Monday, March 20, 2017

Week 9 Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories, Part B

The very first story starts off with a new character, the woman chief. I was wondering if the only person throughout the stories would be the old man, but I am glad that a new character has been added in. It will be interesting to see how the two interact. "The Smart Woman Chief" has been more informational than some of the other stories I've read. I think its pretty cool to learn about some of the cultural history (even though it is somewhat brief) of the Blackfoot Indians. This will be really helpful if I choose to do a story planning post where I talk about the culture of the Blackfoot. I wouldn't have to do as much research.

(hercules  --  sinterbear)
Source: Flickr
I like the idea of how children are named in the stores. "Kut O Yis" or "Clot of Blood" seems pretty weird, but I think it's cool because of the background behind the name. Maybe I will look up some different phrases that I could use to name the characters in my storytelling post. The setup of marrying women in the story is very strange. The only reason they say Kut O Yis is a girl is to keep the son in law from killing the child, because he wants to marry the girl. Smart move by the husband and wife. The son in law is turning out to be quite the antagonist. He reminds me of a mythological figure such as Cronos.

Kut O Yis literally grew up in a matter of minutes. From boy to man. I'm not exactly sure how he was able to do that? Is he supposed to have special powers? Maybe I could do a spin on it to make it like an Indian Hercules hybrid story. I know Hercules didn't grow up that quickly, but for some reason this story reminds me of Hercules. It says Kut O Yis punished the wives after he killed the son in law, but I'm not sure how he did so? That part is pretty vague. I wonder why the number seven was chosen for the amount of bad things Kut O Yis defeated. Is there symbolism behind it? Like the luck number 7?

Bibliography: Blackfoot Stories by Grinnell

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