Bluejay and His Companions:
When reading this story, I had to remind myself that the Native Americans would name themselves after animals but in the end they are still men. With majority of the past units, the main characters were actual animals themselves. This story was sort of comical in that Grouse was talked down, and bitter, over the fact of receiving lean cuts of meat. This displays a major change in culture, of the North America's, since today we would normally advise someone to eat lean cuts. My favorite parts of this story are when Grouse created the wooden seal out of wood, that this inanimate object followed his command, and all of the challenges the other men had to overcome in order to return home.
(Grouse)
When reading a story, I am one of those who can almost literally see it play out in my head. This story was one of my favorites since it provides so many great images for the reader. I could not imagine living in a land where the animals are ten fold our size and vicious. I thought it was very interesting that Jonayaíyin could talk to animals, but from what I am interpreting from the story is that he may be god-like. Jonayaíyin's adventures were remarkable, and the speed in which he travels is amazing. I wonder if the reading is literal when it says that he traveled to the locations in "four steps," or if this is their way of saying like four days, months, etc.
Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away:
As in some of the other units I have read, magic is definitely a theme in this story. The fact that the young boys were able to survive when being tossed prematurely from the womb, and their mother eventually coming back from the dead, is simply remarkable! It is a surprise to me that the twins never seek revenge on Red-Woman, but I can see why not considering all of them survived or were brought back to life.
The Son-in-Law Tests:
I thought that it was very interesting that Wemicus went to great lengths to dispose of his son-in-laws. I am happy for our main character, though, in that his wife has finally learned her father's tricks. Since the man was wise and listened to his wife, ha-ha, he was able to escape Wemicus' schemes time after time. I like how this story ended with a creation story of the pike. I always enjoy these types of tales, and found that this was a good punishment for Wemicus regarding all his trickery and killing his previous son-in-laws.
I like the underlying theme here where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and don't judge a book by it's cover comes into play. The beginning of the tale was similar to many stories I had read in the past, where daughters refuse to marry any suitor their father brings before them. I was awed when the Sun was interested enough to attempt to marry the chief's sisters. When Sun won each challenge the chief presented it was very obvious he had won fair and square, but I am left wondering where the "hero" theme takes place in this story. Otherwise, my favorite part is when Sun and Star reveal themselves to Sun's new wife, and he seems to adorn her with magical powers.
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