Multicultural Book Review: Native American (Cheyenne)

Genre:  Legend

Culture:  Native American (Cheyenne)

Book:  Cohlene, Terri.  (1990). Quillworker: A Cheyenne Legend.  Vero Beach:  The Rourke Corporation, Inc.

Level/Age:  Children (up to age 12)

Synopsis:  This is a Cheyenne legend that explains how the North Star and the stars of the big dipper came to be.  A Cheyenne girl named Quillworker was very talented at quill embroidery.  She painstakingly made buffalo-hide war clothes for seven brothers she saw in a dream, and then traveled seven days to their tipi.  She became their sister and lived in the tipi, but one day the Buffalo nation came to take her because they heard she made buffalo hides beautiful and they wanted to be beautiful too.  Quillworker and her seven brothers escaped the Buffalo nation through brother Wihio’s Power of Sky-Reaching, and now live in the clouds as the North Star and the big dipper.  The book also includes facts about the Cheyenne, including their homeland, people, camp, clothing, timeline, and arts.

Comparisons/Contrasts with traditional American/Western Culture:  In Locke’s chapter on Native American Indians, he writes, “They pass on traditions and customs through oral myths and legends” (p. 65).  This is certainly true in this adapted legend, which through its beauty and simplicity shows why such oral storytelling was tradition among Cheyenne and other Native American Indians.  Locke also writes, “Their art is woven throughout the fabric of everyday Native American Indian life and is inseparable from nature, religion, and the universe” (p. 65).  Quillworker is a clear mingling of nature and the universe.

Response:  I found this to be a lovely origin tale about how the stars came to be as they are.  It gave me, more than anything, insight into the Cheyenne way of life, showing me this tribe’s closeness to nature and the universe.  It would be a great piece to include in a school library collection and a centerpiece in the study of the Cheyenne specifically or Native American Indians in general.

Suggested Extension Activities:  This legend would be great to use in a comparative study of the Native American Indian legends of various tribes.  I would promote this in the Library Media Center during November, Native American Heritage Month, as well as feature it in Myths/Legends displays.