studying mythologies of three nomadic cultures: the gabra ... · the gabra, mongols, and blackfeet...

Overview Myths provide insight into the traditions and beliefs of a group of peo-ple. The constant retelling of tales helps pass on cultural knowledge andsustain traditional values and customs. Learning people’s stories is oneway to study their culture. By presenting students with a myth fromthree different nomadic cultures, this activity enables them to achieve abetter understanding of the culture, traditions, and beliefs of these peo-ples.

Storytelling is an ancient art that predates television and radio. Storiesprovide entertainment, as well as valuable lessons, and they are easilytransported from one place to the next. While elders of a village aregenerally responsible for passing on cultural stories, a talent for story-telling is respected among all members of nomadic society.

Concepts Myths, their roles and purposes, storytelling, stories, oral and writtenhistory and the differences between them; inferring meaning frommyths; comparing, contrasting, and drawing reasonable conclusions;creating artistic representations of myths.

Objectives Distinguish between oral and written history, including the roles ofmyths, legends, fairy tales, or nursery rhymes.

Analyze myths and cultural stories, and infer from these importantlessons or ideas about a culture.

Compare these stories and myths with those you find in your ownculture.

Draw reasonable conclusions about the roles of mythology in culture,including your own.

Demonstrate understanding of myths and their roles by creating vari-ous artistic products to represent a range of aspects of a particularculture and its stories.

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Studying Mythologies ofThree Nomadic Cultures: The Gabra,Mongols, and Blackfeet

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Studying Mythologies of Three Nomadic Cultures:The Gabra, Mongols, and Blackfeet

Standards and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

National Science Education Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Standards for the English Language Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Teacher Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Readings

How the Gara Came to Have Camels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Wise Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The First Iniskim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents at a Glance

Blackfeet Mongols

Gabra


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Standards

The materials in this unit are closely correlated to the National Science Education Standards,Standards for the English Language Arts, and Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. A listing of thestandards follows. A check mark indicates the standards that are addressed.

Assessment

This unit provides tasks that can be used to assess students’ understanding o f the infor mat i o npresen t ed. Use the following quest i o ns to assess each st uden t ’s reaso n i n g, resp o nses, understand-ing, and interaction.

• How well did the student use his or her observation skills?

• How well did the student demonstrate an understanding of the information provided?

• How well did the student communicate the observations he or she made?

• How well did the student explain concepts and ideas to other students?

• Was the student able to use evidence to support his or her conclusions?

• How well did the student complete the tasks outlined?

• How well did the student participate in all aspects of cooperative work?

Standards and Assessment

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Science as Inquiry

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Populations, resources, and environments

Science and technology in society

History and Nature of Science

Science as a human endeavor

Nature of science

Science as Inquiry

Abilities necessary to do s cientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

Science in Personal and Social Perspective

Characteristics and changes in populations

Types of resources

Changes in environments

Science and technology in local challenges

History and Nature of Science

Science as a human endeavor

National ScienceEducation Standards National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Research Council

GRADES K–4

National ScienceEducation Standards National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Research Council

GRADES 5–8


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GRADES K–8

Students read to build an understanding of texts, themselves, and the cultures of the UnitedStates and the world.

S t uden ts read a wide range of li t er at ure fr om ma ny per i o ds in ma ny genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions of human experience.

S t uden ts adjust their use of sp oken, wr i t t en, and visual la n g uage to communicate effectivelywith a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

Students employ a wide range of writing strategies to communicate with different audiencesfor a variety of purposes.

Students apply knowledge of language structure, conventions, and figurative language to create, critique, and discuss texts.

Students conduct research; generate ideas and questions and pose problems; gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources; commun icate their discover ies in ways that suit their pur p ose and aud ience .

Students use a variety of technological and information resources to gather and synthesizeinformation.

Students develop a respect for diversity in language use.

Standards for the EnglishLanguage Arts National Council of Teachers of English

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Culture and Cultural Diversity

Explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and culturesaddress similar human needs and concerns.

Give examples of how experiences may be interpreted differently by people from diversecultural perspectives and frames of reference.

Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve asexpressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

Compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and deal with theirphysical environment and social conditions.

Give examples and describe the importance of cultural unity and diversity within and acrossgroups.

Time, Continuity, and Change

Demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the same event or si t uation in diverse ways, citing reaso ns for the differences in views.

Demonstrate an ability to use correctly vocabulary associated with time such as past, present, future, and long ago; read and construct simple timelines, identify examples of change; and recognize examples of cause and effect relationships.

Demonstrate an understanding that people in different times and places view the worlddifferently.

People, Places, and Environments

Construct and use mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate understanding of relative location, direction, size and shape.

Interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the Earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs.

Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as atlases, databases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

Locate and distinguish among varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains,plateaus, islands, and oceans.

Describe and speculate about physical system changes, such as seasons, climate and weather,and the water cycle.

GRADES K–4Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies National Council for the Social Studies

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D escr i be how people create places that refl ect ideas, perso nali t y, cult ure, and wa n ts and needs as they design hom es, play gr o un ds, classr o om s, and the like .

Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions.

E xplore ways that the Earth ’s physical feat ures have cha n ged over time in the local region and beyond and how these cha n ges may be co n nect ed to one another.

Individual Development and Identity

Describe personal connections to place—especially place as associated with immediate surroundings.

Identify and describe ways family groups and community influence the individual’s daily lifeand personal choices.

Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

Identify roles as learned behavior patterns in group situations such as student, family member,peer play group member, or club member.

G ive exampl es of and explain gr o up and inst i t ut i o ns influ ences su ch as reli g i o u s beliefs, laws, and peer pressure, on people, events, and elements of culture.

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Give examples that show how scarcity and choice govern our economic decisions.

Distinguish between needs and wants.

Describe how we depend upon workers with specialized jobs and the ways in which they co n tr i b ute to the pr o d u ction and excha n ge of go o ds and serv ices.

Science, Technology, and Society

Identify and describe examples in which science and technology have changed the lives ofpeople, such as in homemaking, childcare, work, transportation, and communication.

Global Connections

Explain ways that language art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements mayfacilitate global understanding or lead to misunderstanding.

E xplore ca u ses, co nseq u ences, and possi ble solut i o ns to persist ent, co n t emp or ar y, and em erging glo bal issu es, su ch as pollution and en da n gered species.

Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies continued

GRADES K–4

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Culture and Cultural Diversity

Compare similarities and differences in the ways cultures meet human needs and concerns.

Explain how information and experiences may be interpreted by people ofdiverse cultural perspectives.

E xplain and give exampl es of how la n g uage, li t er at ure, the arts, archi t ect ure , other artifacts,traditions, beliefs, values and behaviors contribute to the development and transmission ofculture.

Explain why individuals and groups respond differently to their physical and socialenvironments and or changes to them on the basis of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs.

Time, Continuity, and Change

Demonstrate an understanding that different scholars may describe the same event or situation in different ways but must provide reasons or evidence for their views.

Identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.

People, Places, and Environments

Elaborate mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate understanding ofrelative location, direction, size and shape.

Create, interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the Earth, such as maps,globes, and photographs.

Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as aerial photographs,satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), map pr o jects, and cart o gr aphy to gener ate, ma n ip ulate, and inter pret infor mat i o n such as atlases, data bases, grid systems,charts, graphs, and more.

Locate and describe varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus,islands, rain forests, deserts, and oceans, and explain their relationship within the ecosystem.

Describe physical system changes such as seasons, climate and weather, and the water cycle and identify geographic patterns associated with them.

Describe how people create places that reflect cultural values and ideals as they buildneighborhoods, parks, shopping centers, and the like.

Examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions, such asland use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystemchanges.

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GRADES 5–8Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies continued

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Describe ways that historical events have been influenced by, and have influenced, physicaland human geographic factors in local, regional, national, and global settings.

Observe and speculate about social and economic effects of environmental changes and crisesresulting from phenomena such as floods, storms, and drought.

Individual Development and Identity

Describe personal connections to place – as associated with community, nation, and the world

Describe the ways family, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and institutional affiliationscontribute to personal identity.

Identify and describe ways regional, ethnic, and national cultures influence individuals’ daily lives.

Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

Demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as role, status, and social class in describing the interactions of individuals and social groups.

Analyze group and institutional influences on people, events, and elements of culture.

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Give and explain examples of ways that economic systems structure choices about how goodsand services are to be produced and distributed.

Describe the role of specialization and exchange in the economic process.

Explain and illustrate how values and beliefs influence different economic decisions.

Science, Technology, and Society

Examine and describe the influence of culture on scientific and technological choices and advancement, such as in transportation, medicine, and warfare.

Show through specific examples how science and technology have changed people’sperceptions of the social and natural world, such as in their relationship to the land, animallife, family life, and e conomic needs, wants, and security.

Seek reasonable and ethical solutions to problems that arise when scientific advancementsand social norms or values come into conf lict.

Global Connections

Describe instances in which language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elementscan facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding.

Explore causes, consequences, and possible solutions to persistent, contemporary, and emerging global issues, such as health, security, resource allocation, economic development, and environmental quality.


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Curriculum Standardsfor Social Studies continued

GRADES 5–8

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MATERIALSHow the Gabra Came to Have Camels , The

Wise Judge , and The First Iniskim .Optional: Arts and crafts supplies.

PROCEDURE1. Have a class discussion about oral tradition.Explore how oral history differs from writtenhistory.

2. Students can either read all of the stories orfocus specifically on one story. Older studentscan read the stories themselves, while teachersof younger students can read the stories aloud.

3. Introduce students to the idea that mythsand legends often provide important lessons,insights, and warnings about cultural valuesand traditions. These stories are sometimes tiedto historical events, while other times they aremetaphorical in nature. Ask students to listfacts and inferences they gather and describewhat they can learn ab o ut these cult ures ’beliefs, traditions, and daily lives from the sto-ries.

4. Have students think of examples of myths,legends, fairy tales, or nursery rhymes in theirown cultures. What lessons do they impart?What values or historical events were they oncetied to? Consider tales like Mary, Mary QuiteContrary and Ring Around the Rosie.

5. Discuss ways stories might change over timeas they are told to subsequent generations.Compare this to the telephone game, where amessage changes slightly as it moves down theline. Play a version of this game by writing athree- to four-sentence descriptive tale, whisper-ing it in the ear of a student, and allowing it togo around the room. The last person shouldwrite down the version they hear. Compare theoriginal version with the final version and dis-cuss similarities and differences.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHERm S t uden ts can act out, or ret ell, the three cult ur al stories to the class.

m Students can illustrate their favorite scenefrom one of the stories and write the passagebeing illustrated.

m Students can write their own myth and tellit to the class.

Teacher Strategies

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HOW THE GABRA CAME TO HAVE CAMELS

A man had three sons. The first born was named Wata, the

second Boran, and the third Gabra. When the father was old,

he was walking on Mount Kulal one day, assisted by his sons,

when he stumbled and fell. Wata, the firstborn, jumped over

him and stood laughing at a distance. Gabra, the lastborn,

covered his eyes. Boran took hold of his father and helped

him rise. Later, the father called his sons to give them their

inheritance. To Boran, who helped him and was strong, he

gave a weak animal, the cow. To Gabra, his timid son, he gave

the camel, a strong animal. And Wata, who laughed, was

cursed. Neither he nor his offspring would have an animal of

their own, but would live off of wild animals as hunters, a

laughable thing. That day the three sons departed to take up

the livelihoods their father had given them, and to this day

they are so. The doors of the mandasse still face west to

Mount Kulal, where the Gabra began.

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THE WISE JUDGE

There was once a very rich Mongolian herdsman who ownedso many of the ‘five noble animals’ that he was unable tocount them all. This Herdsman possessed thousands of sheepand goats, hundreds and hundreds of cattle, and score uponscore of camels. On the fastest of his many horses, he alwaysrode on an elegant Mongol saddle, made of finely-workedleather and silver, and on the belt of his crimson velvet del wasto be seen the most magnificent silver knife and flint in all theland.

The Herdsman’s ger was filled with brightly painted furnitureand intricately stitched felt carpets and his well-fed familywore only garments of the finest imported Chinese silks. Thewife—well, the wife! She was covered with so much splendidMongolian silver jewelry decorated with corals and other pre-cious stones that she fairly shone in the sun and could hardlymove. Yes indeed, this Herdsman was very wealthy, but hecould never have enough and he was also very greedy.

One day, as the Herdsman was returning from Sunday Market,a weekly fair where people came from all over the region tobarter, trade, and make merry, he lost his wallet. Inside thewallet was the money the Herdsman had made that day: onemillion tugrik. The wallet lay in the dirt by the roadside andwas soon found by two poor but honest men who immediately

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took it to the District Judge and explained what had happened.

When the Greedy Rich Herdsman discovered that his walletwas missing he lost his appetite and became quite feverish. Herushed to the District Judge to report his loss. As soon as heentered the Judge’s office and saw his wallet on the Judge’sdesk, he grabbed it and stuffed it in his del, sighing with relief.

The surprised Judge exclaimed: “Just a moment, Sir. Why haveyou taken that wallet from my desk without my permission? Isthe wallet yours?”

The Greedy Rich Herdsman hastily replied: “Of course it’smine! I lost it and now I’ve found it!”

The Judge then said: “Well, Sir. If this wallet really is yours,and you are so relieved at finding it again, you should give areward to the man who found it and brought it here, in grati-tude for his honesty.”

Now he began questioning the Herdsman. “How many tugrikwere in the wallet when you lost it?”

The Greedy Rich Herdsman’s face changed color at theprospect of parting with some of his money for a reward. Heimagined that the Judge himself wanted reward money, so hesaid without batting an eye: “When I lost my wallet it had twomillion tugrik in it!”

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Taking the wallet from his del, he counted the money. With ashocked look on his face, the Greedy Rich Herdsmanannounced: “What’s this? There are only one million tugrikhere! Whoever found my wallet probably took the other mil-lion for himself! The finder has already been rewarded!”

Then the Judge asked the Herdsman: “Ah, good Sir, now Iunderstand. That means you were going to give a reward of am i l l i on tugrik to the man who fou nd your wallet, weren’t you ? ”

The Greedy Rich Herdsman replied boastfully: “Our family hasalways been well off. Of course, Your Honor, I would gladlyhave given one million tugrik as a reward to the man thatfound this precious wallet of mine!”

The Judge then said: “Well, Sir, this wallet cannot be yoursbecause there were only one million tugrik in it when it wasfound, not two million. There is a witness to the truth of thisbecause two men, not one, found it. This wallet must belong tosomeone else. If you begin searching for your own wallet now,you might still find your two million tugrik. You may go now.I wish you luck.”

Hearing the Judge speak with such reason, the Rich Herdsmandecided to tell the truth to try to extricate himself from thispredicament.

“Dear Judge,” he cried. “I lied just now! This wallet with on l y

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one million tugrik in it really is mine. When I saw that my wal-let had already been found and turned in, I had the evil ideathat I might save myself the reward money. I lied when I saidthere were two million tugrik in the wallet and I wron g l yblamed the finder for having already taken the reward ! ”

The Herdsman told the whole truth to the Judge, begging forhis pardon. But the Judge did not like the Herdsman’s lowcunning, his greed, his lies, and his attempt to blame the hon-est finders for stealing. The Judge decided that the Greedy RichHerdsman needed a hard lesson.

“Sir, since you were going to give the finders of your wallet onemillion tugrik as a reward, do it now. You may take yourempty wallet home with the memory of your lesson. In thefuture, try to be less greedy and deceitful and more generousand honest.”

The Greedy Rich Herdsman stuffed his empty wallet in his deland stalked out of the Judge’s office in a rage, never to be heardfrom again.

Meanwhile, the fame of the Wise Judge spread far and wide.

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THE FIRST INISKIM

In the long-ago, before the People had horses, they sometimes starvedwhen they were unable to move their camps fast enough to keep up withthe moving buffalo herds. This story takes place during such a famine.

Three sisters were married to the same man. One day they were outgathering firewood. The youngest sister was carrying a large load ofwood when her carrying strap broke. Each time she stopped to fix thestrap it broke again. Her sisters went back to their lodge while she triedto fix her strap for the fourth time. As she bent over to fix the strap,she thought she heard a voice singing. She looked around but couldsee no one. Yet the voice seemed to be coming from very near by. Shebecame frightened and got up to leave, but the voice called out to her.Then she noticed in the direction of the voice an unusual looking stonesitting up on the ground near her pile of wood. She went over to takea closer look and saw that the stone was sitting on a little bunch of buf-falo hair. The voice began to sing again; it came from the stone:

You—woman—will you take me?I am Powerful!Buffalo is our Medicine.

The Young woman reached down and picked up the stone. In thosedays the People had no pockets, and she was not carrying her miscella-neous pouch. She put the stone beneath her belt next to her skin andshe went home. She did not tell anyone what had happened.

That night, she had a dream. The stone came to her and sang its songagain. Then it told her, “I have come to you and your People because I

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pity you. My Power is able to communicate with the buffalo and bringthem here. I have chosen you to bring me to camp because you arehumble and I know your thoughts are good. You must ask your hus-band to invite all the holy men to your lodge tomorrow night. I willteach you some songs and a ceremony which you must show them. Ifyou do this then I will have my Power bring back the buffalo. But youmust warn your People: my Power is always announced by a strongstorm, and when it first arrives it will look like a buffalo, a lone bull. Youmust tell your People not to harm him. The rest of the herd will followas soon as he has passed safely through the camp.”

During her dream the woman was taught several songs she had neverheard before. The Iniskim told her that he had many relatives about theprairie, and that all of them were in contact with the same Power as he.He told her that any of the People who wished to have good fortunefrom this Power should look for one of his relatives and bring themhome and treat them with respect.

When the young woman woke up she wondered what to do about herdream, for she was quite shy of her husband. Only the sits-beside wifetakes part in the husband’s ceremonial functions, never the wife thatsleeps closest to the door. When the husband went outside, the youngwife told her older sister about the stone and the dream. The sister said,“I will tell our man what you just told me. If your dream comes true,then you may have my seat next to him. But if not, I will only pity youfor what you will have to suffer.”

When the husband learned of the matter, he immediately sent out invi-tations to the camp’s holy men. In a short while, they gathered in thehome of the young woman and were served a portion of berries, and

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broth made from scraps of leather. They were excited when they heardwhy they were invited, although one or two got up and left. Our OldPeople were always skeptical of someone who claimed to have beencalled upon in a dream and given a Power.

With the approval of the holy men who remained, the husband askedhis young wife to sit at the head of the tipi and lead the ceremony thathad been shown to her. She had a tiny piece of fat, which she mixedwith sacred paint in the palms of her hand. While she covered thestone with the sacred paint she sang one of the songs:

Iniskim, he says: buffalo is my Medicine.Iniskim, he is saying: I am Powerful!

The men then knew that it was not an ordinary stone, but a sacredstone. They were anxious to see if it really had any Power. The womanthen rubbed the Iniskim over her body four times and prayed at greatlength. Then she sang another song:

This Iniskim, my man, it is Powerful!

During the song she handed the Iniskim to her husband, sitting besideher. He rubbed his body with it and prayed, while his wife continued tosing the sacred songs. The ceremony went on in that way until theIniskim had gone all the way around the gathered company. By thattime most of the men were able to sing one or two of the songs.

Before they left, the woman told them about the warning in thedream. A crier was sent around the camp telling the People to tie downtheir lodges and prepare for a big storm. They were also told not toharm the single bull that was to show up in the camp after the storm.

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Most of the People followed the advice, but a few laughed and said it wasonly the crazy dream of a woman.

It was long after dark when the weather began to change. Most of thePeople had gone to sleep. Only the husband, his wife, and some of theholy men stayed up and continued to sing the Iniskim songs. A breezestarted to blow, rustling the covers of the tipis. Before long the breezeturned into a wind, and the tipi covers flapped loudly against their poles.The wind continued to get stronger, and suddenly the People were allawakened by the cracking sounds of a big cottonwood tree as it wasblown down. The unfastened tipis of those who disbelieved the womanwere blown down and their contents hurled away. While the Peopleprayed for safety, they heard loud hoof beats and heavy breathing in thedarkened camp. It was the lone bull wandering through the camp. Noone dared to harm him.

In the morning the storm stopped and there was a large herd of buffalograzing beside the camp. The People were able to bring down as many asthey needed, for the animals just wandered around without alarm. ThePeople cried with happiness for having real food again. They were anx-ious to replace their warn-out bedding and robes, and to fix the holes intheir tipis and moccasins. Everyone paid their respects to the young wife,who now occupied the place next to her husband at the head of the tipi.Everyone brought a tiny offering of buffalo meat or fat and placed itbefore the sacred Iniskim, which was sitting on a little pile of fur inside ofthe cleared earth altar at the back of the tipi. Ever since then our Peoplehave had the Power of the Iniskims.

studying mythologies of three nomadic cultures: the gabra ... · the gabra, mongols, and blackfeet...

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