Reading Notes: Tejas Legends, Part B

 When the Rainbow was Torn 

Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).


Plot:

Cactus flowers resemble a rainbow. 

The cactus flower used to be white until they were given color by a rainbow. 

each end of the rainbow bathe things in color, but the rainbow never touched a cactus for some reason. 

One day the rainbow didn't see a bushel of cactus and accidentally fell on them. 

When this happened the thorns caught the color. Suddenly the flowers bloomed and absorbed color. 

Thoughts:

Im not sure if im supposed to believe that rainbows are sentient here. It seems that rainbows and plants have minds of their own. If that is true then it says a lot about Indian culture. We ought to treat all things with respect as they are all capable of feeling and desire. This opens up a world of possibilities in which anything can have wants and feelings!
I think I could easily adapt this sort of style to account for natural occurrences. I have noticed the distinction between cultures though. Last week everything that was happening was due to gods that control natural forces. In this week all nature has a mind and life of its own. therefore it now acts on its own behalf. For example, last week there was a god of the north wind that controlled the north wind. But in this culture, I think it is more likely that we would see the north wind with a mind and will of its own. 

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