The chief gazed out at his audience and
began to speak. The
story of Sedna is very important, so listen carefully.
Once upon a time there lived a beautiful girl named Sedna. She lived
alone with her father and led a simple lifestyle. When she was old
enough to be married, young boys came from all over. But, Sedna did not
find one good enough for her.
When the winter season finally ended and spring was nearing, Sedna had
found a worthy prospect for marriage. He sang to her a beautiful song,
"Come with me where there is always food, you will always wear the
finest skins and you will always have the finest tent to sleep in."
Sedna, of course, could not resist such luxury the man spoke of in his
song. She decided to marry him and live with him across the sea. She
gave her proud father a hug and left.
When Sedna finally arrived at her charming new husband's home, she
realized he did not live as greatly as he said he did.
Her new home was not made of beautiful animal skins. It was
made with dirty fish skins that barely held together. The tent was full
of holes as well, and
would not keep her warm at night. The clothes he made her smelled awful
and they were anything but soft. There was not always food, and when
there was it was bird meat. After months of living this way, she
realized how foolish she had been not to consider any of the other boys
who had less, but were truthful. She cried every night, thinking if
her father knew how she was living he would come and take her away.
A year later, Sedna's father came to visit. Sedna was so happy to see
him and begged him to take her away. She told him of all the cold
nights she spent, the lack of food, and lack of warm clothing. Her
father was outraged that her daughter had been treated so badly! He
wanted revenge!
He waited till nightfall when Sedna's husband was asleep and killed
him. Sedna did not feel sorry for her husband at all. She thought his
punishment was great revenge for all the years she spent suffering. He
then took Sedna and together they ran to his boat. He would
take Sedna back home.
The next morning, the family of Sedna's husband found Sedna gone and
her
husband dead. They were outraged and sad. They began searching the
woods for the horrible person who would commit such a crime. After
searching they performed a storm dance to show the world they were
mourning. The dance caused a huge storm.
Meanwhile, Sedna and her father had only traveled a short distance when
a terrible storm hit them. Waves were thrashing against the boat and
filling it with water. It grew so dark out that Sedna could not see one
foot in front of her. Her father knew that both of them would not make
it. He was not ready to die yet so he made a selfish decision. He
decided to offer Sedna to the birds. He quickly grabbed her and threw
her off the boat. Sedna did not go so
easily, she clung to the edge of the boat with all her strength. Her
father could see that she would not go easily, so he took out his knife
and cut off the first joints of her fingers! She screamed in horrified
pain. She watched the tips of her fingers fall into the water and
transform into sharks. She was mad now and would not die alone. She
managed to keep a grip on the side of the boat. Her father took the
knife one more time and slashed her fingers off completely. When the
fingers hit the water they transformed into large jellyfish.
During all this suffering and madness the storm had subsided. Sedna had
survived but would never be able to use her hands again. Since the
storm had ended, her father let her back into the boat. He hoped she
would understand that he had more to live for than her. She was so
angry at his selfishness that she was completely consumed with hatred
for him. She swore to get revenge.
When they got back on land Sedna waited for her father to fall asleep.
She then called her friends, the wolves, to come and eat her father's
arms and legs. Her father cursed Sedna, himself and the wild animals
that ate his limbs.
Sedna and her father now exist in the underworld, where Sedna is the
mistress.
So now you know that selfish motives do not get you anywhere. If
Sedna's father had not been selfish he might have tried to
save them both instead of just himself.
If Sedna had not been so selfish she may have married a different man
and lived a better life. If she had not been selfish maybe she would
have settled for a truthful man who had less. Her father was selfish in
the way that he would do anything to survive. Revenge is another good
lesson in this story. Sedna's father got revenge by killing Sedna's
husband. This was a bad idea because the family of Sedna's husband
created a terrible storm. The storm was the beginning of the hatred
between Sedna and her father. Sedna got revenge on her father by
allowing the wolves to eat his limbs. Their attempts at trying to kill
each other sent them to the underworld.
Author's Note: I did not change the story very much. I added
my own
details and emotions in the characters. I love this story because when
I first read it I did not expect the father to be so cruel. In
the begining he rescues her from her awful home. On the way home they
are hit by a terrble storm. When Sedna's father realizes that both
of them will not survive we see his selfish side. He would sacrifice
his own daughter to keep himself alive! From there the whole story
spirals downward. Sedna takes revenge on her father and they both end
up in the
Underworld. The fact that her fingers change into animals is also
unexpected and interesting. I changed the animals her fingers
transformed into. In the
original story her fingers turned into whales and seals. I wanted the animals to symbolize
the pain
and anger
she felt. I thought jellyfish and sharks were perfect because they are
both dangerous.
This story teaches you that you should not be selfish or
want revenge. All of those things get you nowhere. Sedna and her father
are great examples of what you should not do.
Bibliography: Book Title: Tales of North
American Indians Author: Stith Thompson
Story Title: Sedna, Mistress of the Underworld Year Published: 1929 Web Address: Sacred Texts.
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