reading notes: old woman who never dies, part a

This week, we are reading Native American stories. I chose to read Old Woman Who Never Dies from the Great Plains unit.

This story was nothing as I expected it to be when I read the title. This "woman" lives in the moon and has children that live in the sky. Her children are Day, Sun, Night, the Morning Star, a star which circles around the polar star, and the Evening Star.

Every spring, the old woman who never dies sends the wild geese, the swans, and the ducks. When the wild geese arrive, the Indians plant their corn and she makes it grow. There are certain signs from the number of geese that tell the Indians how large their crops will be. If swans or ducks arrive, it means that they must plant something different. 

In order to call out for the wild birds, the Indians create a scaffold decorated with meat. They perform rituals around this scaffold which are followed by the old women in the village eating the dried meat. 

In the fall, they have a corn feast so the old woman that never dies may send herds of buffalo to them. This season, they ask for the cold not to come early as they will not be prepared.

I think that I can make this into my own story by having the Indians not perform the ritual and end up going through a rough season of crops. I can also have it happen in the fall and make the cold come early or more intense than normal. I also could make the Indians start a new tradition such as throwing something in the river or something along those lines that causes damage to the earth. This can then result in less geese and less corn for them until they figure out what has made the old woman that never dies upset. 

(Photo from PixaBay.)

Great Plains unit: Old Woman Who Never Dies by Mandan.