Stories are powerful parts of . They help people understand themselves, others, and their world. For thousands of years, stories have helped explain strange events like solar eclipses. With an eclipse in North America on April 8, learn some stories from people on the continent.
Perry Ground is a storyteller from the Onondaga tribe in New York. “Native Americans, like all other human beings, have witnessed eclipses,” he said. “Native American peoples would make up stories to explain the world around them,” he added. Ground performs a show to tell these stories. It’s called “The Raven Steals the Sun.”
The story of the raven has been told across the Americas. The details differ between tribes. For example, the Salish people of the Pacific Northwest tell about a raven disguised like a white owl. The bird steals the Sun, Moon, and stars hidden under water — and gives them as a gift for humans. The Tlingit tribe tells this tale too.
Other Indigenous groups tell stories about an animal eating the Sun. For the Pomo people of California, that’s a bear. In their stories, a bear walks among the stars — but bumps into the Sun. The Sun and the bear argue about who will move out of the way. The two begin to fight. That causes an eclipse as the bear chomps down on the Sun.
Another story comes from the Cherokee people from the southeastern United States. In this tale, a giant frog hops through the sky and tries to eat the Sun. So, everyone must scare the frog away. They bang drums, blow whistles, and shout!
The Kwakiutl people in northwestern Canada have a similar story. They say an eclipse is caused by a sky creature eating the Sun. To help the Sun return, the people light a fire and dance around it. Their stories say the smoke from the fire causes the sky creature to sneeze. This brings the Sun back.
The Choctaw people have a black squirrel called “Fvni Lusa.” He is playful — and hungry. One day, Fvni Lusa spots the Sun in the sky. He climbs a tree and has a snack, causing a solar eclipse. In one story, the Choctaw people scared him away by making noise. They banged on pots and shouted. Soon, the Sun began to shine again. The tribe cheered. Some members of Choctaw Nation still use noisemakers to scare Fvni Lusa away!
“Native American stories are a great way to learn about Native Americans,” explained Ground. “They teach us the way that Native American people think about the world around them.” And he told News-O-Matic that his stories can teach a lesson.
“Native Americans were very closely connected to the world around them,” Ground explained. “They made up the stories so they could explain it in very human terms,” he said. “And even though an eclipse is a event, it’s a human event also.”
“We all have emotions to what’s happening — just like Native American people have for a long time,” added Ground. “Those feelings are okay. And there’s probably a lot of other people feeling the same things. We can share this experience together.”
“We’re not alone as we experience this Great Solar Eclipse.”
Updated April 5, 2024, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Hannah Marcum
