Folklore In Native American Culture Analysis

Folklore is a body of expressive culture shared by a group of people and therefore encompasses the morals and ideals of that group. The main objective in folklore is not to express the narrow interests of any one person, but to aid in the understanding of an entity of life all the while entertaining the masses. Since these stories are often impossible to attribute to a sole individual, the tales told tend to deviate on a regional basis in terms of the characters and, to some extent, the plot. However, despite generations of interpretations and alterations, the message often remains the same. Separating and analyzing the components of the word folklore help better understand its meaning. The term, folk, was coined by Englishman William Thomas,

Native American tales are rich in music, spiritual ideals, emotional legends, and memorable characters, attributes that allow them to persist during times when transcription was not a viable option. Song and dance was a major staple in Native American civilization as the speaker would often have patrons in the background providing either visual interpretation or acapella accompaniment during oration. These folktales would provide stories of origin, explain certain beliefs or ways to life, give warnings, provide a moral compass or guidance, or a combination of the three. An example would be The Coyote and the Columbia. This tale sees the notorious coyote lament at the brutal heat of the sun and beseeches for a cloud to provide shade, which is instantly conjured. The coyote quickly over indulges, asking for more clouds, rain, and a creek to dip his feet in. As the coyote incessantly demands for more, the creek turns into the present day Columbia river and nearly drowns the intemperate beast, who learns the danger of literally being inundated in one’s greed. Performers would pantomime the waves of the aforementioned river to further express the coyotes’s folly. Alterations could be expected. For example, Cherokee Indians may tell the same story but have a raccoon instead of a coyote, and in lieu of the Columbia, the Mississippi could have been

Literature typically has two forms, poetry and prose. Poetry places more emphasis on the expression of emotions and ideas (of the author) by strategic use of rhythm and style. Prose is written in ordinary form, without metrical structure. Literature has three main purposes, and this is where it differs from folklore. Although literature may also aim to entertain and captivate such as folklores, the primary goals are to persuade and inform. Literature often attempts to push a certain opinion or ask for a call to action, while informs, or enlightening, the reader. The main difference between folklore and literature is that literature pushes the ideas of the singular author where folklore looks to encapsulate an entire group or culture. Literature is not as inclusive as folklore. Even if literature and folklore share the same entertainment aspect, literature seeks to do this by implementing the spirit of the scribe, the latter operates on the essence of the folk or nation. Among the first appearance of literature was as hieroglyphics, a formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt. These hieroglyphics were initially used to record and communicate information. For example, literature transcribed in temples were done with the purpose of instructing priests on how to perform sacred rituals in order to properly appease gods and goddesses. Another cause of hieroglyphics was to communicate the battles of Egyptian armies against