Navajo And The Modoc: Mythological Comparison

The Navajo and the Modoc: Mythological comparison In the myths “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” and “The Navajo Origin Legend”, we get a glimpse of the beliefs of traditional Native American societies. The former myth is one told by the Modoc tribe of Oregon, the other is told by the Navajo tribe of the American Southwest. The different uses of animals, spirits, and women’s roles help create an illustration of society before colonization. These myths do also differ on these themes and on how they are presented. These myths show that these tribes were more different than alike. The first common theme in both stories is the role of animals. Native American society is well-known for its placement of animals in its mythology, though what these roles are exactly differs from tribe to tribe. The Modoc tribe of Oregon and California, claim to be descended from grizzly bears in “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” (WGWU). “When she became a young woman, she and

In WGWU, the sky chief’s daughter marries a bear, and her father finds her and takes her away from her family. “He drove his grandchildren out of the lodge, put his daughter over his shoulder, and climbed back up the mountain” (Erdoes and Ortiz 21). It is possible this is a metaphor for not marrying outside of your tribe. If this is the case, then that would mean Modoc women could not marry men from different tribes. In the NOM, man and woman are made at the same time, for each other. “...the gods said to them: ‘Live together now as husband and wife.” (Matthews 23). This is somewhat similar to the book of Genesis, with the creation of Adam and Eve, in which Eve is made as a companion to Adam. In NOM, the role of women is essentially to be wives to men. However, men are told to be husbands to women, so it is not a double standard, as they are created for each other, implying that the Navajo were more progressive than the