Matthew Rosenthal
Professor J. Caroccio
English 1012
24 February 2014

American Indian Myths and Legends: Response

"Mysterious but real power dwells in nature--in mountains, rivers, even pebbles. White people may consider them inanimate objects, but to the Indian, they are enmeshed in the web of the universe, pulsating with life and potent with medicine" (Erdoes and Ortiz 2).

It is very interesting how Native American Indians hold nature in such a high place, emphasizing it as a part of a "spiritual realm" that is closely connected to the human body and mind. Through nature, there is spiritual and mental healing, but there is something else as well. There is an intangible quality of power, chaos and structure, that cannot be accessed by the lesser human body alone. Instead, as we see in some of the myths presented in this collection, one must go through a transformation, either in location, physical appearance, or mental condition, in order to gain a better understanding of the way in which we should conduct ourselves in a world that is infinitely greater than us (although we tend not to think of this "natural power"). In this light, the chaos, inconsistency, and "incompleteness" that Erdoes and Ortiz use to describe Native American Indian tales should serve to remind us that nature is unpredictable. It is an entity which takes many shapes and forms, and entity we are part of but also one we cannot control. It is then important to learn to respect this entity, treat it as "god" and never overstep the boundaries of human behavior. In this respect, the Native American Indian folktales serves as particularly powerful cautionary tales.