Jerrie Oughton's How The Stars Fell Into The Sky

How the Stars Fell into the Sky is a Navajo legend penned by Jerrie Oughton and illustrated by Lisa Desimini for publication in 1992. The tale begins with a conversation between two characters-First Woman and First Man-about how to give the laws to the people in a way that they will always see and have them. First Man tells First Woman to set them in the sky for all to see and she begins to do so. A coyote comes along and offers his assistance with the long task, but he loses his patience and flings the stars into the sky. And so, the story tells us, the people lived on in confusion because of the coyote’s careless actions (Oughton). The story is rather vague, even by the standards of a children’s story. What the reader is presented with already

feels like the summary of a larger tale. The characters are incredibly generic. The setting is a non-descript desert. Review after review on the back cover lauds it for its simplicity and elemental nature, even calling this telling primitive.
The main characters have no real names. Looking at the illustration on the first page, it is apparent that they are pulled from the typical Native American mold: dark skin, high cheekbones, strong jaw and nose, with dark hair and eyes (Oughton 7). Their clothes are earthy shades. The man, of course, is wearing a skirt-like garment and a headband, the way little children often dress when depicting the typical Indian, but without the feathers. The woman stands in a shapeless, yellow frock with no shoes or other adornments. Because they are called First Man and First Woman, the reader is led to believe that these two are other worldly beings, possibly deities. As such, they should stand out from the people of the mortal realm. But when the mortals are shown in the very last illustration of the story, they appear to be carbon copies of First Man and First Woman. It is not just the clothing that is similar. Upon close inspection of the faces and build of First Man and First Woman, it is not their differences that stand out, but their similarities. First Woman lacks many feminine qualities. Her jaw and neck are no thinner than the man’s. Her hands and feet are nearly the same size. She does not even appear the have breasts. There is no great emphasis on her femininity. Conversely, there is no great emphasis placed on First Man’s masculinity. The biggest indicator that he is male is the change in attire from First Woman’s. With no names, distinct faces or clothing differences, the meaning is very clear. It is implied, quite overtly, that all of these people are the same, regardless of gender or rank. Even their gods are just more average, unexceptional “Indians”.
Even with this blatant attempt to morph all of the Native Americans in this story into nearly-genderless nobodies, gender still plays a very important role, albeit subtle.

In one scene, when First Man turns back and looks at First Woman kneeling next to the blanket of stars, their gender differences become strikingly clear, to the point that this one illustration seems almost out of place (Oughton 10-11). First Man seems so much stronger. His face is turned to her with his jaw jutting proudly into the distance. His rounded, boyish figure is replaced with sharper features. First Women, however, seems so much softer. Her soft lips are drawn into a thin smile. Her neck seems thinner. Her arms match the proportions of her body, giving her overall appearance more femininity. She is no longer as stocky and sharp. Her breasts are even very clearly defined. For this one scene, it is as if we are looking at two lovers, separated quite literally by the stars. But then, First Man leaves. First Woman changes after this moment. Her appearance, though not quite as dramatically, continues to be more feminine for the duration of the tale. When compared to the very first illustration of her, First Woman’s features subtly become softer and her body more defined. The implication here is that First Woman is more of a woman without First Man around. When First Man is there, she gives him her entire identity. Following the first one, it is safe to say that this book has less-than-credible-historical accuracy and while this may lead the reader to believe that the Navajo are a male dominated society, the reality of that should be determined through careful research beyond this

tale.
Finally, the illustration on page twenty deserves special attention. This illustration is shortly after the coyote is introduced to us. Until now, there has been no reason to think poorly of this creature. He appears on page fifteen as very soft and fluffy, though a little oversized when compared to the tree. Still, on page sixteen and seventeen, the coyote is set against the same background as First Woman, both giving the reader a very soft expression and leading the reader to believe that this is a character to be trusted. But at the turn of the story, on page twenty, a snake slithers across the page. Why? There is nothing threatening about this snake. It hardly has a face to frighten the reader with. The markings are quite simple. The coloring even allows it to blend into the desert sand beneath it, meaning it should barely even catch the reader’s eye. It does, however, because it fits with the nod already given to the Christian creation story. First Man and First Woman, for most readers, conjure thoughts of Adam and Eve. Even the idea of putting the laws out for all to see can be found in the Bible, when Moses writes the Ten Commandments.
This telling of the story is not bad. It cannot be wholly written off as too short or unimaginative. The reviewers on the back cover were right in their description of the story. This tale certainly has a poetic simplicity that is created by the smooth marriage of Oughton’s uncomplicated voice and Desimini’s warm paintings. However, the heavy Americanization of this tale is hard to overlook. These two women nearly stripped the identity of this particular tribe from the story. Further, they did not even give separate identities to each of the characters involved, only giving the reader the vaguest sense of separate lives and beings. Finally, the overlaying of the Christian creation story almost destroys what cultural value this story has for the Navajo. While this is still an excellent tale to read to children, it has about as much cultural sensitivity as the Disney movie Pocahontas and should be treated with caution.