The Navajo Origin Legend

The Navajo Origin Legend is a story from the Native American Navajo tribe. This has to be the weirdest story of them all, in my opinion. It is also a theory of how life was created. It basically was about how people were created by the wind. The gods had set down ears of corn, one white and one yellow, and the white ear had been transformed into a woman and the yellow ear had been transformed into a man by the wind. It said that the wind that comes out of our mouths give us life, and when that wind inside us stops to blow we die. I suppose it is a good way to look at how life came to be, but you really have to read it a few times to actually get it. It confused me at first, but when I realized what it meant, it made sense and even though it is kind of strange, it makes sense, because the wind represents the air that we breathe, and that keeps us alive. When the wind stops blowing, meaning when we stop breathing, we die.

When Grizzlies Walked Upright

The story When Grizzlies Walked Upright is from the Native American Modoc tribe. Like The Earth on Turtle's Back from the Onondaga tribe, it is also a theory of how life on earth began. This story also begins in the Skyland, and this time The Chief of the Sky Spirits is unhappy with living in the Skyland because the air was always cold and brittle. So he cuts out a hole in the sky and pushed all the snow and ice down below forming a mound that goes from the sky to earth. This is known as Mount Shasta today. I think that this was a way for the Modoc tribe to determine where Mount Shasta came from, because they probably lived near there. He made everything on earth with the touch of his finger and his giant stick. He made grizzly bears and back then, when they were created, they could walk upright. After he made earth and was pleased with it, he brought his family down to earth to live with him. He made a fire in the center of the mountain and put a hole in the top so smoke and sparks could fly out, and the earth would tremble. This was their explanation of volcanos. One night when the chief and his family were sitiing around the fire, and the Wind Spirit brought a big storm. So the chief asked his youngest daughter to go ask the Wind Spirit to blow more gently, because he was afraid the mountain would blow over. He told her to not stick her head out at the top because the wind might catch her hair and blow her away. So she went to the top of the mountain and spoke to the Wind Spirit, and as she was climbing down she remembered her father say you could see the ocean from the top of their ledge. So she stuck her head out, and the wind caught her hair, and blew her out of the mountain, landing her in the snow and ice. A grizzly bear found her and took her into their family. They raised her and taught her well. When she got older, she and the eldest grizzly bear son were married and had many children. The mother girzzly bear knew that she would die soon after that, and she wanted the Chief of the Sky Spirits to forgive her for keeping his child. So when he found her, he was very happy to see her, but when he saw the chuldren he was outraged. They were not as hairy as the grizzlies but didn't look exactly like their mother. He was mad because a new race was created that was not of his making, and he then banished the grizzly bears to walking on four legs and took away their ability to talk. This was their theory of how life on earth began.

The Earth on Turtle's Back

Tonight I read "The Earth on Turtle's Back" in my literature book. It was a myth from the Native American Onondaga tribe. In the story, it said that all of the earth was covered in water and the sky was something called "skyland" where there was a tree that had four white roots which stretched north, south, east, and west. There was an ancient chief whose wife had a dream about the tree being uprooted. So the chief uprooted the tree, and the wife fell down to earth. The animals in the water knew she wouldn't be able to live in the water, so they tried to bring up the earth. They all tried, and the tiny muskrat brought it up nearly killing himself, and they needed somewhere to put the earth, and the turtle said to put it on his back. So they brought the muskrat and placed its paw against the turtle's back, and they say that there are marks at the backs of the turtles' shells from its paw. So after that, the chief's wife started life on earth. I liked reading this story. I thought it would be boring at first but when I read it it was very interesting to me. I think that this was a way for the Onondaga tribe to determine where the earth came from. It was also a way to describe how the turtle had markings on its back.

Journal of the first Voyage to America

The Journal of the First Voyage to America was about Christopher Columbus's first arrival to the new world, which is commonly known as America today. It wasn't that bad to read. I usually don't like reading anything historical that takes place before the 1900's. Some parts were boring, but some parts were interesting. The boring parts were when he described what the island looked like. It gets monotonous because he just keeps going on and on about it. The good parts were when he talked about the natives and his plans for when he left America. I thought when he talked about the natives was good because it was interesting to see how they reacted when Colombus and his party arrived there. It was also sort of a letdown, because I was almost expecting the natives to get mad and there would be a fight, which would be even more interesting. When he talked about his plans for leaving America I thought it was an interesting part because it was cool to see what he planned to do after leaving. Reading this made me think about how it would be to live in those times. If I had to travel anywhere by boat I'd probably hate it, because it takes too long.

Hi, my name is Breanna Gioioso. I am a junior at Saint Mary's High School. I just turned sixteen years old on September 2nd. I live in Revere. I am a cheerleader for football and basketball, and I also play lacrosse in the spring. I just recently got a job at Brooksby Village in Peabody as a waitress. I think that having a blog will be kind of cool, since I'll get to write about anything I want. I like to read, I usually read a lot of teen novels. My favorite book is called Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Well that's all for now!