Mountain Myths

The Story Of Mt. Rainier's Eruption and Creation
By Sasha



At the beginning of the earth in the times of the first people, there lived a family of Goddesses, who dwelt in a palace in the sky. These were the Sisters, the most powerful beings ever to walk the earth. One day, the leader of the family, a goddess named Raina was sitting on her throne and looking out her window at the earth that she had created: Its crystal clear lakes, rivers, and oceans and its trees, pointing into the sky like toothpicks. Raina decided that the world that she had created was beautiful. It was lacking in just one thing: there was nothing that could come close to meeting the supreme power of the goddesses, and even though she was great friends with her sisters, she enjoyed diversity in her companions.
The next time that the moon completed its cycle, Raina brought up the idea to her sisters. "Sisters, we should by all means create these tall giants that I have a picture of formed so clearly in my head. "We could call them mountains, in memory of one of our late companions, whose name was Mountaina." Unfortunately, as hard to believe as it may seem, they resisted Raina's piercing words, her seemingly bottomless brown eyes and her eloquence, which twisted and morphed her sentences so that they seemed to be dripping out of her mouth in the form of gold, and instead said that they disliked the idea of something being tall and strong enough to reach their domain.
For the first time in millenia there was dissension and argument amongst the sisters. But Raina, always the most stubborn of all the goddesses had it in her power to create mountains, so create mountains she did. As was her want she created the tallest, most majestic mountains that had ever touched the earth and even though they were almost tall enough to reach her domain, they were always forced to bow down in the end.
With great power comes great responsibility, and this Raina did not posses. She teased her sisters about her power, provoking them and often taunting them with jokes about how even their strength could not surpass hers. Finally this became too much for the proud sisters to bear. They called a counsel meeting and gave Raina fair warning. Helena was second in command, and the most beautiful one by far. She had thick black hair and a perfect oval face. She was the leader of this gathering. After along period of suspenseful silence, she began.
"Sister Raina, we used to be a fellowship, bound together forever. "Now, however, you have humiliated us with words suggesting that your power is far more than ours..."
At this point, Helena was cut off by Raina. "Helena, I was not taunting, I was simply saying what is true.
Helena and the others had been watching Raina calmly. Then another of the fellowship spoke, this time it was Shasta, the most fiery and temperamental with brilliantly red hair, and piercing green eyes.
"But that is where you are wrong, dear sister. You are stronger than any one of us, but all together our powers surpass yours twenty fold." At that point, all of the fifteen sisters linked arms, and murmuring some ancient words, they turned their former leader into a mountain, not just any mountain but the ugliest mountain on earth. This may not have been such a sorrowful event for Raina, because mountains were her pride and joy. But she was not a beautiful mountain, like her former creations, and she was set right on the boundary of two great people the people of the Evergreen, and the people of the Beaver, (right between where Oregon and Washington are today, but today Washington-the tribe of the Evergreen- has gained a little more land, so Mt. Rainier is more in Washington). People from both tribes would walk up her sides, seeking food and shelter for their people, and since these were both very proud and powerful tribes, when they met, the the bloodshed would be great. This hurt Raina, for as unpleasant as she may have seemed she still had a tender heart.
When she saw this, she would cry, and her tears would flow in the form of rain, which is why today the mountain is called Rani-er, today. The sisters looked down on Raina, but had no pity for her, because she had wronged them. This angered Raina still more, and one day, she quite literally blew her top, sending pillars of smoke and lava into the sky, where they reached even the sky kingdom, catching her sisters and enveloping them in them in the insides of mountains, which succeeded in turning them into mountains as well. Together, these fifteen sisters made up all of the mountains of the Cascade Range.
Now Raina had to live with her fate, but her sisters had to as well and over time Mt. Rainier grew into a beautiful mountain, that is visited much today.
This is the story of Mt.Rainer's eruption and creation.

Packing Lunches

I think the basic needs for a human are food, water and shelter. If I had to choose one of those basic needs and eliminated it from my life I would choose shelter. I would choose shelter because my family and I have so many close friends and family members we would be able to stay with them. If a friend or family member were to lose their house we would do the same. I know a lot of people don’t have family members or friends to live with. I am very glad that my family does. I would never want to lose any basic needs because they are all so important.
Everyone in the community can help. People can donate things. They can donate food, clothes, blankets, toys and many other things. People can also work at places like the Food Bank or a soup kitchen. Anything will help. I have worked at the Oregon Food Bank many times and even had my birthday party there. My friend had so much fun that she had hers there, too.
Having a good strong community is really important. It is important because if people don’t help those in need very few other people will. That’s why I think SES is so great. We do a lot for the community and we pack lunches every week to give to a church. That’s one way SES is so special. People don’t realize that even something little like a stuffed animal could help. A little kid could get it and be so happy! I think it is really important to tell other people about how to help and do fund raisers and food drives.
Each Wednesday my class (Frank’s class) packed lunches for the people getting their meal at the church. After they have a meal they could get a bag and it would have a meal in it for the next day. It would also contain a happy little note to cheer them up and hopefully would make their day brighter. After lunch we would divide into groups. One group would make cards and the other group would make and pack lunches. The people making cards would find Jan’s car and carry the food we had that day. They would bring it into the cafeteria while the people making the lunches would be washing their hands twice. The people who were making cards would start making them while the people packing lunches would put on gloves and get organized. The people making sandwiches would count how much bread they had so they could tell the others. The people not making the sandwiches would have others snacks and fruit we would put in. Some things like chips and cookies had to be put in bags. The people who were doing fruit would see if any of the fruit was rotten. Once everyone knew how many sandwiches were being made they would decide how many bars, fruit, cookies or chips would go in each bag. Then the assembly line would begin. The people at the beginning of the line would be the ones making sandwiches. They made the sandwich and put it into a small bag. They would pass it to someone who would put it in a big bag and pass it. The next people either had chips, cookies or energy bars. They would pass it on. The last people to get it were the people doing fruit. They put something in (usually a pear) and they would put it on a table. When we were done people would go around putting cards into the bags. We would all clean up and carry the lunches to the church. We walked over and waited until someone opened the door. Then we would all go in and put the lunches on the counter where people could grab a lunch after their meal.
We all got to make lunches at least once and make cards at least once. One problem I had was that people didn’t take making cards seriously. Most of the time people were goofing off. It makes me mad that they didn’t try to make the cards nice. People who are getting their meal usually have bad or rough days. Making lunches are fun. Sometimes it goes really fast and it is really hard. Other times it seems it is taking forever for them.
It feels good knowing someone will be getting an extra meal. For some people it probably is their only meal. I think these lunches help a lot. It is really cool to see all those plastic bags lined up on the counter at the church. We use so many plastic bags making lunches because cookies and chips usually go into plastic bags and if you think about all the lunches there are there is a lot of plastic being used. I think it is alright that we use them because it is for a good cause.
I really liked doing this. It is always a really good feeling knowing you are giving someone a meal. It is really fun making sandwiches or being part of the assembly line. It is really fun when everything goes really fast because then you have to go fast. Making cards are fun, especially when you take your time. I think making lunches for the church is really fun and it really helps others!

Annie

Myth Writing

Myth-making

To explain natural phenomena, various cultures have created myths in which natural phenomena and features in the environment are assigned human-like personalities and qualities.

Over the past few months we have studied local Pacific Northwest Geology through the lens of western-based science. Long before the science of volcanoes was understood, local Pacific Northwest tribes had explanations for these mountains. This page offers a few examples of these myths.

Assignment:

1. Create an origin or eruption myth for your volcano. Make sure that you include events that explain certain features or habits of your mountain.
2. Illustrate one scene from your myth.

Working Draft Due in Class: Friday, December 5

Draft 1 Due in Class: Monday, December 8

Final: Due in class and then on presentation at the Pangaea festival on Friday night, December 12

Northwest Native American Myths

Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest watched eruptions of Mount St. Helens long before the explorers and settlers came. Early accounts of eruptions were handed down and explained by their legends, contributing to a rich tradition of oral history and myth.

From the Puyallup Tribes

According to the lore of these tribes, long ago a huge landslide of rocks roared into the Columbia River near Cascade Locks and eventually formed a natural stone bridge that spanned the river. The bridge came to be called Tamanawas Bridge, or Bridge of the Gods. In the center of the arch burned the only fire in the world, so of course the site was sacred to Native Americans. They came from north, south, west, and east to get embers for their own fires from the sacred fire.

A wrinkled old woman, Loowitlatkla ("Lady of Fire,") lived in the center of the arch, tending the fire. Loowit, as she was called, was so faithful in her task, and so kind to the Indians who came for fire, that she was noticed by the great chief Tyee Sahale. He had a gift he had given to very few others -- among them his sons Klickitat and Wyeast -- and he decided to offer this gift to Loowit as well. The gift he bestowed on Loowit was eternal life. But Loowit wept, because she did not want to live forever as an old woman.

Sahale could not take back the gift, but he told Loowit he could grant her one wish. Her wish, to be young and beautiful, was granted, and the fame of her wondrous beauty spread far and wide.

One day Wyeast came from the land of the Multnomahs in the south to see Loowit. Just as he arrived at Tamanawas Bridge, his brother Klickitat came thundering down from the north. Both brothers fell in love with Loowit, but she could not choose between them. Klickitat and Wyeast had a tremendous fight. They burned villages. Whole forests disappeared in flames.

Sahale watched all of this fury and became very angry. He frowned. He smote Tamanawas Bridge, and it fell in the river where it still boils in angry protest. He smote the three lovers, too; but, even as he punished them, he loved them. So, where each lover fell, he raised up a mighty mountain. Because Loowit was beautiful her mountain (St. Helens) was a symmetrical cone, dazzling white. Wyeast's mountain (Mount Hood) still lifts his head in pride. Klickitat , for all his rough ways, had a tender heart. As Mount Adams, he bends his head in sorrow, weeping to see the beautiful maiden Loowit wrapped in snow.

From the Yakima Tribes

Si Yett, meaning woman, is the Yakima Indian name for Mount St. Helens. According to legend, Si Yett was a beautiful white maiden placed on earth by the Great Spirit to protect the Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia River from the battling brothers, Mount Adams and Mount Hood.

From the Klickitat Tribes

Klickitat Indians tell of two braves, Pahto, (Mount Adams) and Wyeast (Mount Hood), who fought to win the affections of an ugly old hag, who had been turned into a beautiful maiden by the Great Spirit.

From the Cowlitz Tribes

Cowlitz Indian legends tell of a time when Mount Rainier had an argument with his two wives, Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams. Mount St. Helens became jealous, blew her top, and knocked the head off Mount Rainier.

(Cowlitz Indians called Mount St. Helens "Lavelatla," which means "smoking mountain.")

The Battle of Two Chiefs: Mount Mazama and Mount Shasta

The Klamath Indians of the Pacific Northwest tell a legend about a fight between two chiefs. Llao was the chief of the Below World and was at Mount Mazama in Oregon. Skell was the chief of the Above World and stood at the summit of Mount Shasta in northern California. The two mountains are only a hundred miles apart. As darkness covered the land the two chiefs threw rocks and flames at each other. Llao, injured, fell back inside of Mount Mazama and was never seen again. A huge hole was left where he fell into the Below World. Over time, the hole filled with water to make Crater Lake. Volcanologists now know that Crater Lake is a caldera that formed by large explosions and collapse about 6,800 years ago.

The Origin of Mount Shasta

The Modoc Indians of northern California have lived in the area a long time and have seen the volcano erupt. Their oral tradition explains how the volcano formed. The Chief of the Sky Spirits was cold in the Above World. One day he used a rotating stone to drill a hole in the sky. Once the hole was finished he pushed in snow and ice. The snow and ice piled up and almost reached the sky. Then, the Chief of the Sky Spirits stepped down to the Earth. He created the trees, rivers, animals, fish, and birds. He even brought his family down and they all lived in the mountains. The sparks and smoke from their fires blew out of the hole in the top of their lodge. When Chief of the Sky Spirits tossed a BIG log on the fire sparks flew up even higher and the Earth trembled. The Chief eventually put out the fire and returned to the Above World.