Thunderstorms

By:  Alaina

Long ago, there was an old man named Broze who moved to a new village. People tried to make him feel welcome by offering him crops and flowers, but Broze screamed and turned the people away. The Creator saw Broze and was not happy that he screamed at others when they tried to give him gifts.

The Creator thought about what he should do, and then he created a woman named Martha to talk to Broze. Martha was sent to Broze’s wigwam and she tried to reason with him about being kind, but the talk didn’t work. Martha told the Creator what happened and he was not pleased.

The Creator thought of a new plan, which was to kill Broze’s crops.  When Broze heard this plan, he said he wouldn’t care if that happened. The Creator was so mad, he killed Broze’s crops anyway, but Broze still didn’t learn to be kind or thankful.

Next, the Creator sent Martha to tell Broze that he would give him one more chance to be kind to others, but Broze just ignored Martha and slammed the door in her face. The Creator saw that Broze was being rude and disrespectful to Martha so he grew even angrier until he finally snapped.  He brought in rain and created a yellow strike called lightning.  He wanted his voice to be heard so he created a booming sound called thunder and when the Creator merged rain, thunder, and lightning, it created a thunderstorm. So, the Creator summoned lightning to hit Broze’s wigwam and he started to scream in new languages like Algonquian and Yaquina.  After a while, The Creator started to feel sorry for the way he was acting and decided to make his point with kindness. So, he said he would spare Broze’s life if he would agree to be respectful and kind to others. Broze agreed and was never cruel or mean again.  He was always kind to people and learned to be thankful for his life.

      So every time Native Americans see thunderstorms, they are reminded to be kind to others and be grateful for others’ generosity.

How the Northern Lights Came to Be

How the Northern Lights Came to Be

By:  Dakota, Madison, and Mika

One late afternoon, in a village covered with heavy snow, there was a girl named Layla who had a very bad argument with her family in her round, icy home.  They didn’t agree on Layla’s desire to hunt with the men because it was against her religion. Layla ran away to clear her mind, but she was absentminded in her thoughts.  She soon realized she was lost in the dark night. 

  

            As she went through the thick, fluffy snow she saw five totem poles. Layla begged the five wise totem poles, “Please lead me back to my village with some source of light.” The totem poles responded, “We will lead you with 1,000 oil lamps and no more.” As she got to the last oil lamp, she tried to carry it with her, but the oil lamp was too heavy and she fell down.

Next, she met a fox named Max. She made a deal with him when he said, “I will give you a box of matches if you allow me to walk with you on your long journey.” They had seven matches and used three. They both stopped to take a break to get a drink. As Layla was getting a drink, Max ran away with the last four matches. Layla turned around and saw the fox running away with the matches in his jaws. She was running after the fox, but Layla could not catch up with him. Layla was so upset she cried very hard.

As Layla was sitting, she sobbed to the god Tiki, “Please, oh please, give me one more chance and lead me home.” The god used his powers and caused the Northern Lights to shine brightly over her head. The Northern Lights lead her home to her village where Layla’s family reached out their arms to hug her. “I’m so sorry for disobeying my family and religion,” said Layla.  “We forgive you,” the family replied.

In conclusion, whenever Inuit people see the Northern Lights they are reminded to obey their religion.

Who Makes the Wind?

By: Autumn

Once there was a man named Howler. He lived with his wife, Saya, his son, Anthony, and his daughter, Tulip. They lived in a little hut by some small hills. The hills were surrounded by trees and bushes. It was peaceful there, except for an old, selfish woman named Foxarora.                                                                                                                                                                    

One day, as Howler and Anthony were sharpening their spears, Tulip came running up to them and handed Anthony a small, brown object. It was a dead bird. Tulip told them what happened: the bird had eaten all of the raspberries, so Saya killed it out of fear. That night, the family prayed that the birds would go away. As they slept, Cloudonius, the sky god, rained down on the land. He had hoped to wet the birds’ feathers so they would stop eating the people’s food.

The next day, news of the birds had spread to the selfish, old woman, Foxarora. She laughed and mocked,” They should get a cat to eat the birds!” That night, as Anthony and his father were coming home for dinner, Saya ran out. “Have you found anything to eat for dinner?” she asked.” No. Why?” asked Howler. “Have the birds come back?” he asked softly. Her answer was, “Yes,” so the family had to eat the few leftover squirrels they had been saving for winter. That evening, they prayed that the birds would go away again. Cloudonius heard them, and made thunder, hoping to scare the birds away. That did not work either.

The next morning, when Saya was on her way to the market, she passed Foxarora. Foxarora said,” Where’s your little birdy?” She laughed and walked away. That night, Tulip anxiously watched her mother cook. So far, there hadn’t been any more birds. Then there was a sound like a howl. Saya shivered. “What was that?” she thought. “Ah! The gods must be trying to blow the greedy birds away! Hurray!” shouted Tulip. And the birds disappeared.

So now, every time Cloudonius sees a bird, he makes the wind to remind them not to be greedy. The birds never bothered the family again. As for Foxarora, she never bothered them again either, and nobody knows why.

Dinosaur Facts

By: Brody N.

·        When dinosaurs ruled the Earth there were carnivores (meat eaters) and herbivores (plant eaters).

·        The Brachiosaurus eats plants.

·        T-Rex teeth are sharper than a shark’s tooth.  They are meat eaters.

·        A triceratops horns are used for fighting.

·        Ankylosaurus’ have very hard heads.

·        The pterodactyl can fly up to 67 miles in one hour.