Chloe Cyr
Mr. Miller
October 7, 2015
Contrasting Cultures
Contrast Between the Ojibwe and Iroquoian Cultures
Aboriginal cultures are often stereotyped into being the same or very similar in culture, traditions and in general ways of life. Although there are many similarities between some Aboriginal cultures, there are also immense differences. Through reading only a limited selection of Ojibwe and Iroquoian myths and legends, the vast differences between these two unique cultures is evident. Differences between the cultures such as the way they treat their animals, the different sizes of population, differences of their education systems, and the levels of violence can be identified clearly throughout the stories. It is obvious that Aboriginal cultures, specifically the Ojibwe and Iroquoian cultures, are very different and should not be stereotyped as the same.
ANIMAL PORTRAYAL
Animals are portrayed in very different ways throughout the Ojibwe and Iroquoian stories. In the Ojibwe stories, there are numerous tales involving animals, specifically animals being portrayed as intelligent creatures with feelings, similar to humans. This shows that animals are an important part of the Ojibwe culture, spirituality, and way of life. In the Iroquoian stories, we see a limited number of stories with animals, and we see animals portrayed more often as objects or as possessions. This shows animals are less important to the Iroquoian culture, spirituality and way of life.
In the Ojibwe story of Nanabush and the Giant Beaver (pages 7-8), the Giant Beaver is a very intelligent and strong animal. This story even goes so far as to have the Giant Beaver outsmart Nanabush, who is a human. Nanabush and the Giant Beaver are seen as friends and as equals at the end, which is something that is not seen in the Iroquoian stories. Another example of an Ojibwe story that shows the importance of animals to their culture, is the story of the first butterflies. In the story of the first butterflies (page 11), the animals are tasked with taking care of the human children. No mother would leave her children in the care of someone or, in this case, something that she would not trust as a short term replacement for herself. When the mother leaves her children in the care of the animals, one can see that in the Ojibwe culture, animals are seen as capable to be trusted with precious children, a belief that may not be common with the Iroquoian culture. In the story of how the bat came to be, there are no humans in the story. The only characters in the story are the animals and the sun. However, the animals show similar qualities as humans, such as empathy and kindness. This is shown when the squirrel sacrifices himself to save the sun as well as the other animals. Animals are seen sacrificing themselves in the Iroquoian stories (page 16), but never to save other animals like in this Ojibwe story. Stories about animals sacrificing themselves for one another shows that the Ojibwe culture believes that animals have feelings and are able to think and empathize with one another, which is often seen as a very human quality. There are however a few Ojibwe stories that do not include animals. The rest of the stories do include animals, and animals carrying various important roles to the story, which we typically do not see in the Iroquoian stories. Animals are seen portraying important roles such as humans turning into animals, animals in charge of the weather and ending the humans’ misery, and animals warning humans of danger.
In the Iroquoian stories, animals are not often significant characters or characters at all. For example, in the story of De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da and Hiawatha (page 17), there are no animals involved at all, the story is completely based on humans. This is a trend that continues throughout several Iroquoian stories such as Three Brothers Who Followed the Sun (page 190), The Sacrifice at Niagara Falls (page 26) and Origin of the Pleiades (page 21). Even though there is a considerable list of Iroquoian stories that do not contain animals, there are a few stories that do contain animals. However, these animals typically play less significant roles than the animals in the Ojibwe stories. For example, in the story of Godasiyo the Woman Chief (pages 24-25), there is a white dog character in the story. However, the white dog is seen more as a possession than as a real character, unlike in the Ojibwe stories. The white dog does not really say or do anything significant in the story. The dog just acts as the object that the two sides of the village argue over. The dog could be replaced with a non-living thing such as a precious gem, and the story would still make sense, making the dog a non-significant character. Another Iroquoian story containing an animal, is the story of Niagara Falls (page 25). The animal in this story is an evil water serpent. However, the water serpent is controlled by an evil spirit and does not make any decisions for itself. For this reason, one would not consider the water serpent a significant character in the story. One of the final Iroquoian stories containing animals is the Haudenosaunee Creation Story (page 16). The animals provide a safe place for the Sky Woman to fall, some animals even sacrificing themselves for her. Even though the animals do play that role, they do not really contribute to the rest of the story or to the main plot, unlike how most animals do in the Ojibwe stories. The animals in the Creation story as well as the other Iroquoian stories still are not as significant as the animals in the Ojibwe stories.
Based on the significance of the animals in the Iroquoian stories and the animals in the Ojibwe stories, one major difference between the two cultures as the importance of animals. The Ojibwe culture has animals as an important part of their spirituality, culture and daily focuses. The Iroquoian culture has animals as a less important part of their spirituality, culture and daily focuses.
POPULATION SIZE
Throughout reading this limited selection of Ojibwe and Iroquoian stories, it is clear that these two cultures lived a very different way of life, with regard to their population size. The Iroquoian people lived as a much larger population than the Ojibwe people. This is evident through the number of characters and settings within the stories.
In the Ojibwe stories, a minimal number of characters are shown and the setting is mostly in isolated environments. For example, in the story of Why People Do Not Live Forever (page 7), there are only two people and their children, with a river. There is no talk about a bigger village or more people that Nanabush and his lovely maiden could go reunite with. This is a common theme throughout a large portion of the Ojibwe stories such as Nanabush and the Giant Beaver (page 7) with only two human characters, Winabojo and the Birch Tree (page 9) with only two human characters, The Boy Who Became a Robin (page 10) with only two human characters, and the trend continues for many of the other Ojibwe stories. There are a few Ojibwe stories that do mention larger villages, but in comparison to the Iroquoian stories, there are far fewer stories about multiple people. Examples of Ojibwe stories that contain an idea of a bigger village with many people are Okishkimonisse Saves the Summer Birds (page 11) and the Ladder to the Sky (page 13). In these stories there is still only the idea of a village, not a larger understanding of how a large population would necessarily function. The lack of characters, government structure and village settings suggests that the Ojibwe culture might have been a small culture with less knowledge of what life as a bigger population would look like or be like, making it difficult to write stories about a large population.
In the Iroquoian culture, there is a much larger selection of stories containing a greater population, suggesting that this culture would know what life as a large population would look like. For example, in the story of De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da and Hiawatha (pages 17-20) there is an idea of a very large population with many different tribes and the theme trying to create peace among the people. This shows that the Iroquoian culture not only had an understanding of a large population, but also had an understanding of the importance of keeping peace among all of the people and an understanding of government structure. Another example of an Iroquoian story that had the idea of a large population is the story of The Twelve Brothers and Their Uncle, Dagwanoenyent (page 22-23) . In this story we see a fairly large family of twelve brothers, which is something that we did not see in the Ojibwe stories, suggesting that the Iroquoian culture had many more children in each family. The hunters and gatherers in the Ojibwe culture tend to limit offspring due to the fickleness of their food supply. If there are twelve children in each Iroquoian family, the population of the Iroquoian culture would be quite large and they would likely have a reliable food supply. In the story of Godasiyo the Woman Chief (pages 24-25), the same knowledge of life with large populations is seen. Godasiyo is the chief of a very large village, so large that they have to live on the opposite sides of a river. This story shows that the Iroquoian people understood how life as a large population could cause many issues and arguments. Not all of the Iroquoian stories had settings with a large population such as the Haudenosaunee Creation Story (page 16), but the Iroquoian culture does have a more significant number of stories with knowledge of a large population than the Ojibwe culture.
Based on the knowledge of living as a large population that the Iroquoian culture shows throughout their stories, and the scarcity of knowledge that Ojibwe culture shows about having a large population, the Iroquoian culture likely has a much greater population than the Ojibwe culture.
EDUCATION
The stories that were read suggest that the children of Iroquoian culture and the children of the Ojibwe culture had very different educations systems. In the Ojibwe culture, children probably learned primarily from their grandmothers while in the Iroquoian culture, children might have learned in more of a school like system with other children.
In the Ojibwe culture, many stories contain the main character’s grandmother. This suggests that the grandmother of the children would be at home teaching the children and as well telling them stories. It is unlikely that there would be so many grandmothers in the Ojibwe children stories if the grandmothers did not play a significant role in the life of their grandchildren. Grandmothers can be seen in various Ojibwe stories. One example is in the story of Nanabush and the Giant Beaver (page 7-9). In this story the grandmother helps Nanabush try to complete one of his goals which he was trying to complete for many months. This could reflect on what the grandmothers were actually doing, helping the children complete learning goals. Another example of an Ojibwe story containing grandmothers is the Ladder to the Sky (pages 13-15). In this story the grandmother sacrifices everything to save her grandson. This would be a good story for a grandmother to tell her grandchildren to teach them about jealousy and obeying their god, all while telling them how important they are to her. In the story of Winabojo and the Birch Tree (pages 9-10), the grandmother is wise and teaches the grandson the lesson that he should listen to her and her warnings. This is yet another example of grandmother telling her grandchildren a story while teaching them, probably while their parents and grandfather are out hunting. These Ojibwe stories and many more show that in the Ojibwe culture, the grandmothers would be in charge of teaching the children and telling them stories while the parents and grandfather were out hunting and gathering.
In the Iroquoian stories, there are no examples of grandparents with significant character roles. This shows that in the Iroquoian culture, the grandmothers were not likely the ones staying home and teaching the children. Then the question is raised: who was teaching the children? It is more likely that since the population was bigger, that the children went to a school system with other children their age. Many of the Iroquoian stories suggest that the children might have been taught in a school like system. For example, in the story of Origin of the Pleiades (pages 21-22), the children dance and eventually float up into the sky, separating the children from their parents. Most children would probably not want this to happen to them. This story could be used to scare the children into behaving in class. This could only be necessary if there was a class of children to begin with. Another story that suggests that the Iroquoian children were taught in a classroom environment is the story of De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da and Hiawatha (pages 17-19). This story would likely be used as a history lesson in the classroom. This story contains no children or grandmothers which would suggest that this would not be a story told to children by their grandmothers or even parents. This is also a fairly long story about the history of how peace came to be among the different tribes, not so much as an exciting story told by grandmothers that we might see in the Ojibwe culture. In the story of Three Brothers Who Followed the Sun (pages 19-21), there is talk about different traditions that the Iroquoian culture does for a ceremony honouring the sun. If this story was told hundreds of different times by different people, the story might get somewhat changed and each child would come into the ceremony knowing a slightly different variation on what to do. This would cause mass confusion, which would be easily avoided if one teacher taught the entire class what to do to follow the traditions. For these reasons, it is probable that the Iroquoian children where taught by a teacher in a more formalized class room.
Through reading a selection of Ojibwe and Iroquoian stories, it seems probable that these two cultures had a very different education system. The Ojibwe children were most likely taught by their grandmothers whereas the Iroquoian children might have been taught in a more formal school setting with their peers.
VIOLENCE
The amount and type of violence in the Ojibwe stories is very different when compared to the Iroquoian stories. There is a minimal amount of violence in the Ojibwe stories compared to in the Iroquoian stories. Most of the violence in the Ojibwe stories is also between animals and people unlike in the Iroquoian stories, where a large amount of human to human violence can be seen.
There are many Ojibwe stories that do not include any violence, such as the story of Why People Do Not Live Forever (page 7), The Boy who Became a Robin (pages 10-11), and The First Butterflies (page 11). Other stories do contain violence, but violence between humans and animals. For example, in the story of Winabojo and the Birch Tree (page 9), there is some violence between Winabojo and the animals when he clubs the baby thunderbirds, and then gets attacked by their parents. However, this is only violence between animals and people, not violence between people and people. Another Ojibwe story that does contain violence is Okishkimonisse Saves the Summer Birds (pages 11-12). In this story a giant attacks Okishkimonisse, but this is not person to person violence. The giant may resemble a person, but it is not like the everyday person the Ojibwe people would encounter and live among. In the Ladder to the Sky (pages 13-15), there is also a little violence, this time between people but it is very minimal. The people only throw stones at the main character and mutter threats. Even though there is some violence within the Ojibwe stories, there is far less and a large portion of the violence is between animals and people or natural causes to people.
In the Iroquoian stories, there is far more violence, especially violence between people. One story rife with person to person violence is The Twelve Brothers and Their Uncle, Dagwanoenyent (page 22-23). In this story people are burying other people alive and throwing each other off cliffs. This is the type of violence not seen in the Ojibwe stories. Another story with a lot of violence is The Three Brothers Who Followed the Sun (pages 19-21). In this story we see a war going on with sounds of war cry and burning houses. War is a violent idea that the Iroquoian culture had, that is not seen in the Ojibwe culture. There are some Iroquoian stories that do not contain violence such as De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da and Hiawatha (pages17-19). This story is actually about keeping peace between the tribes without violence. However, this story implies that there was a lot of violence in the Iroquoian culture to begin with. Not all of the Iroquoian stories contain violence and some stories contain slight violence such as self sacrifice, but in general Iroquoian stories do contain much more violence and much more violence between people than in the Ojibwe stories.