Spread the Word

Shared beliefs, religious or folkloric, are important to every culture. Myths and legends form the base for many beliefs. Just as the message of the Ghost Dance spread across distances to various tribes, tribal histories and stories have passed through generations of native people. This lesson uses a well-known Nez Perce myth to illustrate this process.

Objective:

Students will demonstrate how beliefs spread through stories.

IY Article Summary:

Fort Hall and the Ghost Dance Movements

Gregory E. Smoak

By the end of the 1860s, tribal people in the Great Basin practiced ceremonial traditions they believed would bring back the old way of life which existed before white expansion. White observers called these beliefs and practices the Ghost Dance, which described the ceremonial movements of the participants. Two decades later, a Northern Paiute prophet spread a similar message to his people. The Shoshone- and Bannock-speaking people of the Fort Hall Reservation had long held similar beliefs and practiced a form of the Ghost Dance. Gregory Smoak traces the history of this spiritual tradition and examines its meaning to the tribes who practiced it and the white missionaries who questioned it.

Opening:

Ask students to give examples of stories they know which have been passed down through their families or groups of friends. Spend a few minutes listening or giving some examples from your own experience.

Materials:

Heart of the Monster story (below)

Activity:

Explain that the Heart of the Monster is a well-known Nez Perce story. It tells how some animals and all of the different tribes began. The main character is Coyote, a popular figure in many Idaho tribal stories.
Divide the class into two groups. Read (or retell in your own words) the following story to one group:

          “Once upon a time, Meadowlark told Coyote that a great monster swallowed all of the animals. Coyote was upset to hear this news, but he was also clever. He made a plan. He would find the monster and allow it to swallow him, too. Then he would cut open the monster’s stomach and set all of the animals free.
           First, for safety, Coyote tied himself to three mountains, Cottonwood Butte, one of the Seven Devils, and Pilot Knob. He took five knives with him, and went out to find the monster. When the monster saw Coyote, of course he swallowed him.
           On the way down to the monster’s stomach, Coyote saw Brown Bear. He told Brown Bear that the monster would not have swallowed him if he had been scarier. He kicked Brown Bear in the nose, making it flat and turning him into Grizzly Bear. Then he saw Snake. He told Snake if he had been fiercer he would not have been swallowed. He stomped on Snake’s head, making it flat. Then Snake became Rattlesnake.
           Coyote landed in the monster’s stomach and quickly built a fire. Then he looked for the heart. When he found the heart, he began cutting it out with his knives. One by one, each knife broke, but with the fifth one, he was able to almost cut the heart free. He finally used his hands to tear it away.
           Then he told all of the animals to hurry up and escape through the monster’s body openings. They all hurried out, except for Muskrat, whose tail got stuck as the monster died. All of the animals pulled and saved poor, little Muskrat.
           Coyote cut up the dead monster and scattered the pieces in different directions. Wherever a piece landed, a tribe grew.
          When he was finished, Fox asked Coyote why he didn’t save any pieces for the area where they stood. Coyote washed his bloody hands in some water, and scattered the red droplets all around him. Here, the Nee Mee Poo (Nez Perce), real people, grew.”

1. Tell the story more than once, until the students feel they know it well enough to retell.
2. Have the group who heard the story retell it to the group that did not. Emphasize that merely memorizing the story is not the point. The point is understanding the story well enough to retell it. Certain details may be left out, while others can be added. Have students sit in a circle and take turns telling parts of the story. Some may want to act out certain scenes. Careful listeners can point out any details that changed in the retelling.

Extensions:

Read a selection of Idaho Indian stories. There are some very good resources for these, including Deward Edgar Walker’s Myths of Idaho Indians. Moscow, Idaho: University of Idaho Press, 1980.

1. Invite a storyteller to visit your classroom.
2. Students may write their own story to explain a belief.