 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 Great Legend of Shawn
Johnson
A long time ago there was a boy named Shawn Johnson. He was a nice
boy with a good personality. But when Shawn was young his dad died of
a Brown bear attack. His dad had owned a gold mine in Alaska. Before
he died he had never told anyone where the mine was located.
One year when he was almost out of school Shawn planned to go to
Alaska to search for his dad's old gold mine. He had lived in
California all his life since his mother was a lawyer there. Shawn
didn't know anything about Alaska so he went to the school library
and looked it up.
He got so interested in it he forgot about his homework, As he was
reading he started up a list of things to bring to Alaska. He decided
all he needed was camping gear and extra clothes.
He was reading so much he also forgot the time. His mother was so
worried she started to call Shawn's friends. It was getting so late
Shawn had to check out the book.
After Shawn went home his mother was so angry at him she hit him
on his back, but Shawn told his mother to calm down and not to worry
about him because he wasn't a kid anymore.
Time passed while Shawn was getting ready for his big adventure to
Alaska. All summer he saved up money for the trip. His mother also
helped him with her savings.
When Shawn had enough money for a one way ticket to Alaska. He
started his great adventure. From California he went to Anchorage,
and then from Anchorage he went to search for his dad's lost gold
mine.
He first went to a small village called Gold Village, located
at
the mouth of the Koyukuk River. It was called Gold Village because
the village had been full of gold a long time ago. The boy went into
the bars there and asked people if they had known his dad. Finally, a
strange looking man noticed Shawn, and he came up to him and asked
him his name. " Shawn Johnson, sir" he said and asked him if he heard
of his father Alan Johnson? The man thought for a moment and said,
"He used to be a gold miner, right?" Shawn said yes. The man who had
introduced himself as David Walker, told Shawn more about his
father.
Shawn was getting hungry so they decided to go to a place called
the Klondike. It was a bar full of people drinking and eating.
David's wife was there and he told her the boy was the son of Alan
Johnson. She was so surprised she had to go over and say hello. Her
name was Katherine, and she brought Shawn over to the table where
they were sitting at.
After David had a couple of drinks he started talking about
Shawn's father. He mentioned the times they had had fun together
getting drunk. He also mentioned the times when they gold mined
together. Right then Shawn asked him where his gold mine was. David
said, "Why does that concern you so much?" Shawn replied, "I want to
see what my father used to do back when he was alive." Then David
told him things about his father that started making Shawn cry.
Finally, it was getting late and Shawn was getting tired
and he
needed a place to stay. Katherine asked him if he had a place to
stay? Shawn said he needed a place for the night, and first thing in
the morning he would get ready for his long journey. Before Shawn
went to bed though he asked David if he could show him where the gold
mine was. David said; "I already gave you instructions. Now you can
follow them. I don't have to help you. You could make it on your
own.
The next day Shawn got up very early and got ready for
his
adventure. Katherine made a big breakfast for him. But Shawn got
concerned when he noticed that David was gone. He was just about to
ask Katherine where he was when, all of a sudden he appeared at the
front door. He said; "Well, kid, are you ready for your adventure?
Since you are so young I decided to show you the way." Shawn couldn't
believe his eyes. So After Shawn and David ate their breakfast, they
both got ready together. They both brought their stuff dawn to the
river and put their stuff in the boat. Then they took off up river
towards the mountains. They traveled on the long river for about four
hours when they decided to set up camp.
It was fall time and the days were getting shorter and shorter.
They didn't have time to do anything fun because the daylight was too
short. They walked and walked for days up through the mountains and
through the woods. Finally they came to a little town full of joyful
people. They decided to camp there one night.
The next day David told Shawn he could find the camp on his own
now. But Shawn didn't want him to go, after what David had done for
him. He begged David to continue walking to his dad's mine with him.
So David agreed to continue the search for the mine. While they were
walking David told the story about the bear that killed his father.
His story sounded very scary. David warned Shawn to watch out or the
bear that had killed his father.
Finally they reached Shawn's father's mine. Shawn was really
interested in the mine operation. Near the mine was his dad's old
cabin. A small stream was close by too. So he took a bath in the
stream.
Days passed while they were both looking over the mine. Every
night they both talked about the bear that had killed his father.
Shawn heard about this bear so often he got tired of it. He felt so
bad that he even cried a couple of times. He was also starting to get
mad. One day he hollered so loud that it echoed all through the
country. He swore he was going to kill the bear with his own
hands.
Meanwhile they both had fun together exploring the camp. Shawn
said his dad had good taste in living here. He thought it would be
better than living in the city. It made him feel free, free of crime,
people and the city itself.
One day though when they were digging in his dad's gold mine,
Shawn thought he heard some noises outside of the mine. He quietly
grabbed his hunting knife from his belt sheath. He was ready for the
bear, but when he went out it was only David. Shawn didn't know that
David had gone out to get some fresh air.
One day David went back to town for more food and other supplies,
leaving Shawn at the mine to get things done. While Shawn was busy he
heard noises, odd noises he had never heard before in his life. He
was scared but he was ready for anything that might come out from the
river or the trees.
All of a sudden the same bear that killed his father emerged from
the trees near the mine, but Shawn was not scared of the bear. He
hollered at the bear, saying he was not scared of the bear, and as
the huge bear came closer and closer, so did Shawn. When the bear
started to roar Shawn began to holler louder too.
Right there and then Shawn charged at the bear with his knife. He
had hate in his eyes. Then they were fighting each other. The bear
grabbed Shawn and threw him on his back. But Shawn jumped up,
hollered very loud and went straight at the bear. The bear then
struck Shawn in the stomach with his giant paw. He got Shawn in the
right spot, raking a large hole in his abdomen. But while he charged;
Shawn stuck his knife deep in the bear's throat. Blood was pouring
from both of their wounds.
Less than half an hour later David came back and hollered
for
Shawn. There was no answer. He got really scared and started
searching back and forth. He hollered again. While he was running
around he found both Shawn and the bear behind the house. They were
both lieing there suffering, bleeding to death. David went straight
to Shawn. He was still alive but not for long. David began crying,
saying, "Shawn you did what you wanted. The bear that killed your
father is dead and you don't have to worry anymore." But less than
five minutes later Shawn was dead too.
From that time on the Legend about Shawn and the bear was told all
over the territory. Shawn was the most renowned boy of the day. He
even had a plaque on his grave which described how brave he was. He
will never be forgotten.
By Tina Papp
|
Creative Stories
from the
Imagination
|
Bear Fire
Stories and Poems
about Bears
|
by Marshall High School
Language Arts Classes
Spring, 1992
Produced
by
Information
about Bears
Creative
Stories from the Imagination
True
Stories from Experience
Poems
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 |
|
