For this week, I chose to do some further research on the Native American story about The Dog-Husband. This story got my attention from the start because I thought it was so different and unique; I have never heard of any story like this. All of the Native American stories I have read have been so entertaining and unique, so I have really developed a fascination with the different themes of the story.
To do my research, I started by simply googling "The Dog-Husband" to see what would pop up. One of the first things that caught my attention was an article titled "Native American Indian Legends." The home page had the full story of The Dog-Husband. Although the story had the same idea and theme, some of the details were a little different from the story that I read. From there, I went down and clicked on some of the other Native American Legends that were listed. There were over 1500 legends on this page alone. I spent about 15 minutes scrolling through the different Native American legends only to come to the conclusion that the Native Americans are an incredibly unique and artistic group of people.
Next I came across a book called "Native American Mythology A to Z." This book spoke directly about the role of the dog in the Native American community. First, Native Americans actually domesticated dogs thousands of years ago. They were known to use dogs as pack animals before they were able to rely on horses or mules. Dogs play a large role in Native American literature. The idea of a marriage between a dog and human is incredibly popular. This idea illustrates the desire for the human and animal realm to merge. Although I did not know about the dog specifically, I was always taught that Native Americans value nature so much. According to the book, the outcome of the marriage between human and animal can vary significantly from story to story. I really appreciate all of the ideas and legends that have developed over time. After doing this research, I am now much more aware of the diversity and background of the stories they tell.
Bibliography:
The Dog-Husband in Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
To do my research, I started by simply googling "The Dog-Husband" to see what would pop up. One of the first things that caught my attention was an article titled "Native American Indian Legends." The home page had the full story of The Dog-Husband. Although the story had the same idea and theme, some of the details were a little different from the story that I read. From there, I went down and clicked on some of the other Native American Legends that were listed. There were over 1500 legends on this page alone. I spent about 15 minutes scrolling through the different Native American legends only to come to the conclusion that the Native Americans are an incredibly unique and artistic group of people.
Next I came across a book called "Native American Mythology A to Z." This book spoke directly about the role of the dog in the Native American community. First, Native Americans actually domesticated dogs thousands of years ago. They were known to use dogs as pack animals before they were able to rely on horses or mules. Dogs play a large role in Native American literature. The idea of a marriage between a dog and human is incredibly popular. This idea illustrates the desire for the human and animal realm to merge. Although I did not know about the dog specifically, I was always taught that Native Americans value nature so much. According to the book, the outcome of the marriage between human and animal can vary significantly from story to story. I really appreciate all of the ideas and legends that have developed over time. After doing this research, I am now much more aware of the diversity and background of the stories they tell.
Bibliography:
The Dog-Husband in Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
ReplyDeleteHi Arianna! I was so glad I clicked on your Story Planning post about the Dog-Husband. I did not know such things existed and it has shown me how diverse and unique Native American culture really is. You are right in that if you Google Dog-Husband there are a lot of articles to read through. The idea of the animal and human worlds merging is something that I might explore in later stories.