Extra Reading Diary: Apache Tales

I chose to read Apache Tales for my extra reading diary this week. It was the first time that I have ever read any Native American stories outside of the Cherokee ones from my Cherokee class. They offer such an interesting outlook for explaining why things are the way they are. It is also great to read about animals that are indigenous to the united states. It makes me think about these stories could have very likely been spread around amongst my much older relatives.

Coyote Secures Fire: I really enjoyed the Coyote in this story. He was so determined to get the fire from the Fireflies regardless of what would happen to him. I thought it was interesting touch to add the part about petrified wood being the only thing to withstand the great fire that happened after the Coyote stole the fire. I also thought it was a weird mishap with him losing his skin after playing the hoop game. It was a very interesting that they made the correlation between the similarities of fur on the Badger and the fur of the Coyote.

(Coyote)

The Swallowing Monster: I honestly chose this because I had no idea what the swallowing monster could be when I started reading it. I am very glad that I chose to read this confusing gem of a story. I was hoping that the monster would actually be some type of animal. Then it completely transition into the spiders coming into play. The little girl turning into a frog at the end came out of nowhere. This story was definitely all over the place.