Native American period terms as well as myth questions.

1. Myths and Archetypes

2. Essential Question(s)
What are myths and archetypes?
Why are they important to Native American
literature?

3. “The Sky Tree” and
“Coyote Finishes His Work”
“The Sky Tree” is a creation myth of the Huron, a
Native American people of the eastern woodlands.
“Coyote Finishes His Work” has been handed down
through the tradition of the Nez Perce, a Native
American people of the Plateau culture who lived in
what is now Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

4. Myth
A myth is an anonymous traditional story that is
basically religious in nature and that usually serves to
explain a belief, ritual, or mysterious natural
phenomenon.
Myths are usually connected with religious rituals
and explain the world the people live in and their
traditions.

5. Archetype
An archetype is a very old imaginative pattern that
appears in literature across cultures and is repeated
through the ages.
An archetype can be a character, a plot, an image, a
theme, or a setting.
Examples
 Plots- the death of the hero, boy wins girl, the journey
 Characters- the trickster, the savior, the rescued maiden
 Images- a place where people never die, a golden cup,
hoarded treasure

6. Understanding Cultural
Characteristics
It is important to recognize difference in literary
traditions when reading works by members of
different cultures.
Since American Indian literature was handed down
orally by storytellers, these pieces lose some of their
power in written form.

7. Assignment
Read “The Sky Tree” on
page 24.
Then, read “Coyote Finishes
His Work” on page 25.
Page 26-Reading Check and
Thinking Critically

8. “The Sky Tree”
What was the world like in the beginning?
How does the myth explain the origin of the earth as
we know it today?
What aspects of the settings in this myth are
archetypes? What other stories have used the same
archetypes?

9. “Coyote Finishes His Work”
What aspects of life on earth are explained in this
myth?
Metamorphoses, or shape changes, are common in
myths of all cultures. What metamorphoses take
place in this myth?

10. What other archetypes did you
find?
The tree in the Huron myth is an archetype—that of
the life-giving tree.
Coyote in the Nez Perce myth is an archetype—that
of the trickster hero.