Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929)

The Jealous Uncle (Kodiak)

- The"unnatural uncle" of the village kills his little nephews

- His wife tells the nephew's mom to act like her newborn child is a girl so he won't kill it

- The kid grows up dressed as a girl, but one day accidentally exposes himself to the uncle

- The uncle makes his wife ask the nephew to come with him to the woods

- They both go to look for wood and the uncle encloses him in some logs

- The boy has a sweet berry that he rubs on the wood and it opens

- The boy returns w/ wood and the uncle is confused, but determined to kill him

TJU Part 2

- A pattern of taking his nephew somewhere and trying to trap him, but then him escaping continues 2 more times

- The uncle starts making a box for the nephew

TJU Part 3

- Nephew is put in the box in the sea

- He ends up in a village with Eagle people

- They look and fly around like Eagles but transform back into humans

- He marries the chief's daughter but misses his parents

- Chief gives him his Eagle skins to wear and fly to get his family

- He sees that uncle has been treating them badly

- He picks him up and drops him in the ocean to swim back, but he can't swim

- The boy and his fam live happily ever after among the Eagles

Alaska, home of the Kodiak (Source: Pexels)