The Beaver's Knife

So, in an attempt to connect with the profile of the typical female, I spent a bit of time this week watching the Twilight Saga. It was ridiculous and beautifully silly, but when I reached the third book I found something that I didn't expect. Oral myth, and from what I've found in my research since then, surprisingly accurate. A Native American legend, from the Quileute tribe, who are actually real, and surprisingly accurate. Although I had read the books over prior breaks, the difference between the oral myth and the rest of the stories didn't click with me until I saw the oral myth going on in well, oral form. Although I didn't find the actual myth they told in the movie, I did find the Quileute creation myth, and you can read it here.

I'm beginning to realize just how much of some of these legends we're missing when we don't get to hear them from a storyteller. The repetition is a lot less tedious when somebody's telling the story. Surprisingly enough, I find myself less likely to say "Hurry up already!" It's a welcome change, because lately the stuff we've been reading has gotten pretty tedious at times.

But back to the Quileute legend. One of the things that I like about Native American myth is that they always seems to come up with very creative ways to explain why all different sorts of creatures look and behave the way they do. Like the Beaver with the knife in his tail, or how the Deer got his antlers. I was particularly intrigued by the people who walked on their hands instead of their feet. I have to wonder what that is supposed to represent...perhaps people who don't believe in the right way of thinking? It left me curious, at any rate.

There didn't seem to be any appearance of the Four Ages in this particular myth, but then it was a pretty short one. Barely a single page. My guess would be that the part of the story we read is the dawn of the Golden Age, since everyone is learning how to hunt and take care of themselves, and the rules are just getting set up.

Here's a picture of the tattoo that some of the members of the Quileute tribe get in the movie. I thought it was interesting as you didn't get to see a close-up in the movie. Obviously the wolf is very significant in the saga, as many of the Quileutes are capable of taking on the form of a wolf. However, if you read the original myth (or listen to the origin story in the series) you learn that the Quileutes are supposed to be descended from wolves, so even in real life the tattoo makes sense. So that's cool.