Chapter 1 Study Questions

  1. What is ethnohistory?
  2. What is the significance of the four cardinal directions?
  3. What is the ontological significance of origin stories?
  4. Why does the expression “traduttore, traditore” apply to the translation of these stories into English?
  5. What elements of the Mi’kmaq worldview can be gleaned through the Glooscap story?
  6. Why is Basil Johnston’s work considered so important to the preservation of Indigenous Peoples’ past?
  7. What important aspect of Odaawaa worldview does the story of the white sucker reveal?
  8. Why might the raven have been a popular symbol in several cultural stories or mythology?
  9. What is the lesson to be understood by the existence of an “imperfect creator” as exemplified by Raven?
  10. What two more universal ideas from the origin stories transcend the general differences among them overall?
  11. What are some meanings to the journey toward the setting sun within Indigenous stories?
  12. How does the ethnohistorical record now better support some of the explanations in Indigenous origin stories explaining their existence in the Americas?
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