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Have any of your ever read this book? Heard of this legend?
If so, you probably think it’s an authentic ‘Native American’ tale, retold by a non-native artist, right?
Reading Rainbow even repp’d it at one point! So it must be authentic, right...? -THREAD
If so, you probably think it’s an authentic ‘Native American’ tale, retold by a non-native artist, right?
Reading Rainbow even repp’d it at one point! So it must be authentic, right...? -THREAD
The author claim it’s a Lenape story, even proudly thanks the Lenape people for teaching her about the wonders of the world in her dedication. Seems pretty sweet and nice and all. So what is this tale even about?
Supposedly, it’s about a firebringer, a figure that appears in a lot of world mythology. This time, it’s about a pretty rainbow bird who has a beautiful voice, but a deep snow begins to threaten the world so it’s only him who stands up to do something about it
The story goes that he flew up to ‘Great Sky Spirit’ (their words, not mine) and grabs fire, brings it down to earth, but scorches his feathers and ruins his beautiful singing voice.
His sacrifice brings warmth back to the world, but don’t worry, you can still see the-
His sacrifice brings warmth back to the world, but don’t worry, you can still see the-
Rainbow in crows feathers if you look close!
Sounds like a nice story, right? Good story about sarcificing for the greater good, but there’s a few problems when you try to source it...
Sounds like a nice story, right? Good story about sarcificing for the greater good, but there’s a few problems when you try to source it...
It appears in ‘The Grandfather Speaks’ by Hitakonanu’laxk (Tree Beard), a published work, which certainly makes it sound legit, esp if written down from someone from the ‘Eastern Lenape Nations’.
Problem is....
Problem is....
His use of the Lenape language is all over the board. Here’s a good break down
https://lists.h-net.org/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-new-jersey&month=0411&week=a&msg=7cEdoG3ivl5r8F7ClDWmsg&user=&pw=
https://lists.h-net.org/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-new-jersey&month=0411&week=a&msg=7cEdoG3ivl5r8F7ClDWmsg&user=&pw=
The other problem is....The Eastern Lenape Nations are complete frauds
http://ashtabulacurrent.com/the-ueln-wears-no-clothes/
http://ashtabulacurrent.com/the-ueln-wears-no-clothes/
The other problem is...birds don’t feature very prominently in Lenape mythology.
Dogs do, even squirrels, but not birds, not in such a signifigant capacity.
This is an except from the Naticoke and Lenape Confederation Museum website.
Dogs do, even squirrels, but not birds, not in such a signifigant capacity.
This is an except from the Naticoke and Lenape Confederation Museum website.
So WHERE did this story come from? You might have noticed that it’s sometimes said to be “based off a Cherokee story” as a throwaway line, but....I’venever been able to find the story in any Cherokee myth collection,nor from talking to knowlegable Cherokee ppl like @Sahoni_Stuff
It’s a question I’ve been digging at for years. Any time I see it come up, I dig again
Not too long ago, it was the basis for a supposedly authentic native film by Baobab Studios.I was excited! I contacted them as they were working with actual native filmmakers and writers and...
Not too long ago, it was the basis for a supposedly authentic native film by Baobab Studios.I was excited! I contacted them as they were working with actual native filmmakers and writers and...
They didn’t have an answer for me. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. They had no real source for this supposed story, not even a partcular native story teller. I pressed the issue and then they just ghosted me.
Then, out of the clear blue sky, on this hot humid New Jersey day, I was scrolling the ol TL as you do and came across this thread;
https://twitter.com/waub/status/1288860335299080193?s=21 https://twitter.com/waub/status/1288860335299080193
https://twitter.com/waub/status/1288860335299080193?s=21 https://twitter.com/waub/status/1288860335299080193
To back up, Algonquian people are a widespread language family, that share a lot of linguistic similarities with one another as well as some cultural similarities, despite being so far flung and with so many diverse people within these regions.
Nanabush is the trickster and cultural hero for the Anishinaabe. He is known by a lot of names and appears in different forms amongst a number of Eastern Algonquian, and he’s often depicted with big ears and you know who else is...?
