NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY
STORIES BEHIND THE CONSTELLATIONS

Presented By:  Patty Johnson

 

 

OBJECTIVES:

 

Discuss myths and stories and their relationships to the constellations in different cultures.  Locate and identify “The Bear” constellation in our latitude.  Express verbal and written opinions, descriptions, and ideas about this constellation.

 

RELATION TO MISSOURI FRAMEWORKS:

 

5-8              VA1 Celestial objects possess both similarities and differences.

5-8       VA5 Planets, moons, comets, asteroids, meteorites, and constellations orbit the sun.

5-8              VC1 Technological tools provide information concerning the physical properties and conditions of the solar system.

5-8              CA1 Acquire the knowledge and skills to gather, analyze, and apply information and ideas

5-8              CA2   Communicate effectively within and beyond the classroom.     

5-8              CA6   Informal presentations of myth/story.

5-8              CA7   Identify and evaluate relationships between language cultures.

 

 

CONTEXT:

 

            Grade Level:  7-8

            Groups of 15-25 for StarLab presentation

 

PREREQUISITE:

 

Students should have prior knowledge of constellations and how to identify them.  They should also have previous knowledge of myths and stories studied in English classes.

 

MATERIALS:

 

            StarLab Portable Planetarium

            Native American Mythology Cylinder

            Celestial Coordinates Cylinder

            Arrow Pointers

            Activity Sheet with Scoring Guide

            Myths and Stories about Native American Constellations

 

 

PROCEDURE:

 

1.                  Remind the students of ALL the rules concerning entering and exiting the StarLab Planetarium.

2.                  Allow the students 4-5 minutes for their eyes to adjust to night vision.

3.                  Turn on the Celestial Coordinates cylinder after all students are seated and ready.

4.                  Introduce the activity with this information:  The Celestial Coordinates cylinder represents the full view of the sky; shows constellations; and projects latitude and longitude. When you look toward the night sky, how many constellations can you immediately pick out?  How many do you think Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn or Running Bear or Geronimo could identify?  Our ancestors studied the night sky and saw shapes and patterns among the stars.  They often made up stories or myths to explain what THEY saw.  As in every day life, no two people see the exact same thing; neither did our ancestors.

5.                  (CHANGE CYLINDERS (NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY CYLINDER) 

6.                  **Do not turn on the cylinder until you have read the entire story) READ______FULL DARK STORY: (Zuni) First there was only darkness over everything.  It filled all space.  It covered the whole earth.  The ancient Sun Father, dwelling in the Great Outer Spaces, gazed around with his all-seeing eyes and saw that all was covered with water.  So he rubbed his hands together and from the skin that flaked off, he formed two great balls.     Raising one arm high, he flung one of the balls into the water.  It melted slowly and spread far and wide and grew bigger and bigger.  As it grew, part of it sank into the water and it became Mother Earth.  Then he threw the second ball into the water.  That, too, spread all over-growing even larger than the first.  It drew up all the water that was left by the first ball and became Father Sky.

7.                       So there is water on Mother Earth and water in Father Sky---and that is why the sky is blue.  Time went on and Mother Earth gave birth to man and creatures.  One day Mother Earth and Father Sky held a great council.  “How will our children live?” said Mother Earth.  “We must have food for our children.  How, after they are born, shall they live and be guided?”  Father Sky answered, “They will be guided by my hands when I am not near.  Behold!”  He spread out his great hands, palms downward.  There were golden yellow corn kernels in every line and wrinkle of his palms and fingers.  “The shining kernels will tell them what to do and how to live.  They will be their guiding stars!”  That, say the Zuni, was in the beginning.  (NOW turn the cylinder on to rotate and allow students time to view all the constellations).

8.                  Compare/contrast the reality of this story with out culture.

9.                  Stop the rotator and explain that it takes approximately 4 minutes for the cylinder to simulate the 365-day rotation of the earth and that not all constellations are located EXACTLY in the same place as time passes.

10.              Explain that one aspect of myths is their variability.  They are passed down from person to person, and many versions of the same myths exist.

11.              Discuss the differences between cultures and how it affects the names and myths behind the different constellations.

12.              Talk about several of the constellations and how they relate to Native American culture.

a.      CAMPFIRE OF THE NORTH (North Star) is the NORTH STAR or home star.  It never moves and acts as the traveler’s guide or lodestar.  Look for it if you are lost; it will help you find your way.  All the other stars will revolve around it.

b.      REVOLVING MALE (THE BIG DIPPER) AND REVOLVING WOMAN (CASSIOPEIA) also referred to as First Man and First Woman, these two constellations are located on either side of the North Star or home fire.  They are the official leaders of all other constellations.  They never leave this area of the sky and no other constellations interfere with their routine.  This arrangement of constellations established a law that has persisted to this day.  This law stipulates that only one couple may live by one home fire.

c.       BLACK GOD is the Creator of Fire and Light.  When Black God entered the Hogan of creation, Pleiades was lodged by his ankle.  In the Hogan, Black God stamped his foot vigorously causing the Pleiades to jump to his knee.  Stamping his foot again caused the Pleiades to jump to his hip.  The third time brought the Pleiades to his right shoulder, and on the fourth to his left temple where the Black God declared it would stay.  His feat of locating the Pleiades where he wanted it, confirmed to the creator group that the Black God alone had the power to produce constellations for beautifying the dark upper or sky.

13.              Stop the rotator and use the red pointer to go from the top of the dome to “THE BEAR” constellation.   Tell them several of the stories and myths behind the constellation, (see Appendix I).

14.              Allow time for discussion or comments before exiting the planetarium.

15.              Explain the activity (writing assignment) to students and a handout awaits them in the classroom with instructions and scoring guide (see Appendix II).

16.              Have students carefully exit the planetarium.

17.              Distribute and discuss the activity sheet and scoring guide and allow the students to complete the assignment before the next class period.

REFERENCE:

 

Cohlene, T. 1991.  Quillworker:  a Cheyenne legend.  Mahwah, N.J.; Watermill Press.

 

Science Explorer; Teaching Resources.  Prentice Hall-ISBN 0-13-436629-8.

 

Show-Me Standards, Missouri Curriculum Frameworks.

 

 

EXTENSIONS AND/OR ADAPTATIONS:

 

            After exiting the dome, have the students tell some of the myths they are familiar with.  These stories and legend set the state for the activity sheet when students will write their own stories to explain a star pattern. 

 

 

CONTENT BACKGROUND:

 

            The universe contains billions of galaxies, each of which contains billions of stars of various types.  Since the night sky is considerably different when viewed at different latitudes, not every individual sees the same constellations at the same time.  Cultural differences also relate to what we see in a constellation and what it means.  For example, the Greek Mythology sees the “Bear” constellation as we do, but they have an entirely different story or myth behind the constellation.

 

APPENDIX:

 

            I           Activity Sheet and Scoring Guide.

II         Stories or myths related to “The Bear” constellation.

            III        Diagram of the Constellations

 

 

WEB SITES:

 

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products/ - EW

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod

http://currentsky.com

 

APPENDIX I

 

MYTHS AND STORIES ABOUT “THE BEAR” CONSTELLATION

 

IROQUOIS LEGEND OF “GREAT BEAR” (SHOSHONI)

 

                Located on the Milky Way path, one Iroquois legend tells us that the Great Bear was pursued by three Indian braves.  The chase began at the beginning of time when the first Indian shot and struck the Bear in the side with his bow and arrow.  The wound wasn’t serious, however, and the bear kept on running.  He has been running across the sky ever since.  The Bear’s path changes from season to season.  In the autumn, it begins low in the northwest.  During this season, the arrow wound of the Bear opens slightly and a little blood trickles down upon the land.  It covers the leaves of the trees and dyes them red and that is why we have autumn.

 

NAVAJO LEGEND OF “BEAR”

 

                In Navajo myth, URSA MAJOR, The Great Bear, originated from the story of the Changing Bear Maiden.   In this story, a girl accepts a bear as her husband.  Her younger sister tells the father, who in turn kills the bear.  Furious, the elder sister uses flesh from the bear’s paw to transform into a bear.  She goes on a rampage, killing several people.  The younger sister and seven brothers attempted to flea their sister.  The bear turns back into a girl and chases after her siblings.  One by one, the oldest kill six of the brothers.  However, the youngest brother brought them back to life.  The seven brothers flew up into the sky and became Ursa Major. 

The Navajo constellation that is tangent to the Thunderbird is also tied into the legend of changing seasons.  When the Bear is bright in the sky and the feather of the Thunderbird is just touching the nose of the Bear, spring has arrived.  The Bear has essentially come out of winter hibernation.

 

NATIVE CANADIAN LEGEND OF “THE GREAT BEAR”

 

                Many years ago, people looked into the night sky and imagined wonderful stories in the stars.  One story takes place during the course of an entire year and tells about the adventures of the Great Bear and the Bird Hunters. 

                When the winter ended, the Great Bear left her cave.  After her long sleep, she was hungry and anxious to find food.  As she hunted for food, other hunters were following her.  Seven brave Bird Hunters followed the Great Bear across the sky.  Robin led the hunt, followed closely by Chickadee and his cooking pot and Moose-bird.  Farther behind were their friends: Saw-whet, Horned Owl, Blue Jay, and Pigeon.  The bear looked big and clumsy, but she moved across the sky rapidly.  The hunters followed her all summer, but as autumn approached they had still not caught up to “The Great Bear.”

                Some of the hunters became tired and discouraged. Saw-whet, the last hunter in line, left the hunt.  Soon Horned Owl also gave up and went in search of Saw-whet.  Blue Jay and Pigeon tried to keep up with the leaders, but soon they also left the hunt and flew home.

                Only Robin, Chickadee, and Moose-bird followed “The Great Bear” into autumn.  The bear grew angry and rose up on her hind legs.  She growled loudly and clawed the air to scare the hunters.  He shot an arrow and hit “The Great Bear.”  Drops of her blood fell on Robin’s feathers, turning his breast a bright red.  Other drops fell on the autumn leaves, coloring them bright red.

                When winter came, the dead bear lay on her back up on the sky.  But her spirit returned to the cave and entered another bear.  In the spring, the bear will leave the cave again to travel across the spring and summer sky, always pursued by the Bird Hunters.

APPENDIX II

 

ACTIVITY SHEET

 

1.                    You are to write a short story or myth expressing your own ideas about “The Bear” constellation to be read orally in class and handed in.

2.                    Use correct punctuation, grammar usage, spelling, and content guidelines.

3.                    The assignment may be typed or neatly hand-written in ink.  Do not use more than 2 pages for the assignment.

4.                    You will receive a grade on your oral presentation and the written document will be graded on content only, but I will also consider the mechanics before assigning a final grade.

 

 

SCORING GUIDE

 

ORAL PRESENTATION	3	2	1
	Emphasis on words, excellent content (Creativity), and story-telling techniques.  Must be read smoothly-not entirely from paper.	Good content, story-telling techniques used, and read smoothly with little reference to the paper.	Poor content, little emphasis on words, not read smoothly, or read from paper.
WRITTEN PRESENTATION	3	2	1
	Excellent content, 1-2 grammatical &/or mechanical errors.	Good content, fair amount of grammar and mechanical errors.	Poor content, numerous grammatical and mechanical errors.

 

APPENDIX III

 

DIAGRAM OF THE CONSTELLATIONS

 

The Bear Hunt story follows the yearly apparent motion of three circumpolar constellations:  Ursa Major (The Great Bear), Bootes (The Herdsman, Plowman, Ox Driver, or Bear Driver), and Corona Borealis (The Northern Crown) and surrounding stars.

                Most of Ursa Major represents the bear.  The seven brightest stars in Ursa Major form the asterism of the Big Dipper.  The three stars that are usually seen as the handle of the Big Dipper represent three of the hunters:  Moose-bird, Chickadee, and Robin.  Even the faint star Alcor, which appears near the middle star of the Big Dipper’s handle, plays a part in the story—Chickadee’s cooking pot!

                Four of the star in Bootes represent the remaining hunters:  Saw-whet, Horned Owl, Blue Jay, and Pigeon; Corona Borealis is the bear’s den.