In Erdoes and Ortiz’s American Indian Myths and Legends, many of the tales seem to revolve around a few central themes. Each tale tells a story of its own, but two stories, “Blood Clot” and “Stone Boy,” oddly recount similar tales. In both “Blood Clot” and “Stone Boy,” two boys are born/created from a natural object. “Blood Clot” though, the boy is born from a clot of Buffalo’s blood when it is placed over a fire, while in “Stone Boy,” the boy is born from a stone in his mother’s stomach, and then being born naturally. This small similarity could be seen as an expression of the strong Native American belief of animism where they believe that every natural thing has a being or soul and that people are one with nature, to live among it. The boys in these tales represent humanity’s place in regards to nature.
The stories are also very similar as both boys grow up extremely fast, greatly surpassing the growth of a normal human child, and both boys express a strong talent or ability in hunting. However, the hunting skills of these boys differ slightly. In “Blood Clot,” the boy seems to have some sort of superpowers that give him the ability to find prey and easily kill it. This may also include some kind of special strength, as he is able to bring so many buffalos to the tribe in which he marries so that each tipi is given one of the beasts. However, in “Stone Boy,” the boy seems to be a talented hunter, but he also seems to be a normal boy with no special powers of some sort. At the end of the story, when the boy saves his five dead uncles, he seems to have spiritual powers, but this may again be a reference to the Native American’s belief of Animism and human’s ability to connect with nature, even nature so far as death.
Comments are closed.