More on Stephenie Meyer

[alanajoli]

mentioned in her blog not too long ago that she's not a huge stickler for "correct" mythology in her books. "Correct" mythology isn't something I require of the fantasy I read, but I'm always thrilled when real-world myths are put to good use.

I just finished New Moon last night (see? addictive) and, while I enjoyed her combining traditional European werewolf tropes (werewolves vs. vampires, etc) with the American Indian tradition of the area (Quileutes), I was curious whether she was just making all this up. So I did some quick research this morning. Stephenie Meyer gets a gold star for use of real-world mythology! The Quileute tribe does, in fact, have a tradition that they were created from wolves by a being called the Transformer. Whether or not they have legends about shapeshifting, I didn't find, as I should really be doing writing of my own rather than research on someone else's story. But that basis in real-world legends makes me even more impressed with her work, and I give her a big thumbs up. (She actually discusses her research a little bit in her "The Story of New Moon" on her Web site.)

--

I've actually, as my secondary project, been doing some research on Connecticut tribes, particularly about Sleeping Giant mountain, which is maybe twenty minutes from where I live. The traditional version of the story of Sleeping Giant published by the Sleeping Giant society is that Hobbomock, an evil giant, was tricked by the good giant Kietan and turned to stone.

But if you do a google search... then things get interesting. Hobbomock is a giant. He can change shape to appear as a deer or a snake. He slew a giant, man-eating beaver in Deerfield area, Massachusetts. (Mt. Sugarloaf is the head of that beaver.) He's called a culture hero. He's called a "god" of death. He's related to healing. He's the spirit that the English settlers thought must be the devil.

Getting to the bottom of Hobbomock is going to be interesting, especially as I'm trying something similar to what Stephenie Meyer has done--I'm planning to combine mythologies. Doing this in a culturally sensitive way is very important to me, because I know how important traditional stories were on the reservation where I worked in Michigan. But I also want to be able to tell the story how it deserves to be told. So we'll see how Hobbomock fits into the greater picture.

Comments

[plura.livejournal.com]

native american mythologies, especial tribes along the pacific coast, and to some extent those of the plains, characteristically have pretty big shapeshifting traditions. often associated with the wolf or coyote. always a clever motherfucker.


hobbomock sounds like your typical, run-of-the-mill culture hero. killed something chaotic (A GIANT MAN EATING BEAVER, O MAN O MAN O MAN!), was large, had magical capabilities (think jacob and the spotted sticks)…most of all, is clever. death and healing? devil? snake? gotta be clever.


the hill behind my house was an ancient burying ground for the tribe in this area (the name escapes me). lots of weird things happen here! the hill seems to like protecting animals in danger. i'll tell you stories sometime.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've been digging on the shapechange stuff. I wasn't sure which were particular to which tribes--there's a ton of it up in the Tlingit area, but I don't just want to *assume,* you know?

Jacob and the Spotted Sticks?

I told Tom that I assumed, with the contrast here (devil vs. culture hero) that Hobbomock was probably a Trickster figure of some kind. Tom promptly resopnded that I dug Tricksters way too much and should maybe actually do more research before getting my mind set on that. :)

I'm also wondering if Hobbomock is a culture hero for one group but an evil giant for another (the people who had the Connecticut River stolen from them, for example). The Quinipiac (sp?) seem to have been organized into sachem-doms that were only loosely affiliated, and didn't entirely share language with the other Algonquin groups in the area (meaning they didn't share language at all with the Iriquois groups).

Figuring out the tribal relationships out here is a *lot* more difficult than it was in Michigan. ;)

I'd love to hear stories about the hill. Perhaps someday I should come visit you and tell it 'hello.'