Week 10 Storytelling: The Robe of Light

Good morning everyone, and welcome to The Museum of Supernatural Artifact. We have a lot of cool things here, like Saturn's ring, Mars' tears, and most importantly, Sun's Robe of Light. Alright, if you guys could line up, demigods over here, fairies over there, and everyone else there. And remember, don't touch anything!

As the mismatched crowd walked through the museum, they were awed by the items they only heard in stories. While the objects were definitely cool, they were all looking forward to seeing the Robe of Light. Even though it was just a replica, it would still be amazing to see what it looked like, and learn more about it.

Dress of light (source: pinterest)

Item: Robe of Light (replica)
Origin: Earth
Date Created: Unknown
Created by: Human Woman
Last in Possession by: Sun
Background Information: The original robe, made out of the skin of small animals such as rabbits and birds, was created by a human woman. The animals were hunted by a human boy to be used as food for him and his grandmother. The grandmother sewed together this robe, which as you can see, is large and bright. It was worn by the boy when he went to spear for fish.

One day, Sun, while out following the trail in Sky Land, saw the robe. He approached the boy and asked for an exchange. Sun always wore a goatskin robe with a long fringe. The boy initially refused, but Sun convinced him. Sun dipped the fringe of his robe into the water, and fish immediately caught on. The boy accepted the exchange, and that is how Sun grew so bright.
Sun used to be pale, similar to Moon. Once he had his robes on, however, no one could look at him anymore, his robe shining too bright for the eyes.

We at the museum have tried our best to create this replica, getting the approval of its likeness from Sun himself. Sun actually mentioned that it's quite a good thing it's just a replica, since no one would be able to see the original due to its brightness. We thank him for allowing us to replicate it, and also for the donation to the museum.

Author's Note

I was having a lot of trouble coming up for ideas for this week, but thought that this could be quite cool. I followed the original story quite closely. The boy hunted for animals, the grandmother made the robe, and Sun asked for it in exchange of his own. I thought having this as an item in a museum would be cool, but since the original story was so short, it was a bit hard to come up with more stuff to write about it.

Bibliography: Why the Sun is Bright from the British North America unit.

Week 10 Reading Diary: British North America

I'm reading from the British North America unit this week.

Beliefs

• there are 5 worlds, one on top of the other. Earth is in the middle.
• above is Afraid of nothing, below is House of the Sun.
• Afraid of Nothing created the whole world.
• Afraid of Nothing made the mountains smaller than they used to be.
• Afraid of Nothing causes sickness and death when it visits earth.

Creation of the World

• the men dug too deep. The tree and the chief's daughter fell through.
• the swans came together to catch her landing.
• they went to ask Big Turtle what to do.
• Big Turtle turned into land.
• sometimes he moves his foot, and that's why there are earthquakes.

How the Earth Was Formed

• Wisagatcak tried to capture the beaver. He missed.
• he was determined, using the juniper wood to break the dam and drain the creek.
• the water didn't drain. It rose and rose until he had to make a raft.
• he took two of every animal.
• he gave the moss to wolf and made him run, making earth appear.
• it grew and grew. This is how the earth grew on water and why there are springs.

Sun and Moon (source: pinterest)

Creation of the Earth

• long long ago, everything was blank.
• Sun and his wife Earth.
• Earth told Sun to go away because he's too hot. Moon and stars left with him.
• the Old One changed Earth into the earth now. Her hair is flowers and her bones are rocks.

Origin of Rivers in Queen Charlotte Islands

• Raven steals away the water.
• while flying away from Beaver, he drops some, creating the rivers.

Origin of Haida Land

• Raven didn't follow instructions.
• the pieces became land.

Raven and Moon Woman

• Raven took the moon again and threw it down to the ground.
• one piece is the moon in the sky.
• the other piece is the sun.
• the scraps are the stars.

Creation of Light

• the chief won't give light to anyone else.
• the animals sang together until light started lighting up the sky.
• the old chief said 'let there be light' and light bursted into the sky.
• he didn't mean to do that.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote

• Grizzly bear wanted to make it dark all the time.
• they agreed for half and half.
• they agreed to each getting six months.

Origin of Light and Fire

• Raven asked for fire.
• the Fire people showed him how to make some.

The Burning of the World

• only a man, mother, and sister were saved.
• he shot arrows off into the four directions and told anyone that didn't want to burn to go to them.
• people didn't believe.
• he categorized and created the animals.

Why the Sun is Bright

• the sun is bright because he traded his fishing robe for the bright robe.

The Man in the Moon

• Sun is Moon's wife.
• the Moon allowed the Eskimo to choose one animal. He chose the seal and deer.