 Marshall
Cultural Atlas
This collection of student work is from
Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others
to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These
documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available
for educational use only.
The
Creation
It was in the time when there were no
people on the earth. For four days the first man lay coiled up in a
pea pod. On the fifth day he stretched out his feet and burst the
pod, falling to the ground, where he stood up, a full-grown man. He
looked about him, and then moved his hands and arms, his neck and
legs, and examined himself curiously.
After a while he had an unpleasant
feeling in his stomach, and he stooped down to take some water into
his mouth from a small pool. The water ran down into his stomach and
he felt better. When he looked up again he saw approaching, with a
waving motion, a dark object which came on until Just in front of
him, when it stopped, and, standing on the ground, looked at him.
This was a raven, and, as soon as it stopped, it raised one of its
wings, pushed up its beak, like a mask, to the top of its head, and
stared at the man, and after it was raised he stared more than ever,
moving about from side to side to obtain a better view. At last he
said: "What are you? From where did you come? I have never seen
anything like you." Then Raven looked at Man, and was still more
surprised to find this strange new being was so much like himself in
shape.
Then Raven told Man to walk away a
few steps, and in astonishment exclaimed again: "From where did you
come? I have never seen anything like you before." To this Man
replied: "I came from the peapod." And he pointed to the plant from
which he came. "Ah!" exclaimed Raven, "I made that vine, but did not
know that anything like you would ever come from it. Now wait for me
here." Then he drew down the mask over his face, changing again into
a bird, and flew far up into the sky where he disappeared.
Man waited where he had been left
until the fourth day, when Raven returned, bringing four berries in
his claws. Pushing up his mask, Raven became man again and held out
two salmonberries and two heathberries, saying, "Here is what I have
made for you to eat. I also wish them to be plentiful over the earth.
Now eat them." Man took the berries and placed them in his mouth one
after the other and they satisfied his hunger, which had made him
feel uncomfortable.
Raven then led Man to a small creek
nearby and left him while he went to the water's edge and molded a
couple of pieces of clay into the form of a pair of mountain sheep,
which he held in his hand, and when they became dry he called Man to
show him what he had done. Man thought they were very pretty, and
Raven told him to close his eyes. As soon as Man's eyes were closed
Raven drew down his mask and waved his wings four times over the
images, when they became endowed with life and bounded away as
full-grown mountain sheep.
Then Raven made two animals of clay
which he endowed with life as before, but as they were dry only in
spots when they were given life, they remained brown and white, and
so originated the tame reindeer with mottled coat. In the same way a
pair of caribou were made and permitted to get dry and white only on
their bellies, then they were given life; in consequence, to this day
the belly of the caribou is the only white part about it. Raven told
Man that these animals would be very common, and people would kill
many of them.
"You will be very lonely by
yourself," said Raven. "I will make you a companion." He then went to
a spot some distance from where he had made the animals, and looking
now and then at Man, made an image very much like him. Then he
fastened a lot of fine water grass on the back of the head for hair,
and after the image had dried in his hands, he waved his wings over
it as before and a beautiful young woman arose and stood beside Man.
"There," cried Raven, "is a companion for you." and he led them back
to a small hill nearby.
In those days there were no mountains
far or near, and the sun never ceased shining brightly; no rain ever
fell and no winds blew. When they came to the hill Raven showed the
pair how to make a bed in the dry moss, and they slept there very
warmly; Raven drew down his mask and slept nearby in the form of a
bird. Waking before the others, Raven went back to the creek and made
a pair each of stickle-backs, graylings, and blackfish. When these
were swimming about in the water, he called Man to see them. When the
latter looked at them and saw the sticklebacks swim up the stream
with a wriggling motion he was so surprised that he raised his hand
suddenly and the fish darted away. Raven then showed him the
graylings and told him that they would be found in clear mountain
streams, while the sticklebacks would live along the seacoast and
that both would be good for food.
In this way Raven continued for
several days making birds, fishes, and animals, showing them to Man,
and explaining their uses. After this he flew away to the sky and was
gone four days, after which he returned, bringing back a salmon for
the use of Man.
Looking about Raven saw that the ponds and lakes
were silent and lonely, so he created many water insects upon their surfaces,
and from the same clay he made the beavers and the muskrats to frequent their
borders. Man was shown the muskrat and told to take its skin for clothing.
He
was also told that the beavers would live along the streams and build houses
and that he must follow their example, and likewise that the beavers
would be very cunning and only good hunters would be able to take them. At
this time the woman gave birth to a child, and Raven directed Man how to
feed and
care for it, telling him that it would grow into a man like himself. As soon
as the child was born, Raven and Man took it to a creek, rubbed it over with
clay, and then returned with it to his stopping place on the small hill.
The
next morning the child was running about pulling up grass and other plants
which Raven had caused to grow nearby; on the
third day the child became a full-grown man.
After this Raven thought that if he
did not create something to make men afraid they would destroy
everything he had made to inhabit the earth. Then he went to a creek
nearby, where he formed a bear and gave it life, jumping to one side
quickly as the bear stood up and looked fiercely about. Man was then
called and told that the bear would be very fierce and would tear him
to pieces if he disturbed it.
Then he made different kinds of
seals, and their names and habits were explained to Man. Raven also
taught Man to make rawhide lines from sealskin, and snares for deer,
but cautioned him to wait until the deer were abundant before he
snared any of them.
Then Raven found that three other men
had fallen from the peapod that gave the first one. These men, like
the first, were looking about them in wonder, and Raven
led
them away in an opposite
direction from that in which he had taken the first man, afterward
bringing them to firm land close to the sea. Here they stopped, and
Raven remained with them a long time, teaching them how to live. He
taught them how to make a fire-making device (a bow drill) from a
piece of dry wood and a cord, taking the wood from the bushes and
small trees he had caused to grow in hollows and sheltered places on
the hillside. He made for each of the men a wife, and also made many
plants and birds such as frequent the seacoast, but fewer kinds than
he had made in the land where the first man lived. He taught the men
to make bows and arrows, spears, nets, and all the implements of the
chase and how to use them; also how
to capture the seals which had now become plentiful in the
sea.
After Raven had taught the men how to
make kayaks, he showed them how to build houses of drift logs and
bushes covered with earth.
Looking about Raven thought the earth
seemed bare; so, while the others slept, he caused birch, spruce, and
cottonwood trees to spring up in low places, and then awoke the
people, who were much pleased at seeing the trees. After this they
were taught how to make fire with the bow drill and to place the
spark of tinder in a bunch of dry grass and wave it about until it
blazed, then to place dry wood upon it. They were shown how to roast
fish on a stick, to make fish traps of splints and willow bark, to
dry salmon for winter use, and to make houses.
One day Man went out seal hunting
along the seashore. He saw many seals, but in each case after he had
crept carefully up they would tumble into the water before he could
get to them, until only one was left on the rocks; Man crept up to it
more carefully than before, but it also escaped. Then he stood up and
he seemed full of strange feeling, and the water began to run in
drops from his eyes and down his face. He put up his hand and caught
some of the drops to look at them and found that they were really
water; then, without any wish on his part, loud cries began to break
from him and the tears ran down his face as he went home. When his
son saw him coming, he called to his wife and mother to see Man
coming along making such a strange noise; when he reached them they
were still more surprised to see water running down his face. After
he told them the story of his disappointment they were all stricken
with the same strange ailment and began to wail with him, and in this
way people first learned how to cry.
Where the first man lived there had
now grown a large village for the people did everything as Raven
directed them.
Christmastime Tales
Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1996 |
Christmastime Tales II
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1998 |
Christmastime Tales III
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 2000 |
| Summer Time Tails 1992 |
Summertime Tails II 1993 |
Summertime Tails III |
| Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995 |
Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996 |
Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997 |
| Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999 |
Signs of the Times November 1996 |
Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations |
| Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out,
the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993 |
Yupik Gourmet - A Book of
Recipes |
|
| M&M Monthly |
|
|
| Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997 |
Happy Easter! March/April 1998 |
Merry Christmas December Edition 1997 |
| Happy Valentine’s
Day! February Edition
1998 |
Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000 |
Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997 |
| Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition |
Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon
Bay |
Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981 |
| The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska |
Poems of Hooper Bay |
Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students) |
| Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord |
It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997 |
People in Our Community |
| Buildings and Personalities of
Marshall |
Marshall Village PROFILE |
Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A
Glimpse of the Past’ |
| Raven’s
Stories Spring 1995 |
Bird Stories from Scammon Bay |
The Sea Around Us |
| Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the
Weather Spring 1996 |
Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November,
1998 |
Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993 |
| Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming
and the future November, 1997 |
Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves |
Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring,
1992 |
|
