The first migration to America is believed to have taken place towards the end of the last ice age. First
wave of Asian settlers didn’t survive the weather and the rough environment, but the second wave of
Asian settlers did. They are called the natives or the Indigenous, yet they are wrongly called the Indians
or the red Indians. The settlers started developing their own ways of worship, they developed a
relationship with nature.
Eric the red, a Norse explorer called Eric the red in reference to his red hair and beard, established one
of the first European settlements.
Leif the Lucky founded a new settlement in the new world and called it Vinland the Good ,as it was
better for human habitation.
There was a great anonymity between Spain and England due to colonial and religious conflict. In the
15th c , the rediscovery of Vinland the Good was the catalyst that sparked the rivalry between the
leading European countries (Portugal, Spanish, France, England) to conquest all the unchartered lands in
the new world.
The Portuguese succeeded in finding routes to the Indies(a large part of Asia).
Most of the monarchs sent explorers who were not of the same nationality to try to find a route to the
Indies. Much like the Spanish Queen Isabella who sent the Italian explorer Christopher Columbous. He
stayed in the Caribbean thinking he found a route to the Indies, so he wrongfully called the natives the
Indians.
Amerigo Vespucci: is an Italian explorer who was first sent by Spain and then by Portugal. The
Americas were named after him, because he was the first person to discover that the Americas are a
new continent and not Asia.
Spain succeeded in establishing the first permanent settlement called New Spain. The English in
response attacked New Spain, only for Spain to trigger a rebellion in Ireland against the British. In
retaliation Sir Walter Raley created the settlement of Virginia named after the Queen Elizabeth the
virgin queen.
Why move to the new world?
Pretext: Civilizing and Christianizing the pagan and “uncivilized” residents of the new world. “Burden of
the white man”
Real Reasons:
Get rid of the shackles of the old world such as:
o Feudal system that didn’t allow the peasants to rise in the social hierarchy.
o The divine right of kings, religious intolerance and prosecution.
Imperialistic greed to own “uncharted” land.
Longing for a fresh start (which led to the beginning of the concept of the American dream)
The abundance of “unclaimed” riches.
The monarchs funded the expeditions.
Africans and vagrant people were taken to the new world to get rid of or to enslave.
, The Europeans annihilated many of the Natives not just with their weapons and warfare but also with
their alien diseases that destroyed the Natives.
Native Literature was oral, and it is kept alive by being transmitted orally from one generation to
another. At some point it was documented and translated resulting in different variations.
Raven and Marriage
In this story the raven is a character in this narrative, which seems to be part of a larger
narrative, where there is the question of whether it is a bird or a character. This poem depicts
the natives’ daily life and ethics in all aspects. The story ends on a happy note everyone is
rewarded or punished at the end accordingly, which perhaps hints at their just system of life .
They lived in the form of tribes and that there was a hierarchy much like the Europeans.
They had social classes, and they could not marry from a different social class.
There is this oneness between the characters and nature.
They respect women.
Ethics and rules that were upheld in their cultures.
Simple life and transportation.
Slavery for the natives was different than that of the Europeans. The natives’ slaves were
respected and not dehumanized. They were only slaves because they had committed a
crime and they were usually let go afterwards.
Everything happened according to customs and rituals, as the funeral custom.
Their money system was bartering.
They have their own god and their own spiritual and religious believes.
Moved
The female poet sings the praises of the sea (great-height-strong-carried me away) after
blessing her with beyond-human powers. Diction is full of life and full of action, as if nature is
vivifying her. Serenity and homogeneity dominate the poem.
The poem reflects three beliefs:
1. Mysticism : one can have spiritual powers and rise above earthly matters.
2. Shamanism: She believes that she was struck by certain powers after she fainted after
which she was endowed by powers of healing and revelation.
3. Affinity with omnipresent nature : The natives highly believed that they were a part of
nature and that it was power giving.
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