特別ポスト: 東京理科大学 A英1 Totem pole short stories・トーテムポールの物語

Hello!

How are you? Today I have posted some selected stories that you all wrote on totem poles. I was impressed with what you did on these and am sharing these to show your great work! So let's start! 

Once, there was a dog who was brave and fought against any difficulty. He always looked forward and wasn't terrified of anything. 

One day, he was walking along the river. He saw a cat who was teased by a lion. He tackled the lion and saved the cat from the lion. This story is told all over, and the pole for it symbolizes the dog's courage. 

That was great! Now here's another one:

There was a raven which flew over a village. One of the villagers carried some food, and was called over by another villager to talk a little. But he soon noticed that his baggage was a little lighter. The raven had robbed it! 

The leaders of the village decided to watch out for the raven, but at any moment it could steal it, it didn't miss it. 

Here's another!

Once there was a bird who was a liar. He sometimes deceived everyone, so he was disliked. One day, when he was flying around in the sky, his wings got damaged and he fell into the forest. He cried for help as loudly as possible, but no-one believed his words. 

Here's one more:

Once there was a dog who was hungry. He didn't eat anything for a long time. 

One day, he walked especially heavily. Then, there was a big tree which had a lot of fruit. He wanted to eat it, but the tree was high, so he couldn't reach it. He tried to jump, but finally, he ran out of energy. 

The king of the trees, who watched the scene, felt sorry for the dog, so he thought of a good idea. The idea was for the dog to become a high tree which was situated next to the big tree with the fruit. 

So now, he became a totem pole which could reach for the fruit, and is enjoying a lot of fruit in heaven. 

I hope you could enjoy these and be proud of your work. Take care!

Images: Top & bottom - by Jerzy Strzelecki - (Top) Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112589/(Bottom) - http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112590   

東京理科大学 A英1: Totem poles・トーテムポール

Hello!

How are you? You might wonder about this long picture here! It's a totem pole (トーテムポール) brought to Seattle, in the U.S., in 1907. This old picture comes from that time. 

Totem poles are unique to the Pacific coast native Americans and Canadian First Nations people in the U.S., in northern California, Oregon, Washington state, and southeast Alaska, and in Canada, in British Columbia. The totem poles tell stories, in picture carvings, about nature, events that happened, life, and other things that impacted the Pacific Coast people. 

In the circle in pink on the map, here are the parts of the U.S. and Canada where the Pacific Coast indigenous people (先民族) are from: 

Activity/homework

Look at these pictures of parts of totem poles, with a whole totem pole at the bottom. What kinds of animals do you notice? What kinds of stories do you imagine they might tell? 

Here is a piece of homework for you - write out a short account of what you believe one of these totem poles might be telling a story about. 

For example: Once there was an eagle who never rested. He was always flying around in the sky, and  was always looking to test how strong he was. One day, when he was coming in low to some trees to pick at some nuts to eat, he saw a raven on a branch...

Share your stories with your classmates in the next class!

Have fun! See you next time!

Image: Top - By Photo not clearly credited. (Expired) copyright was W. D. Harney. - Artwork of Seattle and Alaska, 1907, W. D. Harney Photogravure Publisher, Racine, Wisconsin. Copied by taking a photograph of a page in a copy of the book at Seattle Public Library (Seattle Room of the Central Library); Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3762941/Map - screenshot taken of photograph courtesy of the Harper College website/First section of totem pole - By Jerzy Strzelecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112590/Detailed section of totem pole - By Jerzy Strzelecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112589/Full totem pole - By http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:H - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Totem_Park_pole_1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2405610
All rights reserved on Harper College map screenshot. I do not own the rights to the original photograph. Uploaded for educational purposes only.