Pre-settlement Period

Before 1620

(when the Puritans founded Plymouth Plantation)

Native American Stories

Oral Tradition,

Storytelling, and

Myths

Characteristics of the Pre-settlement Period

Oral Literature• Native American

Literature relies on spoken word and performance

• Most texts were not written down until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries

• Used repetition to create a sense of expectation

Types of Oral Narratives

• Origin and Emergence Stories

• Historical Narratives

• Cultural Hero Stories

• Trickster Tales

Trickster Tales

• Do these guys look familiar?

Myth:

What does it mean?

We usually think of…• Something that is FALSE.

• There are OTHER KINDS OF TRUTH BESIDES SCIENTIFIC TRUTH!!!

Think of this

definition

• ““A dramatic show A dramatic show of culturally of culturally important truths” important truths”

• (might be a play, (might be a play, a song, or a a song, or a story) story)

In other words…

• Myths represent a shared vision of the world for those who have this vision.

Myths reveal 3 Areas of Beliefs:

1. Beliefs about the way the physical world works

2. Beliefs about social order and appropriate behavior

3. Beliefs about human nature and the problem of good and evil

Writers during the Pre-settlement Period

Writers

• Unknown

• WHY?

Historical Events during the Pre-settlement Period

1452 Gutenberg invents the printing press

Oct. 12, 1492 Columbus discovers America, landing on an island in the Bahamas

1507 Martin Waldseemuller, geographer, names the

new land “America”

1607 Captain John Smith founds Jamestown in Virginia