Analysis Of 'The Mink Girl'

A man called Michael Shermer once said, “Myths are stories that express meaning, morality, or motivation. Whether they are true or not is irrelevant.” The Alaska native cultural myths that I will be referencing are “The Mink Boy” which is an Alutiiq myth, “Salmon Girl” which is an Athabascan myth, “Sleeping Lady” which is an Athabascan myth, “The Eye of the Needle” which is a Yup’ik myth, “Keet” which is a Tlingit myth, and the Yup’ik origin myth. Many Alaskan native cultural groups share some of the same values, which are reflected in these myths. The cultural similarities between Native cultural groups as shown in myths are respect for animals, subsistence being an integral part of culture, openness to supernatural events, and tools being …show more content…
All of the Alaska Native cultural myths being discussed reflect this value at some point. In the Athabascan myth Salmon Girl, the salmon speak of how they will not allow themselves to be caught by humans with dirty nets and dull knives and ulus. If humans did not use the proper tools, they would not be able to survive if their primary form of subsistence was fishing. The myth shows that proper tools translates into increased prosperity in the world of subsistence. This same value is reflected in the Yup’ik myth The Eye of the Needle. In this myth, the grandmother tells her grandson, “It is time for you to begin to hunt. I have prepared all your weapons and tools. I have decorated them as beautifully as I can, so the Animals will see our care, our respect, our desire to please them and treat them well.” This quotation emphasizes how without proper tools, you will not achieve success in hunting, which is essential to survive. In the Tlingit myth Keet, carving tools are used when the main character successfully creates an orca out of yellow cedar, and the main character is also rewarded when he removes his spear from one of the sea lions, reinforcing how tools can help you achieve …show more content…
These values include respect for animals, subsistence as an integral part of culture, openness to supernatural events, and the importance of tools in order to survive. The common values of respect for animals, subsistence as an integral part of culture, and tools being a vital part of survival may be occurring because hunting of animals was such a common activity within Alaska Native cultural groups. The value of openness to supernatural events ties into the respect for animals that is shown. Several of the supernatural events that were shown within the myths included humans transforming into animals. I believe that the respect for animals was so strong within Alaska Native cultural groups that it translated into a consistent transformation of animals shown in myths. The similar values between Alaska Native cultural groups are examples of how even though the differences between different cultural groups are incredibly vast, they have some common ground when it comes to their primary