Reading Diary A: Native American Heroes

One of the things I like about the Native American Heroes unit is that the myths and tales tell a story about something relatable or something known to me. For instance, in The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle Part 1 and Part 2, tells a story about how the bald eagle used to be a giant man-hunting bird, but the main character of the story, Jonayaíyin, kills the mother and the father. Then he hits the baby eagles on the top of the head to stunt their growth so they could no longer attack man, this makes them the size they are today!

By far the weirdest stories in this unit were The Jealous Uncle Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This story is about an Uncle who kills his nephews as soon as they are a few years old. His wife hated that he did this, so the next boy that was born she lied and said he was a girl. Eventually, his uncle found out and tried to kill him, but the boy always outsmarted the uncle and eventually got revenge. There was one quote from the boy that struck me:

"I can forgive him the killing of my brothers, the attempts on my life, but I will revenge his treatment of my parents."

This kind of shows his mortality, that he has a breaking point. I find the boy extremely strong to be able to forgive his wicked, prideful uncle for murdering his brothers and even trying to kill him. I think that most people would agree that it's usually worse to watch the people you love be wronged than to be wronged yourself. Everyone has at least a little selflessness in them! Great unit, I'd recommend it for sure!

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