the birds again. I will use this to explain that this is where hurricanes come form. When they anger the god who loved these birds, he gets overly mad and creates a hurricane to get people to leave. I will probably also add in a more modern take where maybe the island is being polluted, so the hurricane is there to wash away all of the trash on the islands.

Hurricane from Wikipedia 

Week 9 Storytelling: The Lesson of the Bunny and the Otter

“This week for story time we are going to read about two animals who once had a big conflict with each other. They both may seem very cute and cuddly, but that was not always the case. Who here likes bunnies and otters? “

The Rex Rabbit from Wikipedia

All the kids in Ms. McDaniel’s second grade class raised their hands high in the air.

“Ok kids well today we are going to be reading a Cherokee legend about how the bunny stole the otters soft, furry coat.”

The kids all waited patiently, and eagerly, to hear the story that was to follow.

“Once there were many animals in a forest, and all thought they had the most wonderful and beautiful coat of all. The animals decided that they couldn’t go on any longer, and it must be decided whose coat was the best. They planned a meeting that was mandatory for all animals where it would be decided whose coat would take first prize.

The bunny was insistent that he would win. He thought that it was a sure shot…until he heard about the otter. Not many people had seen the otter. He lived very far away, but it was rumored that his coat was magnificent!

The bunny was scared. He could not be beat!

The bunny came up with a plan to steal the otter’s coat, so that he could ensure that he would win. That day he set out to find the otter to set his plan in motion.

The bunny had walked for days, and was almost running out of hope when he saw movement in the distance. It was the otter, and he could see how beautiful the otter’s coat was even from far away! The bunny went up to the otter and said that he was there to escort him to the meeting, so that he would not get lost.

The first night everything was calm, and the two took off their coats and slept under the stars before starting on their way again. They walked all day, and were exhausted by the time night came. That night the bunny told the otter that this was a dangerous area because sometimes fire fell from the sky. For this reason he would stay up and keep watch. The otter took off his coat, and lay down to sleep.

After the otter had fallen soundly asleep, the bunny took the coals from the fire they had cooked dinner over, and threw them in the air. He screamed fire! Fire!

Immediately the otter shot up and ran to the nearby creek to escape the fire. The bunny saw this as his chance. He stole the otter’s coat that was hanging in the tree and ran as fast as he could.

He made it to the meeting later that evening where everybody took notice of the lovely otter in the corner, but they were shocked they the otter seemed so shy. When the otter looked up, it was actually the rabbit. Everyone was outraged that the bunny had done this, and chased him out of the meeting. The bunny never did give the coat back though, and to this day the otter resides in the water where he was chased by fire.”

“Now kids, this story, although sad, has a valuable lesson.” Said Mrs. McDaniel

“What do you think this lesson is?”

“Watch your coat at all times?” said one of her student.

“ Good guess, but no. The lesson is that some people may seem nice when you first meet them.  You have to be careful though because there are people out there who only want to be your friend so that they can benefit from something you have. You shouldn’t be scared to make friends, but you must look out for yourself. Make sure you are paying attention and gauging the intentions of people who seem a little off to you. Trust you guts.”

The kids all seemed to be receptive of this lesson, but were also probably more excited that they got to stand up and go to recess.

Author's Note: For this story I wanted to use the story of How The Rabbit Stole the Otter's Coat to teach a lesson that many people have to learn from experience. This is why I chose to have a teacher and a second grade class because children are very trusting. The original story was about why the otter lives in the water, and why the rabbit has the coat that it does, but I thought it could also have a more valuable lesson involved. 

Bibliography:

How The Rabbit Stole The Otter's Coat From Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900)