Week 10 Story
Ina-ga-nat and the Gateway (Introduction)
Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).
In the time before time, spirits were free to roam in and out of the physical world. The great bridges of the north and south pole acting as gateways between worlds. As creation began humanity emerged. Created by the spirits, they were tasked with maintaining the great bridges so that the spirits might continue to come and go at will. In turn, the spirits rewarded the humans with a plentiful crop. Food to sustain them and safety.
As years passed, humanity began to learn. They discovered how to provide food and shelter for themselves. As a result, they no longer needed the spirits. The great gateways fell to ruin and the spirits became trapped in the spiritual realm. This angered the spirits greatly. Over time they began to sabotage the humans. They started with the soil. The spirits made it so acidic nothing could grow. As the humans adapted and began to eat meat, the spirits taught the animals to hide so that the humans could never find them.
As humanity continued to adapt the sprits grew furious. They began to cause happenings of great devastation! They caused the ground to shake rapidly, the skies to pour fiercely, the wind to spin rapidly, and the volcanoes to erupt violently!
The humans were at a loss. There was nothing they could do. Humanity fell into a deep sadness. Yet there was one who did not.
Ina-ga-nat grew up in a village blessed with a wise man with many years. Iagoo told Ina-ga-nat many stories of days of old. A time when the ground was fresh, the meat was plenty, and the world was at peace. It was a glorious tale far from reality. Most considered Iagoo to be a man of stories and nothing more. But one, Ina-ga-nat, believed.
When she saw the horrors befalling the world, she turned to Iagoo and asked him why such things were happening. He told her of ancient gateways fallen to ruin. Gateways at the top and bottom of the world that could restore peace.
Ina-ga-nat knew what must be done, yet her family did not. They did everything to deter her from such a foolish notion. Reminding her of her duties to marry a man that would help the family. Yet with each passing day, Ina-ga-nat grew more and more sure of what she must do. Until one day she packed a bad and slipped out into the night on a quest for a bridge on the top of the world.
Authors Note:
I really had to get creative on this one and come up with some sort of new cosmic reality. I think I did ok but I had a few goals in mind. I knew there had some sort of mystical involvement and there had to be an individual changing things. The moral of all the stories I read in this section seemed to be realted to the existence of mystical creatures. Therefore the moral I was going for was that it is important not to ignore or discount the mystical. I could go on with this story but I think the plot is pretty clear going forward. She will eventualy restore the gateways learning the importance of reverence to the mystical in our everyday lives.
Wow, this is so cool, Kev: I am getting to watch you roam the whole world of stories, and the semester has not even quite begun yet. Wonderful! Among the literary collections of Native American stories, this book is one of my favorites; I am glad you chose it! I don't know if you have picked something out for Week 11, but like I mentioned in the Urashima comment, the Song of Hiawatha is indebted to the Kalevala, so, indirectly, it might be relevant to your Tolkien project and a good choice! The Song of Hiawatha ... many of the legends in Larned's book here come from the same source that Longfellow used for his epic poem. And I really like the idea that you used this story as a way to do other-world imagining. One of the great things about reading Native American stories is that they are often very surprising, very unfamiliar, often with supernatural elements and characters who do not fit everyday boundaries, characters who travel between one world and another... and you could carry on with your story of this woman and her link to another world using materials that you find in the next section of Native American reading, so you could carry on with this quest story using materials from whatever Native American reading you do for Week 11!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very intriguing read. It reminds me of an introduction to an adventure novel. There's some kind of "chosen one" that no one can really understand why it's them, but they eventually embrace it and head out on their journey. I also see some parallels to the movie "Frozen 2": a girl heading out on a journey to confront a set of spirits and save their homeland, in a world that seems to be very cold and snowy. Good job!
ReplyDeleteKev,
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a very interesting read. The concept of spirits and their relationships with humans reminded me very much of "The Legend of Korra," if you've ever watched/read that show! In the show, there is also great distrust between the spirits and the humans, where they were once roaming the world with the humans, they were locked away ever since. I do wonder though, how does the main character intend to fix the issues? We know that the gates are in ruins and it made the spirits angry, but what does the character have to do to fix it? If so, is that all he has to do? I look forward to reading the continuation of this story soon.
Your story here definitely gave me Avatar The Last Airbender vibes (I mean that as a nerdy compliment!) I have always enjoyed the concept of us humans being connected to something bigger than us, something mystical. I like how you have a "chosen one" character vibe going on with Ina-ga-nat and she sets out to the bridge on the top of the world. Your writing is very clear even though the topic was little complex!
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