Reading Notes, Week 2: About the house girl

Today's reading About the house girl, was a very interesting story and held my interest. I was able to visualize Patapir playing his flute and the music notes traveling up the river from the village of Rekwoi to the village of Merip. Ifapi was a described as a quiet, loving, gentle, shy young girl, who hid herself from men when they came to her father's home. She was sent to live up river with her aunt in the village of Rekwoi. Her aunt kept her in the home and she was not seen in town. Patapir's mother had spoken about the girl that lived up on the hill across the river from his home, however very little was known about her. The story describes how the unknown had caught his attention. "Patapir continued to think about her, wondering what she was like, wishing he might have a glimpse of her."pg 41 One day Patapir noticed two young woman across the river below the house on the hill, he crossed the river and met the girls, he then left them and went to the house on the hill, he was drawn to the house, "telling her how the smell of the seaweed had drawn him up the hill to her home." pg 41 He was given some seaweed and invited into the home. "And there, for the first time, he saw Ifapi." pg 41
Later that evening he went over to the other two girl's home and they all went in a canoe, there were 10 of them and they all paddled to a beach and watched a Life Renewing Dance. During this dance Patapir noticed that the assistant to the Leader was Ifapi, she did not look pale and sick. He watched her all night.
The next day he went to the home on the hill across the river, Patapir was invited into the home again and seen Ifapi, went to touch her shoulder to get her attention and was told not to touch her from the aunt. The aunt tried to tell him that she is sick and he told her that she was not sick, he had seen her the night before as the assistant to the Leader. The aunt asked him to step outside, so she could talk to Ifapi, he hesitated but did as he was asked. When he was called back in, "but the shadowed face was no longer pale and indifferent, but awake as at the dance."He told the aunt he was going to marry her that evening and then take her home to her father. Ifapi thanked her aunt for helping her. They married that night and then left in the morning to go up the river and to the village of Merip.
Ifapi's father was surprised to see her, and was not sure who she married since he had not heard of a man before. "It was as you say, my father. I hid from men, going only to the dancing, and I, too, thought always of the Flute player. At last, he saw the dancing and wished to merry me."pg 48 As a child Ifapi and her father would listen to the music from the Flute player down the river and her father's wish was Ifapi marry him one day. He was trying to save his daughter for the Flute player and she was also waiting for him, and he found her. The had children of their own and as a family would go to the Land-Beyond-the-World and Patapir would sing for many years.

Reading Notes, wk 2, The Creation

During this weeks reading, The Creation (Maidu), pg 23-35, I visualized the setting in my mind. In the beginning, "when this world was covered with water." I visualized being in a boat or floating device and looking around, all I could see was water. There were two characters, Earthmaker and the Coyote, later came the Meadowlark from the birds nest.
The reading continues to go on and describe how there was nothing around, until Earthmaker thought and sang songs about mountain ranges, and a little bit of land, he sang until he saw something like a birds nest. As he looked at it was small so he thought that it would be better if it was bigger, so as he thought of the ways it could get bigger, the small nest started to grow. I imagine a small humming birds nest and then watching it grow so that it covers the ground. The Meadowlark was in the small nest but as it grew, he stood on the land to later fly away and be the first creature to fly.
Then Coyote was told to laid on his belly to push out the land and make it grow larger, to cover large areas, so there would be places to travel. I imagine Coyote with his belly on the ground, and pushing out the land with his legs, in all directions, like when a dog lays flat on it's belly on the cold tile on a hot summer day.
Earth maker was now alone and started to create creatures, he made them two by two, each pair similar but a little different. During this part of the story I imagine a land that is empty but is slowing being filled with creatures, so they can grow and have children and a build a land of there own, where they have names and give things names. Each pair of creatures can have their own country and have there own foods, names and languages.
Once Earthmaker was done with creating the lands and creatures, he traveled to the middle of the world and built a house.
This story is about the creation of the world, from a place the Earthmaker imagined covered in water, to a birds nest, to stretching it out to make the land that covers the world, and creating creatures, using song and imagination.