Animals in Native American Myt
In Native American myths, animals are used to represent many things. Primarily, I feel that the use of animals in these myths are to teach us lessons. They act as humans while still dwelling in the animal world. They speak and interact with each other while thinking as a human would. The Native Americans had a great respect for animals. This is why it is animals that are the main characters in their stories and not humans. In the myth "Rabbit Fools Alligator", the lesson is the struggle between strength versus intelligence. It shows us that being deceived can come at any cost no matter how innocent they may seem. The rabbit represents the smaller, seemingly weaker of the two, but shows the alligator "trouble" by surrounding him with fire and burning him. Native Americans told these myths so that humans could learn through them and relate t
The hunter begins to understand the panther's life and when he is put back into human society, he dies. They are wise and sometimes foolish in the stories, but these traits always are there for teaching purposes. This story can be compared to the Greek myth of Zeus and Io. Hera was jealous of Io and punished her in such a terrible way that she prayed for death. Not only was Io hurt, but other characters were killed along the way. The animals in Native American myths can be compared to some people in Greek mythology. We are all similar creatures and all come from nature. In another story, "The Underground Panthers", the idea of animal-human interaction plays a very important role. In these stories, animals symbolize human nature and are there to teach lessons and prove points. Overall, I feel that animals are a great source of knowledge and understanding for the Native Americans. Prometheus and the rabbit are both mischievous characters and they play with fire. Humans can learn from them in that we can see ourselves through these stories. Jealousy lead to nothing but pain and hardship in this story as well.
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