Ogimakwe Myth

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

In this paper, I will compare two of my favorite stories from Trickster: Waynaboozhoo and the Geese and How Alligator Got His Brown, Scaly Skin. These two stood out from the others as strong tales with clear and powerful messages. After I compare the two plots, I will discuss the relevant parts of the respective cultures from which these stories originated.

“The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo” is a fictional novel based on true events written by the popular American author, Kent Nerburn. Nerburn connected the reader to the ways of the Native Americans and non-Natives. Many non-Natives believe they have a basic understanding of the Native Americans, and what they have dealt with the US government. However, Nerburn provides a different perspective in comprehending the irritation the Native Americans thought of Americans not fully realizing they are heckling the Natives in this manner. Kent Nerburn had some issues with the Natives in not thinking through his decisions when confronting a Native about any questions he may have resulting in mounts of annoyance of the Natives.

This story takes place in the great land of Peru. Reru has giant but beautiful rain forests. The rain forest is filled with vines, rivers and trees. It is a great land almost untouched by man.There are three main characters in this story but only two will be introduced now.

The Native American tale of "Coyote and Bear", originally translated from oral tradition in nineteen six by G. A. Dorsey in the book The Pawnee, Mythology, Part I, tells us the story of Coyote who accidentally meets Bear, and in order to protect himself from being killed by Bear, starts to make up self praising stories to impress Bear. Eventually, Coyote convinces Bear, but after a few hesitant moves, Bear realizes that Coyote was lying. The tale then, ends up with the murder of Coyote by Bear. The most relevant literary figure used in the tale is the trickster, which is, in the study of folklore, a god, a spirit, or simply a human hero who breaks god´s or nature´s rules, sometimes with bad intention, but usually with final positive

In Native American literature, the Natives were primarily concerned with the influence of nature in their lives. The Native Americans used many chantways such as the rhetorical four, archetypal figures, and man versus nature in their writing to reflect these ideas. Luci Tapahanso uses the rhetorical four in her poem “A Breeze Swept Through” about the birth of a new day and the birth of her two daughters. The rhetorical four is used to mean completion and is seen in lines 23-26 when it repeats “She is born” four times. In the poem “Coyote and the Earth Monster”, The coyote is an important archetype, or repeating character. The coyote often is a clever character and in this story represents the Native Americans. In both the Osage creation

"Trickster is the mythic embodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and duplicity, contradiction and paradox," (Locke, Transformations of the Trickster) and Locke adds, "and can thus be seen as the archetypal boundary-crosser."(Locke, Transformations of the Trickster) The trickster has been studied extensively within the discipline of anthropology by researchers such as Paul Radin and Lewis Hyde. A great wealth of research exists for the student of the trickster myth and as I end this general introduction to the trickster we shall now move on to a more focused look at tricksters in culture.

Trickster tales have been an important part of the Native American culture for hundreds of years. Trickster tales are an oral storytelling tradition and are continuously passed down from generation to generation of Native American Indians. American Indians enjoy listening and telling trickster tales because it is a fun and interesting way to tell a story with a valuable lesson. In many tales, the trickster has a name associated with an animal, and a majority of listeners assume they are animals; however, in some tales, characteristics may appear more human-like. Trickster tales allow Native American cultures to use their imagination and thoroughly understand the moral lessons presented in the tales, and therefore may help with one’s

One must always be weary of the truth because it is quite often manipulated to serve the needs of any person who requires that the truth be on their side. Quite often, the only way to discern the truth from the fiction is by way of a deceptive act, because an act of deception always exposes both its self and the truth to be two quite different things. Nowhere is this more true than in William Shakespeare's, Hamlet. One of the major themes in the play is in fact, deception. This central theme is expressed throughout the play in three major forms: the fear of being deceived, the act of deception, and the ultimate result of the deceptive act. The first facet of the deceptive

Deception is defined as “the act of tricking someone by telling them something that is not true”. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, deception is always present and things are not always what they appear to be. In this great work of literature, the three witches; the Thane of Cawdor; and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the very embodiments of trickery and show us the true effects deception can have on man.

This is why most of the time, tricksters are the antagonist in children’s stories. Some common examples are Scar from “The Lion King”, Yzma from “The Emperor’s New Groove”,

Hamlet was also one of the few people to utilize deception in order to seek personal gain, as he was unable to figure out an alternate way to bring Claudius down. Society must always consider the use of deception as a force to bring the oppressors down who terrorize society. Hamlet sheds light on the topic of corruption and deception and relates the two as being counter-deterrents of each other. It highlights the fact that deception is sometimes the only way to figure out the

The Native American Trickster is usually described as a character that “is a wandering, bawdy, gluttonous, and obscene” (72). The Trickster is “usually male but able to alter his sex at will,” he “may copulate with his daughter or daughter–in-law or send his penis swimming across rivers in search of sexual adventure” (72). He is often characterized as being “selfish, amoral, foolish, destructive, and as his name indicates, given to duping others in his own interest” (72). However, the trickster “is also a culture hero, someone often with godlike power who long, long ago helped to establish the order of the world that we know today” (72). Though, his folly caused him to forget his purpose of ridding the earth of evil entities, he is still a staple in Native American tales. Every tribe has their own version of the trickster!

When people think of the word trickster, they think of a mischievous child who plays pranks on the elderly from stories like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Although this fits some aspects of a trickster, there are many other tricksters in literature. A trickster in a story can be many different things and have many different characteristics as there are no true trickster architypes. A trickster does not have any moral standing, as a trickster is neither good nor bad, and doesn’t use them to justify their actions. A trickster is someone that messes the line between play and order in a clever way in order to achieve their own personal goals.

Macbeth has tricked by the appearances of other people. First Macbeth tricks by the appearance of the three witches. On their way back from the war against Macdonwald, they meet the three witches. The three witches greet Macbeth Thane of Glimis,