Week 10 Story: Trade Amongst Friends
At the beginning of time there was one tribe of Native Americans that lived in the Mississippi Valley. They had no contact with other tribes but knew they were out there. The only way they were able to survive was because the animals in the forest would come and help them. Some would bring vegetables so that the tribe could eat while others would bring other dead animals so that the Native Americans could use them.
Whenever the tribe received an animal they would respect it by praying first and then use the entire animal. They wouldn't disrespect the animal by not using all the parts. They believed that since the other animals were bringing them the dead animals the least they could do was to respect the animals that brought them.
One day an animal brought a plant to the tribe and placed it near the fire pit. One of the Native Americans thought this was a sign and then threw the plant in the fire. After throwing it in the fire he inhaled the smoke from the flames and understood that this was how the plant was supposed to be used. The next time the animals brought the plant instead of throwing it in the flame he stripped it of all its seeds and planted them so that he could grow his own.
One of the leaders of the tribe then went to a neighboring tribe with the plant and showed them the wonders of it. He told them that he would give them the plant if they were to give him fur and food. The reason he did this was because the food that the animals were bringing to the tribe wasn't enough and he decided to find another way for them to eat. The tribe agreed to this transaction and told the man that he needed to come every week with the plant. The man agreed and this is how he started to connect with other tribes because word got out about this plant to other tribes. Eventually this tribe became the most powerful and wealthy tribe in all the valley.
Author's Note: I took a couple stories and put them together in order to make this story. In most of the stories animals would help the humans survive so I made the animals help in this story as well. Also in one of the stories tobacco was stolen from a giant and given to all the tribes by one man but in this story I decided to make one of the animals bring it and then the tribe would distribute it for profit.
Source
Whenever the tribe received an animal they would respect it by praying first and then use the entire animal. They wouldn't disrespect the animal by not using all the parts. They believed that since the other animals were bringing them the dead animals the least they could do was to respect the animals that brought them.
One day an animal brought a plant to the tribe and placed it near the fire pit. One of the Native Americans thought this was a sign and then threw the plant in the fire. After throwing it in the fire he inhaled the smoke from the flames and understood that this was how the plant was supposed to be used. The next time the animals brought the plant instead of throwing it in the flame he stripped it of all its seeds and planted them so that he could grow his own.
One of the leaders of the tribe then went to a neighboring tribe with the plant and showed them the wonders of it. He told them that he would give them the plant if they were to give him fur and food. The reason he did this was because the food that the animals were bringing to the tribe wasn't enough and he decided to find another way for them to eat. The tribe agreed to this transaction and told the man that he needed to come every week with the plant. The man agreed and this is how he started to connect with other tribes because word got out about this plant to other tribes. Eventually this tribe became the most powerful and wealthy tribe in all the valley.
Author's Note: I took a couple stories and put them together in order to make this story. In most of the stories animals would help the humans survive so I made the animals help in this story as well. Also in one of the stories tobacco was stolen from a giant and given to all the tribes by one man but in this story I decided to make one of the animals bring it and then the tribe would distribute it for profit.
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| Tobacco Plant, Source |
Source
I like your story. It's got a good balance of background information and plot. One thing that I think would help give it more life is if you were more specific in the beginning about which animals are bringing which animals. Wolfs bringing deer? Coyotes bringing bison? Eagles bring rabbit? I don't know, but random details could really add to your story, even if they aren't central to the plot. Overall, though, I liked it a lot. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Mohammed, I thought this story was really clever! I like the idea that this plant helped the tribe get enough food to feed their people. I wonder how the man that planted the seeds and sold it to the other tribes felt. What was his motivation for planting the seeds? Did he plan to sell them? Was he personally motivated because his family was starving or was he just looking out for the good of the tribe. If the tobacco seeds were planted, why couldn't the tribe just plant seeds for food? What if you added a sentence to explain that. Maybe the soil would only support tobacco or the animals told the man to plant these seeds and that had never happened before.
ReplyDeleteHi Mohommad,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story and liked how you decided to combine certain parts of several stories into one. One suggestion I would have is to tell which animal(s) are bringing things and what exactly are they bringing to the tribe(s). Also, would this play an important part in why certain tribes have certain ceremonies the way they do?