Cab's Multilingual Newsletter

Our multilingual students continue to explore and discover how the blending of cultures can affect the way people live. In our classroom, we read the story called "Encounter," and this historical fiction begins with a boy's unsettling dream of "great-winged birds" hovering over the bay. As the dream comes to pass, explorers from Europe come ashore bringing shiny gifts and sharp spears. The boy warns his people not to welcome or trust strangers, but they ignore him because he is a child. When he is taken captive, he escapes wandering other shores, telling his story.

During the winter break, please ask your children to read, explore, and build their background knowledge about Taino People as well as their encounters with the explorers. The Taino people lived in the Caribbean regions for about 1,000 years before Columbus arrived in 1492. In 1492, Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola and claimed it for Spain. Spanish explorers brought disease and death to the Taino people who lived there.

Please Complete These Activities with Your Family

• Watch scenes of different movies/shows/videos that portray Native American & European interaction, and have students describe the tone of each one.

• Optimistic/Positive: It’s the Mayflower, Charlie Brown

• Funny/Comedy: Horrible Histories – Christopher Columbus

• Informative: The Arawaks - Tainos - First People in Jamaica

Discuss

Why are myths and legends important to Native Americans?

Native American Mythology: The Great Hunter(Oglala Lakota)

There was once a boy with a great gift. He was to be one of the great hunters in his village. When he was born, his grandfather made him a bow and arrows, a tomahawk, and a knife and taught him how to use them. When the boy came of age, his grandfather taught him how to use the bow and arrows, to hunt certain animals, and as he got older everyone became aware of his gift.

One day he went out hunting. His parents expected him to return but he did not come home that night. A meeting was called to select the greatest trackers to find his trail and track him down for they feared the enemy might kill or attack him.

The trackers followed his trail. It came to a dead end and there a staff was stuck in the ground. They searched the entire area but found nothing that would tell them more. They returned to the village and reported their findings. The next day, the greatest warriors and horsemen searched out where he might have been killed by the enemy but still found nothing.

The family was worried about their lost boy. They were sad because they felt he was dead. Someone then walked into the tipi. They all looked up and he had walked in. The news spread around the village. They knew something strange had happened to him and they wanted to know what happened. It was the custom to sit down in a ceremony for him to tell his story. And so they held a ceremony for his sharing. And here is his story.

He had gone out hunting for the game but there was none to be found. As he was walking at the foot of the mountains, where he could see miles off in the distance, he heard a swishing noise. It was the air swooshing down upon him and just as he looked up, something grabbed hold of him. He saw the greatest claws on the largest eagle he'd ever seen. He grabbed hold of the eagle's legs, but the eagle was so powerful, he had no chance to fight it off. The eagle lifted him and away they flew. The eagle spoke to him saying, "Do not be afraid. I know you are a great hunter and I need your help."

When they landed in the eagle's nest they found two baby eagles nestled in one corner of the nest, afraid of the hunter. They were assured not to be afraid of this hunter who would protect them. The mother eagle then shared her story of why the hunter was brought to the nest.

"I have tried to raise a family here for many springs, but when they reach the age they are now, there is an animal that comes to kill them and eat them. I know you have the power of a great hunter and I brought you here to kill this animal. When it comes this time, you will prepare for him. In the meantime, I will go out to get meat to bring back so you can eat with our family."

For several days the mother and father eagle brought in antelope and other meat which the hunter made into jerky for all of them. Being high up on the bluff, he saw his people trail him but could do nothing.

One day getting toward high noon, as far as you can see, where the eagles soaring and making screeching noises, the father eagle swooped down close to the nest and said, "He will come from the edge of the cliff, south from where you are sitting."

The baby eagles fearfully huddled in the nest making screeching noises. The father eagle flew to the nest saying, "He is getting nearer." The young hunter knelt inside the nest. With bow and arrows, he aimed to where the eagles told him the animal would be. Out of nowhere a huge head, which looked like a bear's head, lifted so fast that the young hunter could not tell what it was but he instinctively knew right away the animal would lift his head again. He released his arrow and it hit the animal right between the eyes just as he stuck his head up once more. When the arrow hit, the animal straightened up and fell over the cliff. The mother eagle made the tremolo sound and the father eagle sang an honor song as they soared the skies. Then they both landed in the nest and the father eagle said, "You have killed the biggest snake which has killed my family for many years. From now on, you will be guided by the eagle people, your power shall be strong and no danger will fall upon you as long as you live. In a few days, my children will return you where I found you when I brought you here," and gave him feathers for war bonnets as a gift.

When the time came to leave the nest, the hunter described how he grabbed the legs of the young eagles and stepped off the cliff. At first, their wings came down but the father eagle pulled them up to gain altitude and the young hunter was returned to the place where the eagle had first found him.

Link to a Scanner for the Catalog and Directions to SORA

Your Partner in Education, Mrs. Lenoff.

Email: Larisa.Lenoff@redclay.k12.de.us
Location: Room 234
Phone: 302 651 2700
Twitter: @LenoffLarisa