Salish Creation Story

The world was created by Old-Man-in-the-Sky. He drained all water off the Earth, and put it all into holes which were all over the surface of the Earth, they are now called oceans. One day, Old Man Coyote came to visit Old-Man-in-the-Sky, he came to visit often, but this time he was crying. Old-Man-in-the-Sky asked what was the matter, and Old Man Coyote said he is lonely because he does not have any people to look after. Old-Man-in-the-Sky tells him that he will give him people to look after if he stops visiting all the time. He then gives Old Man Coyote a rawhide bag and tells him to fill it completely with red dirt.
Old Man Coyote searches for days trying to find red dirt. When he finally finds it, he fills the bag with it, but he is so tired that he falls asleep. While he is asleep, Mountain Sheep sees him and decides to play a joke on him. He takes the bag and empties half the red dirt out of the bag and fills the rest of it with white dirt. Later, when Old Man Coyote awakens, he grabs the bag full of dirt, without looking at it, and runs back to Old-Man-in-the-Sky. From the dirt, Old-Man-in-the-Sky makes two men and two women, while it is still nighttime so he cannot tell the difference. Old Man Coyote takes them down to Earth, but it is daytime now and he sees the difference- one man and one woman are red, the other two are white. He decides to separate them, so he puts the white man and woman by the ocean and the red man and woman on his land so he could visit them.
That is how Indian and white people came to be.
-RD

The Golden Bough

"In both we see a series of divine kings on whose life the fertility of men, of cattle, and of vegetation is believed to depend, and who are put to death, whether in single combat or otherwise, in order that their divine spirit may be transmitted to their successors in full vigor, uncontaminated by the weakness and decay of sickness or old age, because any such degeneration on the part of the king would, in the opinion of his worshippers, entail a corresponding degeneration on mankind, on cattle, and on the crops."
-Frazer, p. 269

I find this excerpt from The Golden Bough interesting because it discusses the role and occupation that kings must fit and preform. I have always been fascinated with how a monarchy works and the heritage behind it all, especially the British monarchy. If I get bored, I look up and read about a king or queen that ruled Britain and its various domains. Any phrase that has anything to do with a king, queen or nobility has my attention, that is why this excerpt grabbed me. A monarch, either king, queen or other, has an enormous job to do, they have to ensure the safety of their country, provide for their people, be an excellent general-in-chief, and they have to provide the next heir to the throne. This can be a hefty job for anyone, that is probably why they usually have a consort and advisors. Frazer describes a king who provides for his people and has an heir to pass this immense job to. One thing he said that sounds odd is 'who are put to death', kings you would think aren't put to death very often, if anyone commits treason or a felony against the king or country, the king usually decides that gruesome job. History has proven though, that kings can be put to death, look at Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI of France for instance, they ruled France and obviously did not do a very good job, and they both died for it by the hand of their subjects, or as Frazer puts it, "worshippers". One of the most important things for a king to do is to provide an heir, usually that isn't a problem for most kings and their queen-consorts. That is what drove King Henry VIII to be so brash. He desired a son more than anything and he ended up with two daughters and one son, who died young. His daughters however became two of the most famous queens in the British monarchy. I just found this phrase interesting because it summarized the role of a king in just a few lines, when it takes years or dynasties even for a king or queen to truly know their true role as monarch.
-RD

Dream and Memory

Dream:
Recently I've been dreaming a lot, its one of those things where you don't get much sleep for a period of time, or you have a lot of short dreams, or you don't dream at all. I never took psychology, but I've heard and read about those cycles your body and mind go through. The most recent one (that I can remember having) is one where I was dancing on ice skates. I do a lot of swing dancing, about three times a week, so the dancing part would make sense. But in my dream I was having a really hard time keeping up with my dance partner, which doesn't happen very often. Suddenly I received a phone call from someone, and I went out into the lobby to talk to them, when I realized that the lobby was actually a hallway in my high school. After my call I went back onto the ice and continued dancing, which seemed to have improved quite a bit. What seems odd about the dream is that I haven't been ice skating in years and I haven't been back in my high school in months. But I guess that is what dreams are supposed to be, odd.

Earliest Memory:
My earliest memory is also one of my most important and cherished ones. I was probably around the age of 1 1/2 or 2 when it happened, since I know that my sister hadn't been born at the time. But I remember sitting on my grandpa's lap and giggling while he bounced me on his leg. I remember looking up at him in his red plaid shirt and seeing him laugh and smile at me. This is a cherished memory because he died when I was three, and it is my only memory of him.
-RD

First Entry

Hi! My name is Rachel Davis, and I'm excited to start my second year of college. My major is anthropology. I don't have a copy of The Golden Bough yet, but I will share a excerpt from The Metamorphoses of Ovid. This is my first time using a blog, so hopefully it will work!

From Apollo and Daphne, pages 21-22:

"Though many suitors seek her, she spurns them all;
she wants to roam uncurbed; she needs no man;
she pays no to heed marriage, love, or husbands.
Her father often said: "You're in my debt:
a son-in-law is owed me." And he said:
"You owe my grandsons." But his daughter scorns,
as things quite criminal, the marriage torch
and matrimony, with a modest blush
on her fair face..."

In the times that Ovid lived, it was expected that a woman would marry, take care of the house and her husband and have children. Women were not taught how to read or write or encouraged to have a further education other than what is important to know in the household. In this excerpt, Diana (whom Daphne looks up to) is 'free' of any of those restraints. Daphne would rather hunt and explore the wilderness, like Diana, than deal with the many suitors lined up for her. Her father, on the other hand, demands that she marry because she owes him a son-in-law and grandsons- not granddaughters. It would almost seem that Daphne's father would prefer a son over his own daughter-and demands in the same line, "You owe me grandsons". At least, this is the impression I got out of the excerpt. In some cultures having a son, or many sons, is preferred over having daughters because the son can work, take over the family business, and pass the family name on. This line caught my attention for not only the context, but for the bluntness the father used and how callused it sounded. This book is written so beautifully that anything so straightforward as that catches the attention. Other than that, I really like the Metamorphoses of Ovid so far, and I'm looking forward to getting more in depth with it!
-RD